Region 1 Council Meeting
Monday, May 19, 2014
10:00 a.m. – Noon
2014 Annual Conference & Exposition
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, Room 715B
Region 1 Leadership Team Members Present
Janine D. Book, Region 1 Director – outgoing
Karen Glowacki, Region 1 Director – incoming
Stephen G. Dempsey, CLM, At-Large Director – outgoing
Laura J. Broomell, CLM, At-Large Director – incoming
Gail P. Faherty, CLM, M.S. – Communications Officer - outgoing
Joann M. Winterle, SPHR, M.S. – Educational Officer - outgoing
Barbara L. Fisher, Business Partner Relations Officer – outgoing; Regional Rep. – incoming
Dana L. Moody, Regional Representative – incoming
Kevin Costello, Regional Representative – incoming
Clara E. Onderdonk, Regional Representative – incoming
Chapter Members Present with Chapter Affiliations
Nicole Banagan - Albany
Kelly Richards - Albany
Susan Sawyer - Boston
Joanne Schnare - Boston
Eric Cordes - Boston
Kathy Crowley - Boston
Lisa Crugnale - Boston
Patti Sheehan - Boston
Gigi Wentzel – Central PA
Carlotta Duhe - Cyber
Kathy Miller - Cyber
Susan Hunter - Downeast
Sherry Perna – First State
Julie Dubreuil – First State
Lindsey Goldberg - Independence
Audrey Serban – New Jersey
Ron Henry – New Jersey
Pat Isaacson – New York City
Sharon Shewart – New York City
Stephanie Roman – New York City
Francine Lahm - New York City
Barbara Gelmetti - Nutmeg
Jennifer O’Toole - Nutmeg
Gil Marquez - Philadelphia
Betty McGuire - Pittsburgh
Sandra Fantini - Pittsburgh
Manon Desy - Quebec
President – Paula Barnes
Business Partner – Ralph Petti, CBCP, MBCI, Prospective business partner of First State
Chapters Absent:
Buffalo, Granite State, Long Island, Ottawa, Rochester and Westchester County
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Janine Book.
Welcome and Introductions by Janine Book
-Janine welcomed attendees and had the Region 1 team introduce themselves.
Ice Breaker Game by Joann Winterle and Gail Faherty
-Joann and Gail lead an ice breaker game which was “I have Never”. People would state things in ALA that they have not yet done. Winners would receive Starbucks gift cards from Janine when the box arrived with all council meeting items.
Leadership Recognition by Janine Book
-Janine reminded all that it’s time to think about ALA’s next leaders. August 1, 2014, is the deadline for nominations for Board of Directors and Regional Representatives. Applications are on the WEB site. Janine stated that it’s been a wonderful experience for her to travel and meet members.
-Janine recognized Steve Dempsey, CLM, outgoing At-Large Director, Gail Faherty, outgoing Communications Officer, and Joann Winterle, outgoing Education Officer, and thanked them with a gift for their many contributions and years of service.
-Gail recognized Janine Book, outgoing Director, and thanked her with a gift for her many contributions and years of service.
Regional Business:
Approval of the October 24, 2013 Region 1 Council Meeting Minutes by Gail Faherty, CLM
-A motion was made to accept the October 24, 2013 Minutes of the Council by Gail, was moved by Gil Marquez and seconded by Kathy Crowley. The motion passed unanimously.
Association Nominating Committee Representative Clara Onderdonk
-Clara spoke on the process of the ANC and what a wonderful experience it was for her.
-A recommendation was given to the Council from Clara on behalf of the Region 1 Leadership Team that Joe Semarco from Philadelphia, PA will be the Region 1 Representative to serve on the 2014 ANC. It was so moved by Pat Isaacson and seconded by Audrey Serban. The motion passed unanimously.
Regional Nominating Committee Representative by Kevin Costello
-Kevin spoke on the revised process of the RNC.
-A recommendation was given to the Council from Kevin on behalf of the Region 1 Leadership Team that Linda Copson of St. Johnsbury, VT will be the Region 1 Representative to serve on the 2014 ANC. It was so moved by Gigi Wentzel and seconded by Stephanie Roman. The motion passed unanimously.
2014 Region 1 Association Volunteer Award Barb Fisher
-Barb spoke on the Region 1 Association Volunteer Award which will be awarded to a member that has demonstrated a commitment to professionalism, dedication to the advancement of law firm administration, and a record of long-term service to the Association of Legal Administrators on a local, regional, national and/or international level. As with the Spirit of ALA Award, the Region 1 Outstanding Volunteer Award may not be awarded annually.
ALA Update by Steve Dempsey
-Steve spoke of the importance of communication. He spoke of the volunteer positions that are open. The WEB page lists all of them. He also wanted people to nominate themselves. He spoke of the stragegic plan, the rebranding that is happening, Business Law conferences in place of the Regional Conferences, the call for presentations for conferences, the direction of the Professional Development Advisory Committee, the Idea Awards, international initiatives, the pod cast and blog talk radio.
- A conversation came from his talk that Philadelphia wants to hire a marketing company so they want to know where National stands on rebranding and the timeframe. The company was hired in January and the report is due back in August, so Steve does not see any development in the year 2014. For further information they should contact Paula Barnes or Oliver Yandle.
2014 Region 1 Plan of Work by Karen Glowacki
-Karen spoke on the Plan of Work presented to Oliver Yandle for the Region 1 team. She spoke on the redesign of the Regional Level team which will no longer have officers and now will have Representatives. This will give the representatives more time to spend with the chapters focusing on their goals and challenges.
The goals are in line with ALA National’s goals of:
1. Smart, Sustainable Growth – encouraging annual planning meetings or retreats
2. Highly Satisfied Customers – filling out the chapter questionnaire for chapter outreach
3. Innovative Product & Design Delivery – there is a chart of strengths within the regional team to help the chapters; new ways to communicate such as social media vs. newsletters.
4. Highly Engaged Talent – being able to help chapters identify leaders. At CLI we would like to see all chapters to have at least one person from their chapter attend.
-Karen wanted to make sure each chapter knows that the Regional Team is here to support them with their strategic plans and any challenges.
-Karen spoke on the Chapter Questionairre that she sent to all chapters. She asked that they be filled out and turned into their regional representative or her so that the Regional Team is able to best meet their needs in the future.
What’s On Our Minds – Chapter Leaders Idea Exchange Review - What Was Your Takeaway?
-The next portion of the meeting was an open discussion recapping good ideas from the Chapter Leaders Idea Exchange that was held just before the council meeting.
-Generation X and Generation Y – how to get new members. The under 40’s group doesn’t want to take direction; they want to lead. They would like to see more options for meetings and networking with smaller groups. They want to meet differently. They would like roundtables, social hours and more impromptu things. They would like non committal with no registration. Possibly a social media invitation and see who shows up. They would like a variety of platforms. Possibly “Meet Ups” which are informal invitations to meetings on specific topics via the internet. For our younger generation we are going to have to find where their value in the membership is and be creative and innovative.
-We need to cross sell with the other functional specialists groups.
-We need to be aware that job titles are changing and ALA needs to be more inclusive. These people need to be exposed to the information provided.
-New York City has a “Foot In the Door” program with their business partners which has been very successful.
-Offer incentives to your business partners for bringing in new members.
-Offer a “15 minutes to Spare” program for the less active members which is a quick project instead of being on a committee to get more people involved.
-Dallas has a program to get the people in the leadership to connect with someone in the chapter as a buddy. The person on the board will ask a member to look over a speech or what they think of a particular event to get them interested in the leadership role with the intent of having them be on a committee or the board in the future.
-Evites to events so it goes directly into people outlook calendar. That way they won’t forget about the meeting.
Scholarship Drawings by Dana Moody
-Dana did the scholarship drawings.
Two ALA Webiner Scholarships @ $129.00 each
1. Down East Chapter
2. Nutmeg Chapter
3 Business of Law early bird Scholarships plus a $200.00 Stipend for each. Each chapter can decide how they want to award the winner of their scholarship.
1. Philadelphia Chapter;
2. Independence Chapter;
3. Pittsburg Chapter.
Karen thanked everyone for attending.
Meeting Adjourned at Noon.
Respectfully submitted,
Clara E. Onderdonk
Regional Representative
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