Remembering . . .

Remembering those who served our country is the reason for Memorial Day (formerly known as “Decoration Day”). Having a special day filled with parades, speeches, and other forms of celebration prompts us to remember the sacrifices made by those who came before us. That and the war pictures shown continuously throughout the weekend on various TV and cable networks!

Remembering past heroes got me thinking about NALS past – the members who sacrificed their time and worked so hard throughout NALS’ history – the very foundation of NALS today.

NALS is celebrating its 80th Anniversary this year – how cool is that? In 1929 our founder, Eula Mae Jett, a legal secretary in California, invited legal secretary friends to meet and discuss matters of mutual concern in the legal profession. Their mutual goal was to become better secretaries, more proficient, and knowledgeable in their respective positions. From this initial meeting of a few friends in Long Beach, California, in 1929 came the first legal secretaries association. I’m sure that Ms. Jett and her legal secretary friends had no idea that their initial meetings would lead to the NALS of today.

NALS’ 80th Anniversary celebration will take place, appropriately, in California at the 58th Annual Education Conference and National Forum, October 8-11, 2009. It is a chance to be part of NALS’ history by being part of this historic event. Early Bird registration is due July 1. Will I see YOU there making history?

Patricia E. Infanti, PP, PLS
2009-2010 NALS President-Elect
infanti@ballardspahr.com

We are Everywhere!

It is easier than ever to stay connected to NALS and other NALS members. With the explosion of social networking sites and the connections people are keeping up with NALS has been on the forefront by setting up, updating and monitoring some very popular sites. We are on Facebook with a group of over 600 members and nonmembers staying connected. LinkedIn, the popular professional networking is another venue where we have connected nearly 600 legal professionals to one another through our group. You are welcome to start discussions and post information to either of these groups and if you need information and don't know where or how to get it these are excellent resources! You can find links to these groups on the NALS home page.

The title of this blog post will take you to another of the NALS networking tools...the NALS Community. This site is set up through Ning and is a community of NALS members discussing a wide variety of topics. We have discussions on books, television shows, meetings, CLE, and even baseball (i may have set that one up). This is a great tool for getting to know more about fellow NALS members and who knows you might even make a connection that could land you a great job or you might make some new friends! Try it out and see what you think...we are confident you will love it! We already have over 400 people that do.

The latest phase of our always on connection to NALS is our emergence on Twitter. I am sure by now you have all heard about Twitter and are probably trying to figure out exactly what it is. Well we are using Twitter as a way to send out reminders and also send you links to information we feel is interesting. We will be making several posts a day so that you can stay connected! Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NALStweet

So come on and join in the fun and stay connected to NALS!

Jay Moore
NALS Communications Manager