Great conference

Hi Everyone,
I spent Saturday afternoon and evening visiting 3 time zones (some more than once) on the way home, finally arriving at 10:45 PM.  Despite being very tired, I was feeling energized by all the wonderful workshops available, the new friends I'd made and the networking opportunities that were presented.

During the annual business meeting we learned that the economy had hit the AALNC national office as hard as it has everyone else.  At the early part of the year, the management company disclosed that unless there were major adjustments made to the budget, the year would end $80000.00 in the hole. Well, they went to work and the year end figure was $2900.00 (in round figures) to the good.
We also learned that membership renewals have not been at projected numbers, which has obviously contributed to the decrease in income.  With these things in mind, there was a very hard decision made regarding next years' educational conference.  Before I scare everyone to death, the conference has not been cancelled, but there have been some big changes made: 1) the conference will only be 1 1/2 days long, 2) the focus audience will be people living east of the Mississippi and 3) depending on how this endeavor goes, a second conference may be held in the fall in the part of the country west of the Mississipi.  Dates of these conferences have not been announced as yet, but as soon as they are firmed up we will all be notified.

I'll be posting more information about conference events in the next few days, so keep checking here.

Lin

News from Educational Conference

After a long day of travel on Tuesday that allowed me to miss the snow in Denver as well as possibly a night at DIA, I arrived in Pittsburgh around 10:30 PM and spent a quiet night at the Sheraton 4 Points near the airport here.  On Wednesday I changed hotels and was able to attend the Leadership Session that afternoon.  There were many great ideas exchanged and some ideas shared about reaching out to potential new members.
On Thursday, the day started at 8:30 AM with the opening keynote address offered by Dr. Judith Wright who spoke about 'the One Decision: Maximizing Your Potential and Living a Life of More'.  Her talk was very inspiring as well as motivating and pointed out how we can and do get stuck in ruts of working hard and then using 'soft addictions' instead of energizing breaks to relieve the fatigue only to find that the real result is that instead of being refreshed, we're anesthetized into inertia.
I attended sessions about the use of technology in the courtroom, growing networks, mediation as an alternate form of dispute resolution, changes being made to Joint Commission regulations and a look at how criminal law can be viewed as job security in America for the LNC.  The annual business meeting completed the work for the day and it was time to relax and have some fun.  We boarded busses and visited the Duquesne Incline (much like the cog railroad in Manitou Springs) and then had a wonderful dinner at Station Square, the former terminal of the railroad station.  It's a gorgeous building and the views of the surrounding area were breathtaking as it's located near the shores of the Monongahela River so there was unobstructed sight lines of the skyline at night.

Tomorrow is another full day, beginning at 8 so it's time to call it a night and get some rest. There will be more news of conference events tomorrow night.

Lin