NATLE FYI

On April 21, NATLE presents a virtual Leadership Symposium as an exclusive opportunity for the top leaders of trial lawyer associations to come together to learn the latest strategies to maximize the influence of their associations and effect successful programs to protect the civil justice system.  Service on a non-profit board is important, and serving on a Trial Lawyer Association board is particularly unique. This session will offer an overview of trial lawyer association (non-profit) basics viewed through the lens of a practicing CEO who has had the great benefit of working with, learning from, and collaborating with NATLE’s talented pool of CEOs for over 20 years.  Now more than ever, a dynamic partnership between the volunteer leader and association chief staff executive is critical in ensuring that the trial lawyer association of today is equipped to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Who should attend?  Anyone in a position of leadership and responsibility for a trial lawyer association will benefit from this program, including officers, board members, emerging leaders, committee chairs, CEOs, and staff leaders.  Click here for the Flyer.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

Without a convention to facilitate, it feels like everything at NATLE HQ is happening behind the scenes.  Here’s what’s going on…We are continuing to determine the date and time for the Leadership Symposium and should be able to send out an announcement early next week.  In addition to the basics critical to the mission of every TLA, it will include a fresh batch of topics relevant to TLA leadership in the main office (or living room if that’s where the ED is set up!), the President and President-Elect positions.

Our Justice Partner, SBA Funding, is ready to send out a new email to TLA members.  For the TLAs who already participate in the program, I’ll confirm next week.  If you are interested in participating, I can send you the latest partnership agreement that outlines the direct benefits to your TLA.

The Planning Committees for both the Annual Meeting in Seattle (July) and the Governmental Affairs Conference in New Orleans (Nov) have met and are recruiting volunteers to become engaged in selecting topics and speakers for these important programs.  If you have never – or rarely – been involved in a NATLE activity, this is a perfect chance to have input and network with other members.  Let me know if you are interested!  The co-chairs for the Annual Mtg are Sara Crumb and Sara Schuett, and for the GAC, they’re Connie Koury and Chris Figueras.  HURRY…we need to know about your interest in the Annual Meeting NLT this weekend!

Another opportunity to get involved and have a voice in the benefits that NATLE has to offer, is to help me review the value of the vendors who contact NATLE with an interest in partnering on either an affinity level by providing discounted services, or as a Justice Partner with deeper access to membership through exhibit opportunities and exposure on the website.  Let me know if you are interested!  The time commitment will be minimal and we’ll only meet when there are viable proposals to consider.

Good Practice:  In this age of hybrid meetings, we still have to do everything we can to meeting our F&B budgets and keep our exhibitors happy.  Sponsors rely on access to members and an empty hall is a downer for everyone.  One way to avoid attendees from bailing out on their in-person registrations for the virtual option is to add on a $30 to $50 “convenience fee” for the virtual option.  [Thank you Julie W for this tip!]

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…I’m a big Jason Bourne fan (and watching Matt Damon in the lead role doesn’t hurt), so I pulled a book off the shelf last weekend by an author (Van Lustbader) who picked up the story from the late Robert Ludlum.  He was granted permission from Ludlum’s estate to write The Bourne Legacy.  I’m only 80 pages in, but so far, so good!

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

Nothing too specific this week, though planning for all of our upcoming programs, the Leadership Symposium (April), Strategic Planning session (spring-summer), Annual Meeting in Seattle (July), and the Governmental Affairs Conference (Nov), is humming along.  The Leadership Symposium will be presented via zoom and the agenda designed to be relevant for executive directors, presidents and presidents-elect.  I look forward to distributing the announcement and registration details next week.

If you’re looking to get involved and have a voice in the benefits that NATLE has to offer, I field at least one call each week from companies interested in partnering with NATLE on either an affinity level by providing discounted services, or as a Justice Partner with deeper access to membership through exhibit opportunities and exposure on the website.  I need help evaluating the value of these vendors to the membership and would like to set up a committee to meet on (most likely) an as needed basis to review their services and proposed agreements.  Let me know if you are interested!

Good Practice:  The field of corporate gifts has seen a shift from vests and backpacks to gift cards and food baskets.  Not as much commuting means backpacks and soft-sided briefcases end up collecting dust or stuffed in closets.  Snack packs and experiential gifts, like scavenger hunts and wine tastings, are more engaging in these days that no longer accommodate the water cooler conversations.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…what I didn’t share in last week’s post about the trip to New Orleans was the terror of the return leg from Dulles to Burlington.  It was late Thursday night through the line of storms that extended up the whole east coast.  It was the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced and, moments from landing in Burlington, the tower waved us off our first attempt as being too windy.  After 15 more minutes of crazy, stomach-lurching bumps, when we finally touched down on a different runway, I was one of the nearly 100 passengers clapping like I’d just won the lottery.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

The report from the attendees of the in-person sessions of the 2022 Winter Meeting in Palm Springs is that it was intimate with lots of discussion.  A big thank you goes out to our Justice Partners who were onsite and to Ringer Associates who hosted a morning hike.

(At no cost to NATLE,) I took a quick 2-night trip to New Orleans this week to scout out the potential properties for our 2022 Governmental Affairs Conference.  The CVB and hotels were gracious and accommodating as the hubbub of Mardi Gras was ramping up just beyond their doors on Canal Street.  Each has pros and cons and, as you all know from planning your own conferences, it will come down to creating the best experience for attendees.  The visit coincided with Jeanie Hinkle’s Annual Mardi Gras Convention for her Southern Trial Lawyers Association and it was great to see her again and help with registration at an evening opening reception.  We may also have secured a new partner/exhibitor for our Seattle program!

Good Practice:  Bringing on new board members who are prepared to fulfill their roles includes an orientation on the ByLaws, association assets (staff, financial), and history.  Recognizing your board at conferences puts a face to the organization’s leadership, and helps new and prospective members feel more connected to accessible resources.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…I just took delivery of a new front-load washing machine on Friday.  They weren’t kidding when they said it’s not unusual to not see much water during the cycles.  (Sorry, that was a lot of negatives to keep up with.)  Yes, I peeked every now and then with a flashlight!

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

The virtual sessions of the 2022 Winter Meeting were a success.  With an eye on the clock and well-prepped speakers and panelists, as well as the ongoing support of our justice sponsors, we brought a tightly-timed and info-packed program to twice as many attendees as would normally register for the conference.  Based on the sharing of experiences and ideas via zoom over those two ½-days, I suspect the in-person sessions will be just as dynamic in Palm Springs.  The materials are available to registrants via the event page.

The handful of potential facilitators for a virtual Strategic Planning session are submitting proposals for the committee to review before the end of the month.  Next steps include determining a date, securing funding, and mapping out a timeline for each phase of the process.  Thank you to the directors who have submitted responses to the first member survey – your input is the first step  of gathering current TLA-based demographics ahead of a more in-depth survey of the full membership.  Both will be crucial ingredients for the facilitator’s approach with us.

I field at least one call each week from companies interested in partnering with NATLE on either an affinity level by providing discounted services, or as a Justice Partner with deeper access to membership through exhibit opportunities and exposure on the website.  I need help evaluating the value of these vendors to the membership and would like to set up a committee to meet on (most likely) an as needed basis to review their services and proposed agreements.  Let me know if you are interested!

Good Practice:  Since networking tends to be among the top reasons members join an association, give your members plenty of opportunities to connect with those in similar categories, like roles at their firm or solo practitioners.  This may mean breakout sessions and/or special receptions during conventions or separate listservs.  For example, NATLE has a listserv for Communications Specialists with 54 members, though it may take a listserv member to send out a post as a reminder that it’s available – I haven’t seen any traffic since July.  Meaningful memberships mean greater renewals.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…a friend of mine is big into Jimmy Buffett and the Margaritaville properties so a gaggle of us are planning a vacation in September to scout out the Daytona location.  Yes, they’re 55+ communities…I’ll be there in x number of years!  Crazily enough, they rent out the houses for $169/night for up to 3 nights – and it comes with a golf cart.  Who could ask for more than that?!  (and, no, this isn’t a plug…just a happy head-scratcher.)

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

I’m so excited to see everyone during the 2022 Winter Meeting’s virtual program.  I have uploaded the materials as they have been submitted and my finger is hovering over the enter key, ready for when the last two come in!   Highlighting another panel, communicating with members in an age when there’s minimal, if any, face-to-face is timely and sensitive.  Learn about the metrics of engagement and clicks, as well as how to take advantage of available tools at low or no cost.  (Click here to register!)  Bring your questions and experience to the discussion on Tuesday, Feb 8 and Wednesday, Feb 9.

As I mentioned last week, this is another short edition of the Weekly Wrap as we put the finishing touches on the Winter Meeting.  Committees are hard at work on the upcoming Strategic Planning session, Annual Meeting in Seattle, a virtual Leadership Symposium and next November’s GAC in New Orleans.  After a pause for the holidays and the time sink of the website upgrade, I have rejuvenated my outreach and started scheduling 5-10 minutes to “sit down” over the phone or zoom with each TLA director.  By all means, though, there’s no need to wait for my call!  Please reach out to me if there’s anything you want to talk about.  I want to hear from you about any gaps you see in NATLE’s programs, the direction you feel NATLE should be going in the immediate and long-term future, and opportunities you’d like to see NATLE pursue.  Basically, anything that’s on your mind.  The best time to think about implementing change is when there’s been a shift in the ED position!

Now that NATLE has invested in a website upgrade, we’ll finally be able to take advantage of the many efficiencies your TLA already enjoys, like consolidated billing and registrant access to event-specific materials.  I’ve had my training sessions on the upgrade and heard from a few of you MemberCentral gurus with tips for yet more work-arounds.  I’d like to think I’m a quick learner, but I’m always open to hearing about new mousetrap designs.  If you notice anything that could be fixed on the site or in our MC processes, please let me know!

Good Practice:  In a world where our eyeballs are focused on a 2.75”x5” screen (yes, I just measured my phone), getting your emails or social media posts noticed can be a challenge.  Start with the KISS principle.  Keeping it simple means it’s short.  Wrapping the subject text to the next line risks losing your audience’s attention.  It also means they won’t have to work too hard to understand the jist of the piece; it’s to the point and not too clever.  If you want them to engage further or follow-through on a survey or deeper article, include a link rather than the whole piece.  We’ll learn more about KPIs next week at the Winter Meeting!

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…Good grief!  Did anyone else see that the $200 in-car karaoke system (comes with 2 mics each) sold out in a day?  I may not be thinking about this right, but do you really need a mic at all?  I mean, you’re alone in your car – or with a no more than 3-4 people – can’t you just sing?  I’m an NPR junkie, but that doesn’t mean I don’t hum along to the bumper music.  I’m just doing it with $200 still in my wallet!

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

I hope you’ve had a chance to check out the newly upgraded NATLE website.  We have corrected a handful of faulty links and made additional improvements throughout the week based on member input, so please let us know if you spot any other areas that need work.  Highlighting the Member Resources tab, it is the gateway to documents that had been part of the Justice Resource Center and the Library.  You must be logged in to access these documents.  The existing material is fairly dated and needs a fresh infusion of new material.  To add a document, simply click on the Upload Document link.  PDFs allow a user to view the document without needing to download, whereas Word docs don’t, so please upload pdfs whenever possible.

The 2022 Winter Meeting has almost 45 registrants at this point for the virtual program.  The brochure gets frequent updates as new information comes in on AAJ’s programming as well as links for accommodations for those attending the in-person sessions.  Highlighting one panel, membership models is a topic as part of the Winter Meeting, what works and what doesn’t.  (Click here to register!)  Is an organizational membership the right move for your association?  It may double the membership coming from one small firm, but how do you structure the pricing to be fair?  A larger membership is attractive to sponsors, so there’s an additional economic consideration.  Bring your questions and experience to the discussion on Tuesday, Feb 8 and Wednesday, Feb 9.

This is a short edition of the Weekly Wrap as the website occupied most of my time, but know that planning is happening for the upcoming Strategic Planning session, Annual Meeting, Leadership Symposium and even the GAC!  Planning Committees are forming and getting to work on timely topics and fabulous events.

Good Practice:  Covering some of the expenses incurred by employees in this WFH era can help you stand out as an employer where the job-seeker is in the driver’s seat.  I look back at emails with colleagues and friends from April and May of 2020, and think to myself, “Who would have guessed that we’d still be here two years later?”  In many cases, any get-back-into-the-office date has been pushed off several times by now, and even a hybrid model can seem like shark-infested territory when employees resistant to the idea have ample opportunities to jump ship.  (Sorry, enough with the nautical theme and back to the expenses...)  If cell phones are the only mode of making calls, consider a stipend to help bridge the added cost to the employee.  Same with internet connectivity.  Talk with your association’s tax professional before jumping on board (sorry) since stipends paid in advance are taxable, whereas reimbursements are not.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. in case you’re still here…my free COVID tests that I ordered early last week still aren’t here and my KN95 masks – in pink – will take a month to arrive.  Maybe they’re actually coming from Korea.

We are gathering proposals from facilitators for the Strategic Planning session to be held just prior to the Annual Meeting in Seattle.  If you’ve had a great experience with a facilitator in your TLA, please share contact info, as well as any other information you’re willing to pass along, ie. fee (range is fine), timeline, components (survey, final report) provided by the facilitator, etc.

This new NATLE website contains several new and resurrected features, such as the speaker database that had been part of the old site, but will include several more relevant fields, like fee and contact info (for speaker and submitter), and be fully searchable.  The new member-specific myNATLE page brings you to a personal dashboard to easily see your recent searches, uploaded documents, outstanding invoices, and committee materials.

The 2022 NATLE Winter Meeting is planned for February and will be split between a virtual and an in-person option.  We will hold sessions virtually Tuesday, February 8th and Wednesday, February 9th.  For those attending the AAJ convention in Palm Springs, NATLE will be holding sessions both Sunday, February 13th and Monday, February 14th.  You can learn more about the programs here.