NATLE FYI

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Our 4th Monday Zoom Series this month was a discussion about “Boosting Team Efficiency & Member Engagement: Leveraging AI, Customizable Templates, and Strategic Tools for Event Planning and Communication“.  The recording is available, along with several documents from the presenters where you’ll find useful tools and tips for customizable graphics and templates, filesharing, content calendars, and artificial intelligence.

Save the date for next month’s 4th Monday Zoom Series, February 24 at 4pmET.  We will be discussing Asana, a tool with uses from basic project management to a more comprehensive, whole-office collaboration.

The Winter Meeting guarantees are going in next week and we’re finalizing the last-minute details.  If you arrive by late afternoon/early evening on February 14th, wear your Valentine’s Day finery and meet at the Fontainebleau’s Bleau Bar.  The Florida Justice Association is generously sponsoring a Happy Hour on Friday, February 14 from 5p to 7p.  Please gather there to reconnect over a beverage!  (The timing is concurrent with the Women Trial Lawyers Caucus reception, so feel free to float between the two events.)

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend!  (If you find that you’re repeating tasks on Sunday, don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s Groundhog Day.)

P.S. In case you’re still here…I know I’ve mentioned my dad in this space in the past, but it has been a while.  The last time he had his hair cut, for reference, the first round of COVID vaccines had just come out.  Yah, he’ll be 84 in less than a month – six months older than David Crosby (RIP), but with an identical do.  Some men can rock the long hair, but Dad just looked homeless.  I finally wore him down and we went to a stylist on Wednesday.  He’s never had a bigger ego boost with all of the positive feedback coming from his neighbors at his independent living residence.  It’s not just the ladies, but the men and staff are also telling him it’s quite the transformation.  On the way home from the cut, he said he felt lighter.  I just felt relieved.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

This is the last week for any discount on the Winter Meeting registration.  The cost increases to the Walk-In rate on Monday.  The Florida Justice Association has generously offered to sponsor the Happy Hour on Friday, February 14 from 5p to 7p at the Fontainebleau’s Bleau Bar.  Please gather there to reconnect over a beverage!  (The timing is concurrent with the Women Trial Lawyers Caucus reception.)

We have a NATLE/AAJ State Affairs Update via Zoom this afternoon at 1pmET to discuss Uber and the proposed legislation that includes language re vicarious liability, UM/UIM coverage, and more.  Daniel Hinkle and Geoffrey Louden of AAJ State Affairs, will bring us up to date on these bills and we invite you to bring your experiences, talking points, and lessons learned.  Register here!  This will NOT be recorded, so if you can’t make it, feel free to assign a substitute…just let me know who that’ll be so I don’t bounce them off.

Our 4th Monday Zoom Series is on January 27 at 4pmET.  Register to get in on the discussion about “Boosting Team Efficiency & Member Engagement: Leveraging AI, Customizable Templates, and Strategic Tools for Event Planning and Communication“.  The presenters will demonstrate useful tools and tips for customizable graphics and templates, filesharing, content calendars, and artificial intelligence.  Enable your team to streamline office operations and engage with members through creative communications.

The deadline to submit and receive results from the CEO Compensation Survey has passed.  The Spark Mill has the data and is in the number-crunching phase.  If there are crosstabs missing from the 2022 Survey packet, please let me know so that they can be included in this year’s edition.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…Hoo boy, what a week.  For me, Monday was a crazy sine wave going from the peace of reflecting on the goodness and moving oratory of MLK Jr to the jarring lows listening to the mind-numbing voice and head-scratching speeches from #47.  The Rev Martin Luther King Jr. was killed four months before I was born and less than a week after my paternal grandfather, an Episcopal priest, died in a plane crash.  Just as I like to hope I’ll someday meet my grandfather in whatever is The Great Beyond, I like to think of those two having coffee together and commiserating over the state of things these past five and a half decades.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

I’ve been alerted to strange emails confirming interest in buying our Winter Meeting attendee list.  Poor grammar and fake domains aside, these are a scam.  A test email to one of the senders came back as originating in New Delhi.  Moreover, NATLE doesn’t sell its lists.

Thanks to a suggestion during the AAJ COP call on Wednesday, we have set up a NATLE/AAJ State Affairs Update via Zoom to discuss Uber and the proposed legislation that includes language re vicarious liability, UM/UIM coverage, and more.  On Friday, January 24 at 1pmET, AAJ State Affairs, Daniel Hinkle and Geoffrey Louden, will bring us up to date on these bills and we invite you to bring your experiences, talking points, and lessons learned.  Register here!  This will NOT be recorded, so if you can’t make it, feel free to assign a substitute…just let me know who that’ll be so I don’t bounce them off.

The panel for this month’s 4th Monday Zoom Series met to plan the program that has been renamed, “Boosting Team Efficiency & Member Engagement: Leveraging AI, Customizable Templates, and Strategic Tools for Event Planning and Communication“.  Communications to members, event planning, staff efficiency; all of these functions (and more) can benefit from customizable graphics and templates, filesharing, content calendars, and artificial intelligence.  This session will be packed with useful tools and tips, and a resource package that will inspire the whole spectrum of AI users, from the novice to the "old hand".  Integrate fun into your CLE programs, be prepared to respond quickly to newsworthy opportunities - and gaps - with a cache of social media posts, and don't let deadlines slip by.  Enable your team to streamline office operations and engage with members through creative communications.  Register and save the date of January 27 at 4pmET.

The NATLE website has a few new pages to check out.  I’ve added a link to a list of Past Presidents under the About tab – that’s a lot of history!  For vendors interested in sponsoring our events, I’ve added a page that highlights the Sponsorship Opportunities.  If you think of a page that should be added, please let me know.  Full disclosure, the PP page had been set up, but was simply missing a link from the homepage.

I know you are familiar with the struggle to get your members to respond to requests – especially when you’ve paid a consultant to collect the data – so I ask you to please take the 5 minutes necessary to complete the CEO Compensation Survey.  There are 15 executive directors yet to respond and the Working Group has been making calls to these stragglers.  The email with a link to the survey has the subject line, “NATLE Compensation Survey”.  Our consultant, The Spark Mill, is beginning to format the results and we need your response to ensure the most relevant information for you and your colleagues.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I need a little action.  And, mystery, drama, and a murder never hurts.  Yes, I’m talking about my reading material…pfft, what did you think I meant?  I pulled a book off the shelf from Mom’s collection a few weeks ago and persevered to finally finish it last night.  It’s A Light in the Window by Jan Karon and I kept expecting something to happen – surely someone must die a horrible death or a tongue-wagging scandal will shake up the fictional town of Mitford.  I should have known that with a character list topped by a milquetoast parson and his moody, misconstrues-everything neighbor-turned-girlfriend, that the only measurable bee-boop on this reader’s EKG came when the town gets walloped with feet of snow during a blizzard – be still my heart.  I’d take that over a heatwave any day.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my life relatively tame life, but it makes my brain itchy for excitement, even if only on the page.  I picked up the next volume in CJ Box’s Joe Pickett series last night and, digging in, it was a salve for that itch.

P.P.S. Ever had an ocular migraine?  My first one was about seven years ago and I called my optometrist fearing the worst.  Unlike the headache-type migraines, those of the ocular variety come with no pain or even discomfort, for me, at least.  Instead, there’s a snake-y void in my field of vision that flashes and pulses in brightness.  With zero previous experience, personal or friend-wise, that first incident was understandably disconcerting.  They show up about once a year and my last one was yesterday afternoon.  It was so distracting that I could barely see my screen, so I took a 15-minute lie down and let it work itself out.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The response rate to our CEO Compensation Survey is up to 60% and, in the hopes that we’ll best our previous rate of 83%, the Working Group is making calls to the stragglers.  The Spark Mill sent an email on Wednesday shortly after noonET with a link to the survey.  If you haven’t yet completed the survey, please check your inbox (or spam) for an email with a subject line, “NATLE Compensation Survey”. (The responses are confidential and the unique link is just so TSM can let us know who’s responded and who hasn’t.)  Sentiments from a colleague...

[There are] cool comparators and cross tabs in your survey – size of urban area, membership base, budget, staffing levels. The last report was easy to read and digest. It looked very attractive, visually. I hope you have the best possible results for this next report.  I would encourage the hold outs to be more altruistic and consider the greater good.

A working group of TLAs facing pesticide legislation has been meeting (almost) every Friday at 2pmET via Zoom to review the latest challenges and discuss issues such as EPA rulings and the industry’s positions.  If you want to be part of the discussion, let me know and we’ll tie you in.

We have 8 outstanding dues renewal notices and I continue to reach out to bring them all up to current.

The panelists for this month’s 4th Monday Zoom Series are meeting on Monday to plan the hour.  Amanda Feil, with enSYNC Corp, and Erin Robinson, of IdentityPR, look forward to updating their highly-rated presentation from our virtual Winter Meeting in 2022, “Streamlining Communications: Effective Communication to Members”.  If you have questions/suggestions on TLA issues and challenges, please let me know.  An announcement will be distributed Monday afternoon.  In the meantime, save the date of January 27 at 4pmET.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…It’s a good thing there’s not a critter cam set up in my office watching my every move or you might have caught me playing Twister by myself the other day.  I had to replace the chair mat under my desk because the old one was cracked and falling apart.  The new mat came tightly rolled in a long box from Amazon and since it had been chillin’ on my porch for at least a few hours, I unboxed it to thaw overnight in the hopes that it would be more pliable.  That was wishful thinking.  It was as unwilling to unwind as if it had just come out of the freezer.  I put my toes on the edge of one end and pushed out the roll until I was in downward dog with nothing handy to use as anchors.  It was an exercise fraught with danger as I failed to avoid getting stabbed by the sharp pointy nubs on the underside of the mat.  It bucked my attempts to lay flat until I wrestled with enough weighty objects to knock it into submission.  I needed that reminder of why I don’t play Twister.

P.P.S. I listened to the speeches at President Carter’s memorials in the rotunda on Tuesday and at National Cathedral yesterday.  I was most impressed with his grandson, Jason Carter.  I’ve volunteered at a few Habitat for Humanity projects, one on the south side of Chicago as part of the extra activities during a years-ago ATLA conference.  It was a great experience and I loved feeling useful for those couple of hours.

Good Morning and Happy First Friday of 2025!

I was “off” on Monday, so this has been a super-short week, though it was definitely impactful with a fond farewell to Larry Shannon who retired after almost four decades with WSAJ!  I hope you all saw his final listserv post.

We have 13 outstanding dues renewal notices and I hope to bring them all up to current by next week!  (The grace period ended Dec 31st, so they won't see this email.)

I’ve just asked The Spark Mill to send the latest list of not-yet-responders to the CEO Compensation Survey – as of December 20th, only half had completed the survey.  The Working Group will make follow up calls to those EDs beginning on Monday timed to coincide with a final invitation email from TSM that includes a link to the survey.  (The responses are confidential and the unique link is just so TSM can let us know who’s responded and who hasn’t.)

This month’s 4th Monday Zoom Series is shaping up to be a “back by popular demand” session with the panel we hosted at the 2022 Winter Meeting in Phoenix.  “Streamlining Communications: Effective Communication to Members” will be an updated program covering tech, particularly communications, planning events, and staff efficiency.  If you have questions/suggestions for the panel on issues and challenges, please let me know.  I’ll forward an announcement ASAP, but in the meantime, save the date of January 27 at 4pmET.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I enjoyed my time off last week and spent several hours re-settling my office since it was painted as part of my deck project.  I grabbed a couple of bookcases out of storage and that helped get a boatload of binders of NATLE archives off the floor and also hung a much-reduced number of pictures.  It’s finally looking more like a professional space!  I feel like I’ve been waiting to exhale for over three years, and I appreciate no longer having the distraction of clutter.

P.P.S. I’ll take my 1,500th Pure Barre class tonight and I’m so grateful for the shared experience of fitness and friendship.  Here’s to the next 1,500!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The Winter Meeting room block at the Fontainebleau Hotel is almost full and AAJ is working on nearby AirBnBs and hotels.  I don’t have any special leverage or secret stash of rooms, so when they’re out, they’re out.  The brochure has been uploaded to the event page, though check back often for updates.  Namely, the first morning will incorporate multiple topics rather than one keynote speaker.  The sooner you register the better rate you’ll receive!

The deadline to submit the CEO Compensation Survey is tonight.  A reminder email with your personalized link was sent Wednesday a.m. from Courtney at The Spark Mill, the consultant who conducted our 2022 Survey.  The Working Group will follow up with the not-yet-submitted EDs next week and beyond so we can gather the most data and provide the most relevant and useful results to you.  The responses are confidential and the connection through the link is just so TSM can let us know who’s responded and who hasn’t. 

A while back, I put out a call for anyone using Asana to give me their contact with the company.  My interest stemmed from a Listserv discussion and the seeds for a 4th Monday Zoom Series session were planted.  We now have traction on the idea, so stay tuned for an announcement of a session in February.

We shifted the dates of the 2025 Governmental Affairs Conference up a day to Nov 8-10.  The program will begin on Saturday instead of Sunday and we’ll be in lovely Kansas City, MO, known for its many fountains.  A Planning Committee will be formed in May to begin working on the program.  If you are interested in being involved, please let me know. 

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend and wonderful holidays for all who celebrate Chrisma-Hanu-Kwanzaa-kkah and Boxing Day!

P.S. In case you’re still here…I really appreciate receiving your TLA magazines here at “NATLE HQ”.  I’ve noticed a few articles lately have touched on the topic of self care and mental health.  I know a handful of you who have shared that biking, hiking, and travel-related activities fit the bill.  For me, it’s exercise.  I’ve mentioned my passion for Pure Barre in this space before.  I’m not into the go-all-out-‘til-you-drop nonsense.  I enjoy a more modest 50-minute 5-days a week class that gets me out of the house, where I get a good dose of human interaction and have made lasting friendships.  I’m competitive with myself and wear a Fitbit and a heartrate monitor that gives me points and milestone badges.  The studio always has a challenge running to keep us motivated and we tend to be rather “sticker-driven”.  This is how I keep myself on an even keel through whatever crops up, like dealing with Dad’s fourth debit card hack this year.  Argh.  Exercise is my antidote for stress and you can bet I worked it out this week!

Good Morning and Happy Friday (the 13th)!

The Winter Meeting brochure is almost ready as the Planning Committee is finalizing the last pieces.  The Early Bird registration rate expires Sunday night, so be sure to register and save!

All executive directors/CEOs have received the new Compensation Survey directly from The Spark Mill, the consultant who conducted our 2022 Survey.  The Working Group spent time and effort to rework the previous questions to produce answers that will be more relevant and useful as you approach your own budgets.  I’ve heard from a few who have completed it already and it is quick and easy. 

Save the dates of November 8-10 for the 2025 Governmental Affairs Conference in Kansas City, MO.  The contract is signed ‘n sealed, and a Planning Committee will be formed in May to begin working on the program.  If you are interested in being involved, please let me know.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I like day-hiking, especially when I know my car is waiting for me at the end of the trail and a shower is in the not-too-distant future.  Hikes are even better when shared with friends.  I’m bad at being the instigator – I always kick myself for not coming up with a great idea when I hear it from someone else – so, I was quick to say “I’m in” when my friend and reliable sushi buddy, Sara, floated the idea of hiking in the Shenandoah National Park along with a third friend, Amy.  I’ve never traveled specifically for a hiking trip, so this will be new.  This 4-day, women-only hike is organized through REI and is lodge-based, which is KEY and, unlike backpacking, means that we won’t be carrying a week’s worth of our food and clothing, plus sleeping bag and tent.  That, for me, would suck the enjoyment out of it.  Instead, we’ll stay at a rustic inn and take off each morning for a new trail.  The trip is booked for the last week in May and we all bought our plane tickets yesterday.  I can’t wait!

P.P.S. The youngest member of the NATLE family turns 2 on Sunday…Happy Birthday Clifford Hinkle!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

This was a quick week, but busy and I’ll fill you in down in the P.S.  The follow-up housekeeping from the GAC is in the rearview mirror, so I’ve been able to focus on yearend tasks, as well as the Winter Meeting in February.  You have one more week to register at the Early Bird rate.

We are shifting the dates of the 2025 GAC up a day so the plenary sessions will begin on Saturday morning (Nov. 8).  This will hopefully help those who find it more difficult to be away from the office during the week.  I’m signing the contract with The Fontaine Hotel in Kansas City, MO, this afternoon.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…I returned last night from a quick round-trip, less-than-24-hours overnight in Newport, RI.  Wait, you say, weren’t you JUST in Newport?  Why yes, I reply, but this was a separate return visit so I could meet with representatives from properties from around the country that are prime candidates for a NATLE conference, board retreat, OR more crucially, a possibility for your TLA conferences.  With a referral and introduction from Elyssa Tosh, Director of Programs & Events with the Maryland Association for Justice, I joined the Beyond Collection (BC) a few months ago.  At the basic level, it’s a searchable database of pre-vetted, high-end properties that want to court groups from all industries.  It’s also a helpful listserv, RFP generator, and resource for finding properties with the amenities that meet your specs.  We gathered at the Hammetts Hotel in the heart of downtown Newport on Wednesday afternoon for an orientation and site tour.  Then, we walked a block to the Sailing Museum for a reception and dinner.  I was one of 20 meeting planners in attendance to meet that many “partner properties”, and in a low-stress, casual, and fun environment, we were able to exchange lessons learned, referrals, and make new friends in the same business of planning meetings.  Yesterday was a working (roundtable) breakfast before the “marketplace” sessions…more like speed dating.  Based on our previously submitted typical space needs, meeting planners were “assigned” 15-minute slots with 9-10 property reps.  Most of us had already, at least peripherally, met all 40 attendees, so we didn’t need to spend time introducing ourselves and our parameters.  With each property, I also worked in the fun fact that I represent 66 associations who all conduct their own conferences, retreats, etc.  This was my first BC event and I was impressed with the seamless organization, ease of engagement and instant camaraderie.  (As a bonus, the accommodations and meals were fully sponsored and I just covered the gas…IOW, no cost to NATLE.)  I look forward to working with this group in the future and making introductions between you and these properties.  I’m interested to hear if you’re already in this group, or if not and you’d like to be, let me know and I’ll get you connected!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

It was a quiet, short week at NATLE HQ!

You have two more weeks to register for the Winter Meeting at the Early Bird rate.

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

P.S. In case you’re still here…As most of the U.S. wakes from a turkey coma – either on the couch in front of an infomercial for a set of holiday-themed macrame potholders at 3am or in the doghouse (if you dared to talk politics with your relatives over the pumpkin pie) – it’s Black Friday, the day when half the population gets up to brave (or be) aggressive drivers fighting for the last parking spot at the Mall and the grumpy crowds battling it out for the latest gadget to make their kid still believe there truly is a Santa Claus.  (Sorry, perhaps I should have started with a Spoiler Alert.)  I have been liberated from the burden of holiday shopping.  The enjoyment ceased when it became merely an exchange with far-flung relatives of catalog pages, item numbers, sizes, and preferred colors.  Close to home, though, my mother made it fun with the real care and thought she put into each gift from its practicality to the tag that was always a clever riddle referring to the contents.  I’m no Bah Humbug Betty, I just prefer to think of the upcoming holidays as a time to spend relaxing with friends over comforting food and good conversation.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The final draft of the CEO Compensation Survey is with the Working Group and will be distributed by The Spark Mill during the first week of December.

The evaluation form submissions from the Governmental Affairs Conference petered at only 13.  Comments were constructive and useful to the Planning Committee.

The NATLE Amicus Listserv has expanded over the past week to help keep your committee chairs/liaisons aware of the work coming from AAJ.  If you need a reminder as to who from your TLA is a member of the Listserv and/or want to add yourself, send me a note.  It hasn’t been active for at least the past three years, so not receiving emails doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not on it!

That’s the NATLE Weekly Wrap.  Have a great weekend and (for those in the US) a wonderful Thanksgiving!

P.S. In case you’re still here…I shudder to think how many of my brain cells have shriveled up and died this week.  My contractor came back to paint the wall around the new door out onto the deck off my office and I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to paint the whole room.  In choosing the color, I strayed slightly away from my comfort zone of neutral.  It’s still firmly in the “tan” family, but for me it’s a bold choice.  Anyway, he’s been able to fit me into his schedule over three days this week and it’s taking two coats for the best coverage.  It’s the last room in the house that I’m getting around to since I moved back in in 2012, so it was a little like ripping the band-aid off when I took down the 30 or so framed photos and paintings of loons and great blue herons – Mom loved both, equally.  With everything pushed into the middle of the room, navigating the piles is akin to a corn maze, though I’m just tall enough to be able to see where I’m going.  Todd, my trusty contractor, will finish up today, so I’ll spend at least some of the time off next week to rearrange and reorganize.  Hopefully, the next time you see me on a Zoom screen all will be settled and in order.  Have a peaceful Thanksgiving and I hope you’re able to spend it with family and friends.