Leading the Way - February 2010

In This Issue:

Precious in the Eyes of the Beholder

My father was a watchmaker by trade. Back in the days of 17-jeweled watches, he would clean, repair, and re-assemble watches as part of a general overhaul to keep the timepieces running smoothly and accurately. In addition to fixing watches, my father had a small jewelry store where he catered to local citizens and their jewelry needs. As each of my brothers and I reached high school, we worked at the store each day after school.

The Value of Education

Some think that once they finish high school, business school, or college that their education is finished. Not so. Education does not necessarily mean going to school. Education, and thus learning, can be accomplished through more informal settings. Learning can and should be a lifelong endeavor.

Marketing our Association through Community Service

Our need is to gain more members in the association and visibility to the community gets us more attention and, therefore, more people in the legal community will be aware of us. We can market this association through visibility of our association through community service.
Getting involved can be both fun and rewarding. There are so many organizations that are more than willing to take whatever help you can give them and give you publicity in return. Most of the larger organizations such as the American Heart Association, Habitat for Humanity, Snowball Express, and others, have their own Public Relations Department who will publicize your events in connection with theirs which helps to get your name out.
Some of the smaller organizations and local community services, such as your local children’s home, veterans associations, etc., will be happy to split profits from an event if you do the majority of the work on the event. This can be as simple as holding a 50/50 raffle or as extravagant as holding a celebrity waiter dinner event.

Membership

As each Chapter and State Board begin the process of reorganizing for the 2010-2011 year, new opportunities, along with new challenges present themselves. Once the new Board members have reviewed the file from their predecessors and reviewed the existing Bylaws and Standing Rules, the time is right for an initial Board Meeting to formulate the strategic planning process, set a calendar, and begin working together as a Board.

20 years of helping others…

Is that what you think of when you think of the NALS Foundation? Or, do you really wonder what the Foundation is all about?

The NALS Foundation was created 20 years ago in order to ensure a rewarding future for you, the legal professional. We are a nonprofit education foundation that works hand-in-hand with NALS…the association for legal professionals. The NALS Foundation is governed by a volunteer board of trustees – you know, the women who can be seen running around at the conference in purple aprons, purple tops, purple hats and ah yes, the purple boas.

Where Will You Be in the Next Year?

I am sure you are either contemplating the question or wondering why I am asking.
In today’s economy, absolutely nothing is guaranteed with respect to employment. Every month, I hear about layoffs or people in the legal industry changing jobs “out of the blue” and moving to new firms where they feel they have better job security.