Meeting Minutes

San Francisco Hilton, California
July 30, 1997

Call to Order

Chairperson Joyce Hastings called the meeting to order. The roll of attendees.

Minutes

Minutes from the Business Meeting at the Midyear Meeting in San Antonio, Texas (January 29, 1997) were approved as submitted by Secretary Jennifer M. Davis (see Exhibit A).

1997 Workshop Report

Co-chairs Gary Toohey and Jennifer Davis discussed arrangements and programming for the October workshop. Lori Ruello, co-chair for the 1998 Workshop, reported the tentative dates to be September 29-October 3 at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans. We briefly discussed holding the 1998 Workshop in Washington, D.C. with LRIS; however, it was noted that a joint meeting with LRE would be a better fit.

Program Committee

Gary Toohey discussed the Section's sponsorship of the program on Sexual Harassment on Wednesday, July 30 at 2 p.m. The Program Committee is working on ideas for Nashville and Toronto.

Nominating Committee

Cheryl Bruce, Committee Chair, presented the slate of candidates which was approved:

Chair - Joyce Hastings, State Bar of Wisconsin
Vice Chair - Jennifer Davis, State Bar of Georgia
Secretary - Becky Weiner, State Bar of Arizona
Treasurer - Gary Toohey, The Missouri Bar
Council Member - Lori Ruello, Louisiana State Bar Association
Council Member - Ginger Banks, State Bar of Texas
Council Member - Beth Bailey, Rhode Island Bar Association

Luminary Awards

Joyce Hastings presented Committee Chair Marcy Mallory's report on the number of entries this year. She also announced that next year's Luminary Awards will include a web site category.

Communications Audit

Committee Chair Ginger Banks discussed the communications audit which the Section offers. She passed out brochures describing the service and encouraged members to take advantage of it.

Section List Serve

We have 44 members subscribing to the Section List Serve. Betty Braden reported the Section will likely be asked to help NABE market its web site.

Scholarship Committee

Chair Frank Ciervo reported the Committee awarded two scholarships to the Workshop to: Melissa Sais of the New Mexico Bar and Judy Gibes of the Nevada Bar.

Section Services

Ginger Banks explained the communications audit and publications counseling services. The Section is going to increase marketing these two programs and target Executive Directors too.

Section List Serve

Joyce suggested everyone take advantage of the List Serve which gives us an opportunity to connect with our colleagues between conferences. Send a message to Joyce if you wish to sign up: jhastings@wisbar.org. The Section is also going to add information to the NABE site including sample forms, surveys, etc.

Section Newsletter

Joyce Hastings reported we are reviving the newsletter and encouraged people to sign up for the Committee. It will probably start small as a blast fax then expand.

New Member Outreach

Anne Charles discussed enhancing our efforts to welcome new members and making them feel part of the Section. She asked volunteers to sign up for the Committee.

Treasurer's Report

Becky Weiner presented the financial report. June 1 began a new fiscal year. Our ending numbers were: $6240 balance, $2851 net loss, $37581 income (of which $33885 was the workshop).

Bylaw Changes

Two amendments to the Section bylaws were approved by unanimous voice vote (see exhibit B). The first changes the formal name of the Section and the second increases the scope of our Section membership to include those who do marketing.

Marketing Survey

Becky Weiner presented the results of the marketing survey which the Section conducted. It was sent to all NABE members (625) with 71 being returned. A majority said they use marketing to promote CLE, recruit new members, promote the Annual Meeting, and improve lawyer image. The top three ways they market were: direct mail, advertisements, articles in their Journals. Others use broadcast faxes, booths at meetings, road shows and personal visits. The question as to whether their job title and responsibility were formally designated as marketing was split in half-one person said "marketing is everyone's job." Also most of those responsible for marketing were communications professional, there were some member services staff. Becky suggested we may want to reach out to this group as a potential source of new members. In response to what they want to aid them in marketing, they said: training manual on how-to; clearinghouse of samples; newsletter on marketing; and a resource list of marketing experts. Becky added that we will conduct a membership survey and hold two focus groups during the Workshop (one for old members and one for new ones).

National Directory of Legal Reporters

Becky Weiner discussed that she would like our Section to compile a national directory of legal reporters and post it on the Section's web site.

Other Business

Denny Whalen noted that next year is the 10th anniversary of Scottsdale, and added perhaps we need to re-strategize. He also pointed out there are probably a number of new Section members who do not know what Scottsdale is and we need to familiarize them with the report.

Rosanne Lucianek, Director of the Division for Bar Services, reported the ABA Communications Group has developed a plan to promote understanding of judicial independence. Sarina Butler, Director of the Communications Group, added this is in response to recent attacks on the federal judiciary by Congress. They conducted focus groups in Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia including ordinary voters and opinion leaders. As a result, they have produced a video, message platform and press kit with sample op-ed pieces (the latter was given to Section attendees) to help spread the word.

Adjournment

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer M. Davis, Secretary

MEETING ATTENDANCE:

NAME	BAR ASSOCIATION
Alderman, Jeffrey	Detroit Metropolitan Bar
Allen,Marguerite	Shreveport Bar (LA)
Andres, Susan	State Bar of Alabama
Banks, Ginger	State Bar of Texas
Blake, Chris	Connecticut Bar
Braden, Betty	State Bar of Wisconsin
Bruce, Cheryl	State Bar of New Mexico
Burke, Angie	ABA
Butler, Sarina	ABA
Calloway, Jim	Oklahoma Bar
Canalas, Irene	Corpus Christi Bar (TX)
Carr, Brad	New York State Bar
Cendagorta, Christine	State Bar of Nevada
Charles, Anne	State Bar of California
Davis, Jennifer	State Bar of Georgia
Eveleth, Janet	Maryland State Bar
Forsyth, Stuart	State Bar of Arizona
Goodwin, Ellen	West Virginia Bar
Halfpenny, Peggy	Chester County Bar (PA)
Hastings, Joyce	State Bar of Wisconsin
Hill, Paul	Florida Bar
Kladder, Marcia	ABA
Levindofske, Trudy	Orange County Bar (CA)
Lucianek, Roseanne	ABA
Manning, Carol	Oklahoma Bar
McIlheran, Mike	Iowa State Bar
McInerney, Sue	Riverside County Bar (CA)
McKinney-Browning, Mabel	ABA
Miller, Valary	Santa Clara County Bar (CA)
Oleson, Bob	Oregon State Bar
Parris, Roger	Bar Association of Erie County (NY)
Ruello, Lori	Louisiana State Bar
Sais, Melissa	State Bar of New Mexico
Schizas, Jennifer	Nebraska Bar
Sweeney, Jack	ABA
Toohey, Gary	Missouri Bar
Wax, Jack	Missouri Bar
Weiner, Becky	State Bar of Arizona
Whalen, Dennis	Ohio State Bar