The Professional Development Conference is almost here!

Holy Moly! Is it really only six weeks until the 2010 Professional Development Conference? That can’t be right! I still have a ton of things to do to prepare for it. Are you prepared? There is still time to register for the extended rate of $279. This registration extension is only good through February 1^st. This is also the last day to get the NALS room rate of $99 at the DoubleTree Warrenplace, where the conference will be held.

CLE sessions start on Friday, March 12, 2010. Prior to the meeting, a certification cram session for the ALS, PLS, and PP exams will take place on Wednesday, March 10. On Thursday, March 11, you can sit for the exam for which you have been studying. All day Thursday, Top Dollar Jewelry will be shuttling, via a limo, to their store. On Thursday evening, there will be a reception and prize drawing. You don’t want to miss out on this! If you have not seen the Resource Center and would like to see it or want to see it again, contact me at king@nals.org and reserve a spot.

What are you waiting for? If you haven’t registered, you’ll be missing out on great education and a chance to network with friends and others in your profession. If you have registered, I look forward to seeing you!

A Question of Value . . .

What is value and why do we scrutinize and prioritize the value of everyone and everything about us?

Why is it that we will buy the store brand cereal, but wouldn’t dream of buying the store brand coffee? What is it that determines the value of spending more for basically the same thing?

Some would argue that it isn’t the same. That the "store brand " is not quite as good. That the special brand has more value for your dollars. This is also true of NALS membership.

Why is NALS membership valuable now more than ever? In an age where we can access just about anything on the Internet, why do we value our connection to NALS?

Is it possible that membership in NALS, with its education and certification opportunities, has provided us with an edge over other employees during this economy? Could it be that NALS consistently provides the knowledge needed to move forward in our careers?

OR could it be that NALS fulfills something sorely lacking in our professional lives?

No other professional association will support you in your view of who you are in the legal services industry and how your expertise and professionalism matter in your job. It won’t come from your family. Not from your co-workers who will not understand the value of belonging. It probably will not come from your office or your attorneys, so overworked and inundated with the financial concerns of firm or the practice in general that they barely notice your existence (except when you aren’t at your desk).

Only through NALS will you come to know and understand your true value and worth as a legal professional – your rightful place within the law firm structure.

Is NALS of value? Is it worthy of your dollars and your time? I believe that it is. Do YOU?

If you value yourself as a professional, then you will also value what NALS has to offer at its Professional Development Conference, March 11-13, 2010. http://www.nals.org/conferences/professionaldevelopment/registration.html

THINK BIG! Change yourself. Give yourself the value you deserve.

Patricia E. Infanti, PP, PLS
NALS President-elect

Happy New Year!

I know it is well into the New Year but I wanted to make sure you were paying attention. Welcome to 2010 NALS! We have some new and exciting offerings coming your way this year and we want you to take advantage of them. First and foremost we are going to be using a new technology to do surveys that will make them shorter and more enjoyable for you and easier on us as well...a win-win situation! If you have not taken the opportunity to participate in the new Value of Membership Survey please do so. These surveys allow us to get a better grip on the needs of you all and also evaluate the effectiveness of our programs and services.

Click here to take survey

The second new feature for you is a new twist on an old idea. We have resurrected the NALS docket and turned it into a high tech digital newsletter. Hopefully you all were able to check it out in the last e-News issue. The NEW NALS docket will be a more relaxed newsletter for you than @Law and we will be sending it out each month. It will contain some columns on blogs and twitter as well as e-Learn and Leading the Way. It will also have one or two industry related articles and it will probably play host to some member profiles and other news as it evolves to suit your needs. We hope you like the first issue and if you missed it you can check it out by visiting the NALS docket page on our site.

We will continue to be active on all our social media fronts so you will have may ways to keep up with what is ongoing and new with NALS. If you are on Facebook join our group and/or fanpage...if you use twitter be sure to follow us!

We are looking forward to you taking advantage of everything we have to offer to you!

Jay Moore
NALS Communications Manager