Why
I Go
by
Dee Beardsley, PP, PLS
I
love attending NALS conferences not only for the
obvious reasons: education, networking, making
new friends and cementing old relationships, but
for a not-so-obvious one: table talk.
To
me, talking with people from all over the United
States, from different backgrounds and socio-economic
environs, from large firms to small, from paralegals
to administrators to secretaries to court personnel,
from large associations to members-at-large about
their lives, their interests, and their latest
and greatest
“finds” is the ultimate turn on.
I
am energized by new ideas. I travel with a notepad
and record the gems that are discussed at meals,
gatherings, in elevators, on shuttle buses, airports,
etc. At the Buffalo conference in October, I learned
about a cool cosmetic bag by Vera Bradley (available
on eBay), books to read (Instance of the Finger
Post, Mermaid’s Chair and Skinny Dip), movies
to see, and fundraising/community service ideas
from other chapters.
NALS
connects you to the world we live in. When Katrina
hit, I was especially moved because I had fresh
memories of Biloxi from the 2004 NALS fall conference.
I know members in Gulfport, Pass Christian and
Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I dined at the Beau
Rivage (ocean front hotel now gone) and Mary Mahoney’s
Le Cafe (a famous eatery mentioned in John Grisham’s
books, also destroyed). I’ve attended two
NALS conferences in New Orleans, been to Preservation
Hall, walked the French Quarter and seen those
levies.
At
the beginning of my career I remember a retired
member telling me she let NALS be her travel agent.
Never been to New York City or on a cruise? Never
seen the Great Salt Lake or the Ponderosa? NALS
conferences in 2006 can take you all those places
and more:
