NATLE FYI

OOO Note:  I know it’s not normal, but I feel guilty taking vacation.  When VC called me three years ago with the job offer, I actually declined a fourth week of vacation and said “I’d be happy starting with three since I've always found it hard to spend even that amount”.  Anyway, I’ll be taking another riverboat cruise with a gaggle of friends, one of whom is my loud-snoring friend who came with me on the first riverboat cruise in October 2021.  (I love ‘er to death, but I have my own stateroom this time.)  I will have my laptop and from what I can tell, there’s a six-hour difference between the east coast and central Europe, so there will be a delay in most replies.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The Annual Meeting agenda is getting fleshed out with speakers and panelists.  I don’t think I’m painting with too broad a brush when I say that every TLA puts on conferences of various sizes and at some point deals with hotels, A/V providers, and F&B.  Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could take your meeting specs and come back to you with a compiled list of options that fit your budget?  Then, they’d sweat the details in the contract, look out for your best interests, and negotiate on your behalf?  They’d also help you hash out any issues during the conference and/or with the final invoice.  If you’re not already working with a meeting and event management company, your wishes have come true!  Ricky Hopkins with ConferenceDirect will join us on Saturday morning to highlight the benefits of working with a partner who really knows the industry.

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.

The deadline to nominate a colleague to the NATLE Board of Directors is next Friday, May 3rd.  A Call for Nominations is a short form to let the Nominating Committee know of your choice.  Current Board members must complete this form if they wish to be considered to stay on the Board.

The 4th Monday Zoom Series is on pause for April, but we are working on a great session for May.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I’ve mentioned my exercise studio, Pure Barre, in this space before, but its importance in my life hit me in the face last week when talking with family who was visiting to view the eclipse.  I realized with a chuckle that the studio is a common denominator in so many of my stories involving friends and experiences.  It got to the point where I’d pause in a story and say “altogether now” and the three of us would chime in “Pure Barre”.  Yes, after almost seven years, it’s a community that has given me friends for life.  Its importance also hit me in the gut this past Tuesday when I arrived for the 5:45pm class.  I learned that one of these friends had died that morning.  Somehow, we got through the class, but we were in shock and just went through the motions.  We had just seen her on Saturday, laughing and being her usual beautiful, positive self.  The cause of death hasn’t been shared, yet, but we’re guessing that she had an undiagnosed heart defect.  I mean, what else could it be?  She’s a few years younger than I am and could do the best pushups and lunges with the rest of us.  The loss hasn’t sunk in, but my heart goes out to her husband and two kids, a high schooler and college student.  It should go without saying, but, hug your loved ones.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Our Zoom session with AAJ’s State Affairs at 1pmET this afternoon will cover Med Mal Caps and Polling Data from New Mexico.  Guest presenter, Stephen Clermont of Change Research, will join us.  Register to receive the zoom link.

The Annual Meeting brochure is drafted and the final details are getting confirmed.  We are excited about our keynote speaker, Beth Z, who is local to the Nashville area.  If you haven’t yet stuck a toe into the AI pool or were an early adopter, she’ll share her favorite sites and apps to get you started and up your game.  Her preferred audiences are associations and she does her research ahead of time in order to gear her presentation to be targeted and relevant.

The deadline to nominate a colleague to the NATLE Board of Directors is May 3rd.  A Call for Nominations is a short form to let the Nominating Committee know of your choice.

Spring brings a wave of new beginnings and it includes a warm welcome to our newest members (since March 1st):  Nadia Aparicio, Dielle Telada, Julia Defaria, Mac Hubbard, and Anna McKnight!

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I have to admit, Monday’s total eclipse was really special.  I’ve seen a few partials in my lifetime, but they don’t hold a candle to the ability to take off the special glasses for those few minutes to admire the breathtaking, ethereal beauty of the corona.  I looked around at my fellow baskers to see that this was truly an experience beyond the partisan strife and worldly conflicts splitting us apart.  This brought us all together for an afternoon with the knowledge that most of us will only see it once and we needed to enjoy it to the fullest.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Our Zoom session with AAJ’s State Affairs next Friday will cover Med Mal Caps and Polling Data from New Mexico.  Guest presenter, Stephen Clermont of Change Research, will join us.  Register for the zoom link and to save the date and time in your calendar.

The Strategic Planning team for Goal 2.3 Elevate Membership Outreach & Engagement is meeting this afternoon to begin brainstorming ways to reinvigorate NATLE’s new member onboarding process.  If you have templates, timelines, and/or tried ‘n true methods, please share!

The Annual Meeting planning committee met yesterday to finalize the lineup of topics and speakers, so the brochure is taking shape.  While we firm up the order of the sessions, please make your hotel reservations even if you’re on the fence about attending – room blocks tend to fill up quickly and NATLE has no negotiating position.

Don’t write off attending the Annual Meeting if you feel it’s not in your budget.  Submit a Scholarship application – before the end of today.  The selection committee will award the funds to an applicant to cover the cost of travel, hotel, and conference registration!

A Call for Nominations to the NATLE Board of Directors has a deadline of May 3^rd.  If you – or you know of someone who – would make a great addition to the leadership and direction of NATLE, complete this short form to let the Nominating Committee know.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…and ICYMI somehow, there’s an eclipse happening on Monday and northern Vermont is in the path of totality.  The last time that happened here, it was 1932.  With all the hype about the event, you’d think Beyoncé was coming to town.  Our little state, population 643k, is expecting up to 200k visitors.  Most of the schools have decided to shut down for the whole day, not because of the three minutes of darkness, but because of the potential traffic.  My sister-in-law and her older daughter are driving up from Durham, NC on Sunday to be here for the experience.  Dear Readers, I’ll have my phone with me (of course) on Monday at 3:26pmET, but will step away from my computer.  I’m planning to take a walk with my visitors up to a park above my neighborhood that has a stunning 150^o view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks to the west.  Now, fingers crossed that the weather report for clear skies turns out to be right so all of this build-up will have been worth it.

P.P.S. It’s National Self Care Day!  Go for a walk, take a deep breath, or get a manicure.  Oh, the possibilities…

Good Morning and Happy (Good) Friday!

The 4th Monday Zoom Series on Monday was a well-attended and very informative presentation by Hallie Kennedy, NCAJ’s Senior Director of Membership & Strategic Initiatives.  The recording (and passcode) is available via our website.  Log in and find “Zoom Series” under the Events tab.  Hear how she turned their one-off vendor sponsorships into a vibrant annual program and tripled their revenue!

Speaker profile blasts are beginning to roll out as we book presenters for our Annual Meeting.  First up is Megan Whiteside with The Ethics of Mindfulness.  We included her bio in the announcement, but I’ll forward a blurb on her topic as soon as it lands here.  We just signed a contract this morning with Beth Z, also known as Your Nerdy Best Friend.  She is a self-described AI expert and tech guru who will give us practical uses of AI for TLA professionals.  Her profile will go out once I receive her bio.

Don’t write off attending the Annual Meeting if you feel it’s not in your budget.  Submit a Scholarship application until April 5 that will cover the cost of travel, hotel, and conference registration!

A Call for Nominations to the NATLE Board of Directors went out last week with a deadline of May 3rd.  If you – or you know of someone who – would make a great addition to the leadership and direction of NATLE, complete this short form to let the Nominating Committee know.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I meant to add in my last post about The Name of the Rose…if you get a chance to see the movie, the set for the library tower has a staircase that would tie M.C. Escher’s brain in knots.  And, yes, I had a poster of Escher’s Relativity on the wall of my college dorm…next to posters of a black Lamborghini Countach and the Soloflex guy.  It was the mid 80s, what can I say?

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The Annual Meeting Planning Committee met this week to continue brainstorming the topics and speakers for Nashville.  We’ve heard your appreciation for Roundtable sessions and have built in a handful to discuss membership recruitment/retention, what’s new in CLEs, engaging members in events other than CLE, and how to deal with difficult people.  Ringler Associates has committed to sponsoring the Membership Luncheon on the Sunday of our Annual Meeting and our new Gold Justice Partner, Physician Life Care Planning is sponsoring a break.  I have asked Esquire Bank to sponsor the Working Lunch on Saturday, explaining that feedback from conference evaluations says that time is valuable and scattering for lunch breaks the momentum.  Scholarship applications may be submitted until April 5.

The first Call for Nominations to the NATLE Board of Directors was distributed yesterday with a deadline of May 3rd.  There is a new form this year for the nominees to complete to help the Nominating Committee in their decision–making.

The 4th Monday Zoom Series is running this coming Monday at 4pmET with a presentation by Hallie Kennedy, NCAJ’s Senior Director of Membership & Strategic Initiatives. She’ll tell us how NCAJ turned their one-off vendor sponsorships into a vibrant annual program and tripled their revenue.  We have over 40 members registered and I’ll send a reminder on Monday.

Our Zoom Series recordings are available via our website.  Log in and find “Zoom Series” under the Events tab.  Recordings date back to May 2022.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I love historical fiction.  Throw in a mysterious murder and I find it simply irresistible.  My favorite book is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.  It takes place in the 14th century, set in an Italian monastery.  My fandom for the book only grew when I found the movie version starring Sean Connery and a very young Christian Slater.  My fascination with the period started when Mom and I lived in England during my sixth grade year – she took a sabbatical to join the cancer research team at the University of Bristol.  We didn’t have a car, but the public transportation system made getting around a breeze.  Almost every weekend, we’d ride our bikes to the nearest train station for a fun journey to check out Stonehenge, the British Museum, White Horse Hill, and the Roman baths in…well, Bath.  As to the book, I don’t know if it’s reading about the depth of the religious fervor that drove the Inquisition to root out heresy or the methods of torture used to extract “confessions”.  Maybe it’s the medieval era and the castle architecture with thought given to defense, like the narrow windows, or arrowslits, for archers, and the openings above the entry gates for pouring hot oil down on invaders.  It’s incredibly barbaric.  Stoking my interest in what constituted methods of “getting at the truth”, were visits to the Tower of London.  It’s hard to explain, but it’s just plain mind-boggling how human beings treated each other.  I considered taking a spin on the rack to make me taller, but they frown on touching the goods.  My teacher, Miss Poole, at the Ashton Park Lower School started every Monday with an invitation to her students to talk about what we did over the weekend.  After a few weeks, my classmates would just turn in their seats to look at me to start things off knowing that I’d had the most interesting adventures.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

TrialSmith/Counsel Financial has committed to sponsoring a Social Event on the Saturday of our Annual Meeting in Nashville.  The details are in-progress and will be shared the instant they’re available.  We have invited Ringler Associates to again sponsor the Membership Luncheon on Sunday and a letter to our other Justice Partners will go out ASAP with the remaining opportunities.

A Call for Nominations to the NATLE Board of Directors is in draft form – look for it early next week.

The 4th Monday Zoom Series this month is March 25th at 4pmET with a presentation by Hallie Kennedy, NCAJ’s Senior Director of Membership & Strategic Initiatives. She’ll tell us how NCAJ turned their one-off vendor sponsorships into a vibrant annual program and tripled their revenue.  We have almost 40 members registered and I’ll send a reminder on Monday.

Our Zoom Series recordings are available via our website.  Log in and find “Zoom Series” under the Events tab. Recordings date back to May 2022.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…WARNING! The following contains a vague description of insect extermination; creepy crawly conservationists may opt to skip this week. Do you ever have one of those days when you whack a spider on the ceiling directly above your bed and, when you think you've collected the flattened carcass left behind on the ceiling in a tissue, the spider vanishes? I searched. I flicked the comforter from eye level to see if anything moved. I even looked up my sleeves. I was determined, but my efforts were fruitless. I found no evidence there’d even been a spider.  I had a hard time getting to sleep that night, not just because I couldn't find the spider, but because I wasn't 100% certain my whack eliminated the intruder. Et tu, Arachne? (Sorry, I know I’m mixing my English lit and Greek mythology, but I couldn’t resist. Beware the Ides of March!)

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The Planning Committee for the Annual Meeting in July is met this week to kick-off the brainstorming.  You can expect to see topics on AI, membership, and leadership development programs.  Plus, we’re scheduling in time to visit the exhibit hall and will make it fun and impactful…more to come!

Please join the conversation on Zoom this afternoon (1pmET) with AAJ’s State Affairs.  The topic is the Alabama IVF Immunity bill. This bill is a concern if it gets filed in other states and becomes a national campaign.  We'll walk through the bill and the process, as well as outline the concerns and talking points to push back if this comes up anywhere else.  (Our bonus Zoom Series episode with Asana is postponed due to unforeseen personnel issues.)

The 4th Monday Zoom Series is back on schedule on March 25th at 4pmET with a presentation by Hallie Kennedy, NCAJ’s Senior Director of Membership & Strategic Initiatives. She’ll tell us how NCAJ turned their one-off vendor sponsorships into a vibrant annual program and tripled their revenue.

Our Zoom Series recordings are available via our website.  Log in and find “Zoom Series” under the Events tab.

You may have seen a recent email from Mary at the National Civil Justice Institute (formerly the Pound CJI).  She has asked us to make sure you all received their notice seeking nominations for their Annual Advocacy Award. The deadline is March 25.  Reach out to Mary at Mary.Collishaw@ncji.org if you need more info.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I rarely succumb to the digital ads that come with my NYT subscription, but one recently caught my eye.  I’ll be taking a couple very long flights next month on either end of a vacation (more on that in a future PS), and I’ve always envied my fellow passengers who nap comfortably with a neck pillow.  For short flights, it didn’t seem worth the real estate it would take up in my luggage, but for an 8-hour flight I'm willing to reconsider.  It’s a bit odd looking, but the clincher in favor of the Pluto Pod is the added blackout hood.  It means I won’t have to suffer the side-eye glances from those around me.  And, even though I don’t snore…at least, I don’t think I snore, it might muffle the occasional snort or snuffle.  (The link is for the Pluto Pod curious.)

P.P.S. Happy International Women’s Day.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The Planning Committee for the Annual Meeting in July is meeting next week, so now is the time to suggest themes and/or topics and speakers!

We are getting a bonus episode in our usual Zoom Series offerings.  Responding to recent traffic on the Listserv about Asana and staff/task management platforms in general, we are holding an interstitial session of our Zoom Series on March 8th at 2pmET. This will be a 2-parter starting with an introduction to the platform by Anthony Salas, a representative from Asana’s Enterprise Development & Support group. The second portion of the session will be an interactive discussion about your experience with staff/task management platforms. If you use them or have questions, please join the conversation.

The 4th Monday Zoom Series is back on schedule on March 25th at 4pmET with a presentation by Hallie Kennedy, NCAJ’s Senior Director of Marketing & Strategic Initiatives. She’ll tell us how NCAJ turned their one-off vendor sponsorships into a vibrant annual program and tripled their revenue.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…it’s been called “a once-in-a-lifetime event”.  No, not the eclipse, though I think I’ll be 111 when the next one rolls around my ‘hood.  No, I’m referring to the convergence of two cicada broods, the 13-year and 17-year groups, that will surface from their lengthy diet of tree roots at the same time this year.  Not everyone will witness this phenomenon since it will occur mostly in the Midwest and central East coast, but experts are talking about hundreds of billions of insects making the most of a monthlong courtship.  Some of you have heard my DC cicada story, so here’s a recap.  Back in 1998, the ATLA/NATLE Annual Conference was in DC and a small group of us walked from the Sofitel, I think it was, to the White House.  We stayed long enough to snap a few photos, but what I thought was an obnoxiously loud counter-espionage buzz coming from speakers hidden in the trees along the wrought iron border fence , made us move along to the next monument.  Turns out it was nothing so sophisticated, but rather a recently-emerged clutch of randy cicadas hoping to woo a mate.

P.P.S. Looking out to my backyard between the monitors on my desk, I see that the red-winged blackbirds are back in town and the chipmunks are getting frisky…is it Spring already?

P.P.P.S. It’s Women’s History Month. Appreciate the women in your life, be they family, friends, or foes…they’ve all had a hand in shaping who we are today.

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

The Winter Meeting wrapped up almost two weeks ago and the evaluations have trickled off. This seems like a good space to address a few other opposite-end-of-the-spectrum comments from the anonymous submissions. The Winter Meeting runs on a bare bones budget and I try to get the breakfasts and breaks covered with the help of sponsors. With the smaller crowd and hollow square seating that facilitates roundtable discussions, which tend to be a highlight of the more intimate conference, we haven’t included a screen and projector. Instead, presenters submit their PPTs in advance for distribution to registrants, and onsite we share a Zoom link so attendees can either follow along on a laptop or just listen to the speaker.  While more responses praised the cost-saving effort, one suggested that we should go full A/V though acknowledged the high cost. Another area where responses were at odds is the length of the programming day. Some indicated that they like having free time to explore the city or simply sit with colleagues and catch up, while another said the days were too short. The first day’s schedule accommodates the need for members to attend the AAJ COP meeting held mid-afternoon.  We might consider having alternative programming for those who don't want to attend the COP…send your ideas!  I thank you for submitting your evaluations as they help plan future conferences.  If you want to get involved in the planning, let me know of your interest.

The Planning Committee for the Annual Meeting in July is forming, so now is the time to suggest themes and/or topics and speakers!

Our 4th Monday Zoom Series on Feb 26th at 4pmET is about website audits.  When it comes to the world of websites and digital marketing, TLAs have unique needs and objectives, as well as challenges. Of course, the primary concern is how to best use your website and marketing channels (i.e. social media, email, etc) to service, inform, engage, activate, and increase your membership. The marketing and creative team from Studio 3 Marketing has reviewed over 40 TLA websites and works closely with MemberCentral. In a "visual-heavy" presentation, they'll share the do's and don'ts of TLA websites from a design and marketing perspective. They'll discuss a case study from audit through redesign to highlight best practices for websites and digital marketing, and tips will be tailored for justice associations as relevant to your efforts to serve and engage your attorney members. This will be interactive, so bring your questions!

We are setting up a webinar discussion and demo on the topic of Asana (the staff/project management tool) for March 8th, so watch your email for more information.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…do you ever have one of those days where you think of yourself like a citizen of Whoville? Horton Hears a Who! was my favorite Dr. Seuss book as a kid and watching any program where Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the universe brings me right back. For context, Horton, the elephant, discovers a whole planet on a speck of dust and is harassed by other animals in his world as he tries to save the little planet. I wish my philosophizing had to do with the noble fight to defend the defenseless, but it’s more about acknowledging that the universe is beyond enormous and our earth is a mere speck within a speck. I just heard this week that scientists have found a black hole that’s 17 billion times bigger than our sun and gobbles the equivalent of one sun each day. The heat and light generated by all that matter getting sucked in is 500 trillion times brighter than our sun…I’ll be skipping that eclipse, thanks. At the risk of sounding insigni ficant, I’m going to make a garlicky shrimp and white bean sheet pan dinner tonight and ponder the cosmos. Who’s with me?!

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

The Winter Meeting earned both kudos and constructive criticism and the evaluations are still coming in.  If you haven’t completed it, there’s still time – LMK if you’d like me to resend the link.  A few clear issues are the date and days of the Winter Meeting.  I don’t know the variables that go into AAJ’s planning of the dates and if the Superbowl comes into it, but there may not be a lot of wiggle room when booking a block of ~1700 rooms across 3-4 properties.  NATLE doesn’t get a say, but our program has always been held in conjunction with AAJ’s and has the benefit of being one of the few occasions where you are together with your members away from the TLA routine.  Shifting the NATLE Winter Meeting program to a Sat/Sun was implemented last year to accommodate members who have session obligations at home – the primary impediment to attending the Winter Meeting.

The Planning Committee for the Annual Meeting in July is forming, so now is the time to suggest themes and/or topics and speakers!

Our 4th Monday Zoom Series on Feb 26th at 4pmET is about website audits.  A more explanatory announcement will go out on Monday, but the gist is that Studio III Marketing has reviewed 40+ TLA websites and works closely with MemberCentral.  They understand that TLA digital needs are pretty unique and very different from most DTC (direct-to-consumer) industries.  Featured in the presentation will be a case study using a current TLA client and they’ll also summarize helpful takeaways on websites and marketing for TLAs.

We’ve heard you on the topic of Asana (the staff/project management tool) and are working on a date/time for a webinar discussion and demo, so stay tuned!

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I don’t have cable, so I may not have seen the Superbowl last weekend unless I’d headed to a friend’s house.  I’m not a huge football fan to begin with – I don’t know how many frustrated (mostly) male friends I brought to tears trying to explain the concept of downs (don’t worry, I get it now) – but I like to watch the championship games in baseball, football and especially hockey.  I let the team from our newest Justice Partner, Esquire Bank, know that co-hosting a watch party for the AAJ/NATLE Winter Meeting attendees was a stroke of genius.  They acknowledged that free food and drinks usually guarantees a crowd.  Before I peeled out midway through the 2nd quarter, I had a sneaking suspicion that the crowd may have exceeded the not-to-exceed capacity for the bar.  I’ll never know, but I definitely enjoyed the halftime show, 2nd half and OT in my jammies from the comfort of my hotel room.  Even though I don’t get a vote, holding the Winter Meeting over Superbowl weekend gets a nod in my book.