Meeting Minutes

NABE Communications Section Executive Council
Tuesday, February 3, 2004, 4:30 p.m.
Gonzalez Convention Center
San Antonio, TX

Present: Cynthia Kuhn, Chair; Chris Blake, Dan Cirucci, Joe Conte, Yvonne McGhee, Duane Stanley. Guest: Elizabeth Derrico, American Bar Association Division for Bar Services.

Ms. Kuhn called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.

Approval of October 14, 2004, minutes: A motion was made by Mr. Blake and seconded by Ms. McGhee to approve the minutes of the Executive Council meeting held on October 14, 2003, in St. Louis. The motion was adopted.

Treasurer's Report: Mr. Stanley reviewed the financial statement. The section came out a little ahead in revenue versus expense this year, with a positive balance of $3,851.13. Factors included the increase in dues revenue and the workshop, which had expenses that ran a little under the budget projection. The section now has 181 members. Membership has climbed steadily from 140 in 2000. The section has a total surplus of $14,000 as of the end of the past fiscal year.

Program Committee: Susan Andres, chair-elect, was unable to attend the 2004 Midyear Meeting due to a back injury. Ms. Kuhn announced that Ms. Andres and Chris Cendagorta welcome any program ideas for the 2004 NABE Annual Meeting in Atlanta this August.

Luminary Awards: Ms. Kuhn announced that Matt Silverman of the State Bar of Arizona has agreed to serve as chair of the 2004 Luminary Awards Committee. She thanked Mark Mathewson of the Illinois State Bar, who has ably chaired the committee for the past two years. She distributed a report and recommendations from Mr. Mathewson regarding the Luminary Awards. Among the recommendations was to give the new marketing category one more year. In its first year, the marketing category attracted few nominations. He also recommended that the section confer no more than one Luminary Award per category (not one per bar size division per category) whenever there are six or fewer entries overall in that category. Judges can be instructed to take bar size into account in scoring in these instances. Mr. Mathewson also recommended that the section should expressly include electronic publications of all kinds within the special and regular publications categories and invite e-pub entries. He recommended against creating a new category for e-pubs. Mr. Mathewson also recommended that the section compile a comprehensive list of all Luminary Award winners since the inception of this awards program. After an extensive discussion, it was the consensus of the council that Mr. Mathewson's recommendations should be endorsed. Ms. Kuhn also announced that David Simms of the DC Bar will once again develop the online award submission form.

Anne Charles Award Committee Chair: Ms. Kuhn said there is a sensitive situation this year as to who will chair the Anne Charles Award Committee. This committee is typically chaired by the previous year's award recipient. In this case, Roger Parris, the 2003 Anne Charles Award winner, is no longer employed by the Erie County Bar Association and is no longer in bar work. He has been made an honorary member of the section so he is still eligible to chair the committee, but it could be awkward for his successor if that person is in attendance at the workshop when the award is bestowed. After a discussion, the consensus was to have the chair ask Roger if he would be willing to chair the committee. If Mr. Parris declines, the chair would invite Paul Nickell, the 2002 recipient, to chair it again.

Membership Committee: Ms. McGhee reported on the plans for the committee. The first order of business is to study the orientation program for new members and first-timers employed by NABE at its Annual and Midyear Meetings. Possible plans for an orientation program at the workshop, Ms. McGhee said, include an orientation luncheon for new section members and a session with new members prior to the end of the workshop to gain their feedback. Ms. McGhee said the committee is also working on developing membership protocols, which would include standard procedures for when and how the new members are welcomed into the section, as well as a buddy system to pair up new members with an experienced section member. The committee is also working on updating the section's marketing brochure (the "many hats" brochure) and will solicit ideas from the section on a theme for the new brochure. Ms. Derrico noted that the Division for Bar Services is changing the billing date for invoicing NABE members from May to April. The NABE fiscal year starts on June 1. Ms. Derrico suggested that the committee coordinate the timing of its new member outreach activities with the DBS dues billing cycle.

2004 Section Workshop, Minneapolis (October 6-9, 2004): Duane Stanley reported on the workshop. The workshop committee is made up of local people, including representatives of the Hennepin County (Minneapolis), Ramsey County (St. Paul) and Minnesota State Bar associations, as well as Thomson West. Mr. Stanley said the committee could use some help from section members on the program committee and he indicated Dan Wise, who is chairing the sponsorship committee, would like some assistance. He said he is seeking program ideas and scheduling feedback. The existing format and schedule seem to be working well, although Mr. Stanley indicated he is concerned about waning attendance on Friday afternoons as the program winds down. Saturday's attendance tends to be light, as well, as more and more people choose to fly back on Saturday rather than Sunday. One suggestion that was received from the 2003 workshop evaluations was that the round tables were popular. He also noted that the emphasis on personal development for the Saturday morning program, which was the focus of the St. Louis program that morning, was well received and worth considering for future workshops. Mr. Stanley said he is also interested in any suggestions for social events and tours for the Thursday afternoon time slot. Offering multiple options for tours seems to be well received, some council members noted.

2005 Workshop: Ms. Kuhn gave a brief report on the 2005 workshop. During the section business meeting at the 2003 workshop in St. Louis, the section's consensus was to hold the 2005 workshop on Albuquerque, New Mexico in conjunction with the balloon fiesta there. However, there is a conflict in dates that could prevent that. The balloon fiesta in 2005 is scheduled during the Jewish high holidays. The section would like to avoid scheduling the workshop during the Jewish high holidays. Since Francine Walker has expressed an interest in bringing the workshop to Florida, Ms. Kuhn recommended that the section should plan for a Florida workshop location in 2005 and then go to Albuquerque in 2006 and stay out West in 2007. This plan was enthusiastically received by the council members who were present.

Section Newsletter: Mr. Blake outlined his plans as section newsletter editor. He said his goals are to establish a regular publication schedule, develop an editorial calendar and solicit contribution of articles from section members. Mr. Blake said he would like to establish standing features in each issue covering all of the areas of bar communications: publications, PR, media relations, web sites and electronic communication, and marketing. He said the recent member survey provided a lot of good ideas and suggestions about the focus of the newsletter. Section members want to see more "how to" and "best practices" articles, according to the survey.

Nominating Committee: Mr. Blake reported that the committee has been formed. The dates for sending out the call for nominations, ballot and election announcement are prescribed in the section bylaws.

Update on West Editorial Content: Ms. Kuhn gave an update on a proposal by Thomson West to offer articles to bar magazines through the NABE web site. Ms. Kuhn said the idea was first proposed last summer and she followed up with West. She had not heard from Thomson West until recently when Brant Skogrand contacted her. Ms. Kuhn suggested a survey of section members through the listserve to find out what topics for articles bar magazine editors would be interested in publishing in their magazines.

Communications Audit and Publications Counseling Service: The section had offered a communications audit and publications counseling service for many years. This service was gradually phased out due to lack of interest. Ms. Kuhn said she received an e-mail recently from a newer section member who requested assistance in evaluating her bar's publication. Ms. Kuhn contacted some past Luminary Award winners who were recognized for excellence in bar publications and put them in touch with the section member. For now, Ms. Kuhn said this procedure might be a good way of providing this service without having a standing project committee.

Strategic planning task force: Mr. Blake proposed the formation of a strategic planning committee to follow up on the recommendations and results of the 2003 section member needs assessment survey. Ms. Derrico and Mr. Cirucci said they would be willing to serve.

Division for Bar Services Report: Ms. Derrico said that Jill Werner, DBS staff director, would like to establish better processes and procedures for interaction between DBS and NABE. Ms. Derrico said she would give a more extensive DBS report at the section business meeting on February 4.

There being no further business, the council meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher G. Blake, Temporary Secretary