NATLE FYI

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

A Working Group met this week to begin brainstorming topics that might go into a recorded webinar series I’ve temporarily dubbed, Membership 101.  If you’re interested in getting in on the early stages and/or contributing your thoughts and experiences with training/onboarding membership staff, we will be sharing ideas via Google docs until we meet again.  Let me know if you want “in” and look for more information to come out at the Annual Meeting.

AAJ Senior Researcher, David Ratcliff, shared his slides from this week’s 4th Monday Zoom Series session.  Access is restricted to members, so you must be logged in to retrieve the documents.  He also sent a summary of AAJ’s new report on the insurance industry’s record-breaking profits.

The opening speaker at our Annual Meeting is Beth Ziesnis (she goes by Beth Z to save us the embarrassment of bungling her name), and her presentation is, “Beyond ChatPT: 24 Fabulously Fresh Ways to Use Generative AI for TLA Professionals”.  If you have questions you’d like to have answered or a particular demonstration of how to use AI, there’s still time to make suggestions so she can be prepared for us.  I’ve given her some direction on what we would like to learn, but it would be great to give her your ideas of how you want to use AI.

We are exactly three weeks away from our Annual Meeting and I have provided the current AAJ registration list to the executive directors.  I will request (and forward) an updated list on Monday, July 8.  Our brochure now includes the latest details on our Social Event at Pinewood Nashville on Sunday evening.  This is a ticketed event, so let me know if you don’t already have them in your registration confirmation.  The event page also contains links to AAJ registration (a must-do for NATLE registrants, too!) and hotel information, as well as NATLE registration.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…this will drop in your inbox too late to point your sights skyward for the first of two asteroids that will zip by earth between now and Saturday morning.  Yesterday afternoon’s rock would have been too hard to see without a strong scope, but if you’re in the SW or in Hawaii, and an early riser, check out the skies around 4:45amPST tomorrow.  You might see the dully-named “2024 MK” streak by at a distance of a mere 188,000 miles – that’s closer than the moon, btw!  This is neat to observe, but is anyone else freaked out that the astro geeks only discovered these asteroids less than two weeks ago??

P.P.S. Happy Drive Your Corvette to Work Day!  That sounds fun…who’s with me?  Definitely more of a party than National Insurance Awareness Day...yeesh.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

The NATLE Executive Committee and a few members the Board met with Chris Bennett from The Spark Mill to understand the options for administering a follow-up to the ED Compensation Survey, as well as revisiting and rejuvenating the Strategic Plan.  More on this when it becomes available.

AAJ Senior Researcher, David Ratcliff, will join us on Monday with a preview of their new report on the insurance industry’s record-breaking profits, as well and an update on the pesticide immunity legislation.  Register for our 4th Monday Zoom Series (4pmET / 3pmCT / 2pmMT / 1pmPT).  These sessions are not recorded, so please register another NATLE member if you can not attend.

I signed up for a free webinar held yesterday, hosted by PropFuel, that featured our Annual Meeting speaker, Beth Z.  The topic was “AI’s Most Awesome, Outrageous, and Astounding Tools: 2024 Edition” and tended toward videos and voice cloning.  This won’t be the focus of her presentation with us, but I’ve given her some direction on what we would like to learn.  There’s still time to make suggestions so send me an email describing a few ideal examples you’d like to see so we can make this a relevant and on-point session.

We are exactly four weeks away from our Annual Meeting and the brochure has been updated with the latest details on our Social Event – moved to Sunday evening!  Pinewood Nashville has plenty for everyone – indoor/outdoor space with casual seating, plus several lanes of bowling – and stay tuned for information on live music!  Sponsored by TrialSmith and Counsel Financial, this is always a highlight of our after-hours time together.  This is a ticketed event, so let me know if you don’t already have them in your registration confirmation.  The event page also contains links to AAJ registration and hotel information, as well as NATLE registration.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I may be the only one on the planet who didn’t watch “Sex and the City” when it was on HBO beginning in the late 90s.  Now that that period is in the rearview mirror, what is it about the [pop-] culture references that stirs the nostalgia?  Is it the aerial images of Manhattan with the twin towers, the shoulder pads, or the cringy up-close camera angles?  Despite the sometimes shallow and definitely crass dialog, the characters chew over situations common to many women – be they dating, aging, or bodily functions.  I’ve only just started Season 3, but I was hooked when Carrie “breaks the fourth wall” and talks directly to the viewer.  In real life, she’s only a few years older than I am and I love that she’s been married for almost three decades to one of my favorite actors, Matthew Broderick.  (…side note bonus…"Ferris Bueller’s Day Off" has always been my go-to feel-go od movie since it came out the year I graduated from high school.)  The show also reminds me of how grateful I am to live where I can hear birds chirping, neighbors mowing their lawns, and watching the sun set over the Adirondacks.  It beats sirens and steaming manhole covers any day of the week.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Details about the Social Event during the Annual Meeting in Nashville are being confirmed, so watch your email for an announcement next week.  It may shift to Sunday and sounds like it will be a ton of fun.  At this point, you have hopefully reserved your accommodations.  The brochure has the latest information on speakers and locations of the events.  You will also find links to AAJ registration and hotel information, as well as NATLE registration.  Executive Directors, if you can’t attend, please consider sending a member of your staff!

The Planning Committee is beginning to lay out the agenda for the Leah S. Guerry Governmental Affairs Conference.  Save the date now for November 10-12 for a great program at the Hotel Viking in Newport, Rhode Island.

I just started following a couple dozen TLAs on Instragram in a new approach toward connectedness, for lack of a better word.  I will keep an eye on posts and when the opportunity comes along, bring TLAs together that might be facing a similar legislative or membership issue, for example.  A member search on NATLE.org provides social media addresses, so if you want your colleagues to be able to find your TLA highlights and shared moments, add the info to your record.

ICYMI: The date and location of the 2025 Winter Meeting has changed!  Held alongside AAJ’s program, the NATLE meeting will now be February 15-16 in Miami at the Fontainebleau Hotel.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…The movie E.T. came out 42 years ago this week…do you remember where you were?  It was the summer before my freshman year in high school and I was on vacation on Cape Cod with Mom and the mother-daughter pair that lived across the street from us when we were all living in Bristol, England a few years earlier.  We watched it one night and came back to our 2-story, 2-bedroom, 1-bath rental.  Stephanie was (well, still is) a few years younger and had the idea for the two of us to “camp out” in the downstairs living room that night.  It was very dark when I felt her tapping my shoulder to wake me up.  She had to go to the bathroom, but was too scared to go upstairs by herself.  I guess the E.T. puppet gave her the willies.  Anyway, I didn’t feel like being her escort, so I told her she was on her own.  Turns out I should have been a better friend because she instead pulled up a chair and peed in the kitche n sink.  Too bad we lost touch, I’d love to ask her if she remembers that as well as I do

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Per the new opt-out rules for emails, you will see a "Manage Preferences" link at the bottom of all future Blasts.  I’ve attempted to make the options within each “type” as specific as possible so that you don’t inadvertently opt out of emails you still might like to see.  I’m open to suggestions, so let me know.

Details about the Social Event during the Annual Meeting in Nashville are close to confirmed, so watch your email for an announcement next week.  If you’ve been waiting on that information before registering for the NATLE program, we can add tickets to your registration at a later date.  The most crucial piece is to reserve your accommodations.  The brochure has the latest information on speakers and locations of the events.  You will also find links to AAJ registration and hotel information, as well as NATLE registration.  Executive Directors, if you can’t attend, please consider sending a member of your staff!

Please be aware that the bad actors who have time to send spam emails from – in the latest case – a NATLE Board member, are at it again.  Requests seem to refer to a need to make payroll changes.  The names of our Board are available on our website, so it’s not a stretch to make it sound legit. 

Date and location change of the 2025 Winter Meeting!  Held alongside AAJ’s program, the NATLE meeting will now be February 15-16 in Miami at the Fontainebleau Hotel.

Just a reminder that most of our Zoom sessions are recorded and accessible (once you’re logged in) under the Events tab.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…It is with a mixture of revulsion and glee, topped with a heavy dollop of adrenaline, that I write yet another episode in the ongoing saga of my apparent skunk infestation.  In the wee hours of yesterday morning, the unmistakable smell of a skunk that’s either met an enemy or its maker invaded my bedroom.  I couldn’t see it in the road, so I suffered the odor until it dissipated.  No lingering smell by morning, so all’s good.  We haven’t had rain in a few days, so I went out at lunchtime to water my tomato and pepper plants.  My brain may have registered a slightly familiar odor – I bet you see where I'm going – but I was a bit slow on the uptake since I was practically on top of it before I saw it.  As with the last close encounter, my language was less than lady-like, but my reflexes are solid.  I jumped back at first, until I saw that it was a very young skunk and covered with flies, so dead.  I pulled on my Big Girl pants, grabbed a shovel from the garage, and headed back out there to play the part of an adult homeowner.  I paused to capture the Kodak moment and then thought better of assuming it was dead.  Forget the BG pants, I went full Damsel-In-Distress.  Aiming to nudge my otherwise very manly neighbor into taking care of it, he suggested covering it with a bag and waved “good luck”.  Ugh, fine.  I followed his advice – that I’d actually thought of first, but let him feel like he was contributing – and scooped the critter into another garbage bag.  It was trash day and it wasn’t 10 minutes after I’d added the bag to the pile at the bottom of my driveway that the garbage truck came.  I was shaking throughout the whole excavation, transfer, and tie-off-the-bag operation, and unnecessarily dreaded getting caught by the trash guy.  If you choose to forward my name to the local health department for improperly disposing of hazardous waste, I’ll accept my punishment without a twinge of regret.  Burying the evidence was the farthest thing from my mind.  Besides, I wasn’t thinking rationally beyond keeping one twitchy eye on the bag I used to cover it and the other eye on the lookout for Mama.

P.P.S. Happy National Donut Day!  (though, maybe you don’t have an appetite after that story.)

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The Nominating Committee met this week to review the nominees to the Board of Directors.  A slate was approved, the nominees have been notified, and the vote by the membership will take place at the Membership Business Meeting (MBM) in Nashville.  The slate will be included in the MBM agenda packet that will be distributed in the next few weeks (ByLaws Art. VII Sec 1).

We are exactly seven weeks out from our Annual Meeting and the speakers are excited to share with you their experiences and engage you in discussions about situations you have or may encounter as TLA staff.  Onboarding and orienting new board members, recruiting and onboarding new TLA members, learning lessons from a new CEO/executive director, and dealing with difficult people.  These are just some of the sessions we have lined up in Nashville!  The brochure has the latest information on speakers and locations of the events.  You will also find links to AAJ registration and hotel information, as well as NATLE registration.

Welcome (again!) to our new members, Katie Justice (Louisiana Association for Justice) and Lexi Henry (Ohio Association for Justice).

Just a reminder that our Zoom session with Jeff Tenenbaum about antitrust issues faced by associations is available, along with sample documents and a transcript of the session on our website.  NOTE: Jeff forwarded two new sample documents this week that are now linked from the Zoom Series page under the Events tab.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…“34” is my new favorite number.  I celebrated like Rocky on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art…hopping up and down, fists raised.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Our Zoom session with Jeff Tenenbaum on Monday was an extremely useful way to spend 75 minutes.  The recording, sample documents, and soon-to-be-added transcript, are available on our website.

Panelists who are part of our Annual Meeting lineup have been meeting to talk about their sessions and how to bring out the most relevant takeaways that you can begin to employ immediately.  If you’re on the fence about attending, let me know if you have any questions, and if you haven’t yet registered, you may receive a call from a NATLE Board member encouraging you to sign up!  The brochure is frequently updated to include information as it comes in, like the location of the events.  You will also find links to AAJ registration and hotel information, as well as NATLE registration.  As additional speaker bios come in, keep an eye out for new Panel Profile blasts.

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great long weekend and please join me in appreciating those we remember this Memorial Day,

P.S. In case you’re still here…I was on my front porch early one evening this week, watering the hanging geraniums.  I was making my way to the last pot when I caught a glimpse of the neighbor’s cat lurking in the Hosta just beyond the end of the porch.  He usually takes off like a shot as soon as I open the door, so this was odd that he was not moving.   My mother had a colorful vocabulary when it came to sayings, such as describing a particularly furious thunder and lightning storm as a “real ripsnorter”.  Mom may not have blushed at my choice of sayings, but it wasn’t nearly so polite when I realized that the furry white back belonged to a skunk.  It was a mere four feet away and I was the one to take off like a shot.  With my stomach around my slippers and my brain reset to survive-at-all-cost mode, time slowed down and it felt like it took forever to fumble open the screen door to escape inside.  I didn’t even think to put down the watering can.  It sloshed inside with me as I ran to the kitchen to get the spray bottle loaded with vinegar from a few weeks ago.  I crept out the front door again and carefully peered over the edge of the porch, but it was gone.  I still sprayed for good measure because that was a close call I don’t care to repeat.  I do some of my best thinking when I’m mowing the lawn or weeding the flower gardens.  I don’t like feeling like I have to be hyper vigilant or concentrate just to avoid intruders.  (If you’re saying to yourself, “enough of the skunk stories, Jenn”, believe me…I’m hoping this is the last one, too!)

P.P.S.  Happy National Wyoming Day!  Yah, it's a thing.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

There is still time to submit your questions, concerns, and issues that you’d like Jeff Tenenbaum to address.  Our Zoom session with Jeff is set for Monday, May 20 at 4pmET and we have over an hour with him to get all of your questions answered related to association antitrust issues and how to avoid allegations of collusion.  The conversation originated on our ListServ along with a suggestion for an expert to join us to answer questions.  Of course you are free to ask your questions live!

The brochure for the Annual Meeting has been uploaded to the website and contains links to AAJ registration and hotel information, as well as NATLE registration.  As additional speaker bios come in, keep an eye out for new Panel Profile blasts.

MemberCentral held a webinar this week about the soon-to-be-enacted requirement for an opt-out feature in blasts.  (The feature already exists for Listservs, so no action is needed for Lists.)  It was less than an hour and Cole walked us through the steps to setting up the feature for your various List types, ie. fundraising, events, etc.  Be sure to avoid having only one “global” opt-out option!

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I think one of the homeschoolers next door has taken up an instrument.  It’s not the unmistakable squeak of a violin or the shriek of a recorder – the kind that sets your teeth on edge – but it’s definitely not the in-tune harmony I enjoyed when the twins on the other side and their younger sister belted out selections from Taylor Swift’s top 10.  I don’t have perfect pitch, by any means, but when a voice or instrument is out of tune, you feel it.  I’m feeling it in my scalp, it seems, and it’s just adding insult to injury today.  I spent a few hours after work on Wednesday weeding the Hosta garden in front of the ravine in the backyard.  “Ravine” sounds grand, but when we moved into this house in 1972, that’s what my parents dubbed the natural pit that’s 8’ wide, 20’ long, and 4’ deep, and the name stuck.  They transplanted trillium and Jack-in-the-pulpit plants that have thrived in 50 years.  It’s also a bit of an archaeological wonder, well, more like a time capsule from the 60s.  Planting irises one year, I dug up medicine bottles, (empty) Red Stripe beer cans with the pull tabs, and an intact light bulb that survived my shovel because of its thick glass.  Anyway, there’s nothing like a little weeding to remind you of the muscles you haven’t used since last summer.  This time, when digging, I came across a few tennis ball-sized holes that I hoped weren’t skunk outposts and kept my haunches coiled to flea at the first sight of a pointy black snout.  So, add in a little adrenaline, and I ache all over.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

I’m excited that we have a Zoom session on the books to get all of your questions answered related to antitrust issues.  The conversation originated on our ListServ along with a suggestion for Jeff Tenenbaum as an expert, so we have him for over an hour on Monday, May 20 at 4pmET.  Please submit your questions, concerns, and issues that you’d like to have addressed by next Tuesday, May 14.  (We have a working group assembled to compile and expand, if necessary, the submitted scenarios.)

The brochure for the Annual Meeting has been uploaded to the website and contains links to AAJ registration and hotel information, as well as NATLE registration.  As additional speaker bios come in, keep an eye out for new Panel Profile blasts.

Thank you to those who replied with intentions for attending the Winter Meeting in Puerto Rico.  We will forward any details as soon as they’re available.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…on a few mornings this week I spotted a big black kitty ambling through my backyard.  It’s not so unusual to see the neighbor’s tuxedo cat prowling around the leaf pile where the chipmunks hang out.  What caught my eye that first morning was the wide white stripe down the middle of kitty’s back and tail.  Yah…and it was big.  I grabbed my handy binoculars meant for bird watching and lost its trail around the woodpile.  The second morning, I saw where it went in.  I quickly Googled skunk repellants and settled on white vinegar.  (Coffee grounds also work, but I didn’t feel like taking the time to crack open my used Kcups.)  I loaded a spray bottle with vinegar and crept out to the woodpile.  My sense of hearing was in hyperdrive – I wanted to know if Pepe heard me coming – so when the A/C compressor for the townhouse over the back fence clicked on with a hiss, I nearly jumped out of my skin.  I quickly discharged the ammunition from a safe distance and retreated to my office perch on the second floor.  For the third morning, my bottle was reloaded and ready, but there hasn’t been another sighting of the interloper.  White vinegar, people, it works for all kinds of problems!

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

Since I’ve been out of the office this week, I thought I’d list a few things that are in the works for upcoming programs.

    • Antitrust discussion and session with an attorney – tentatively scheduled for 5/20, more info to come.
    • Membership 101 Webinar re onboarding new membership development staff, new TLA member recruitment and orientation, as well as a MemberCentral primer.
    • Planning has already begun for the Winter Meeting in Puerto Rico, so AAJ is asking about our expected attendance – I’ll send out a quick survey next week to collect a rough tally of those planning to be there.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I knew I’d get in a lot of walking over the last week on the riverboat cruise and the daily excursions, but 117,000 steps exceeded my wildest guess.  I signed up for the “active” options, like walking from the ship up to the castle or the faster-paced tours around the cities that were built in the Middle Ages.  I’ll never get used to the history in Europe…there are churches, fortresses and castles that have stood for over a thousand years.  Unfortunately, we saw many fewer than there would have been had Louis XIV of France not destroyed the majority of them along the Rhine River.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Congratulations to our Townsend Scholarship Awardees for the Annual Meeting.  The Committee selected Bonnie Benitez, CEO of the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, and Barbara Jorden, Executive Director of the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association.

TLA Presidents receive a 50% discount on the AAJ Annual Meeting registration fee, so please let your folks know to use promo code: 1STLAP when signing up.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I used to be a great flyer.  My mother used to like telling the story about how she lied to the airline about my age in order to get me on a flight out to Michigan for her brother’s wedding.  I was three weeks old and you had to be one month.  Anyway, when I was growing up, we flew all the time and I was blissfully ignorant of any flaws in planes that could interfere with a smooth flight.  Such was not the case on our flight out of Dulles on Monday.  We were over an hour out when the captain came on to let us know that the plane was experiencing a “maintenance issue” and we had to return to Dulles.  A little later, he came back on to say it was a fuel leak and, not to worry, but the protocol for returning planes in these situations is to be met by fire trucks…lots of fire trucks.  I haven’t had “fun” flying since 9/11 and I try not to catastrophize, but my mind couldn’t help picturing a 737-sized fi reball coming in for a landing.  I shouldn’t have worried and we survived.  We sat for a few hours while our replacement plane was cleaned and the luggage transferred.  Thankfully, our layover in Munich was more than enough to absorb the five-hour delay and we arrived on time in Luxembourg.  So far, we’ve been through Trier, Old Town Luxembourg (the Duke and his entourage drove by our group four times, once being just as we were in front of the palace...our tour guide was thrilled at the serendipity), and this morning was a hike up to Reichsburg Castle.