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In this issue:
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September 21-24, 2006 - Fall Board Meeting - Richardson, Texas September 30, 2006 - NALS PP/PLS/ALS exams |
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Disco in Dallas is going to be a fun and educational time for everyone that is attending. Deadline is fast approaching for your registration to the Texas TALP 2006 Fall Board Meeting and Educational Conference. Hotel Registrations for The Richardson Hotel at the quoted room rate is available until September 6, 2006. Conference Registration has to be postmarked on or before September 7, 2006 before a late fee is due. You can find the registration form and information on the Welcome Reception on the TALP website. Contact me should you have any questions: Sharon Lee at slee@dehay.com |
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Good luck to everyone who is sitting for a Certification Exam in September!!!! If you haven't used the NALS Online Learning Center at nals.org, check it out. It is a great study aid. It is also a great place to get some CLE if you need it. Some of the upcoming topics are: September 5, 2006 September 12, 2006 September 19, 2006 September 26, 2006 Please checkout our website at texasalp.org. There is a NEW Docket quiz and a quiz on Bankruptcy. |
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For what we’ve discovered and rediscovered, is that leadership isn’t the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It’s a process ordinary people use when they’re bringing forth the best from themselves and others. James M. Kouzes and Barry Pozner |
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Submitted by Julie Abernathy Do you realize that without marketing, we would have no members? Without marketing, our employers would know nothing about our Association? Without marketing, you would have no one attend your functions? Marketing is essential to our organization. The following are some tips to assist you in your chapter’s marketing needs: 1. Prepare a flyer to promote your event: design from right to left and top to bottom. This is the way our eyes are trained to view things. Use no more than two fonts to a page. Don’t clutter – people tend to throw it away, or put it down, if there is too much information (TMI). Most publications use justification. If you are using quotes, offset them and include space around your quote. 2. Become a vendor at your local administrator’s meeting or conference. 3. Have information sitting on the registration desk at your local membership meetings on all three levels of the association. Emphasize that once you join, you automatically become a member of all three levels – thus giving you three for the price of one. 4. Do you have a paralegal school or community class in your area? Invite those students to your next meeting. Possibly give them a discount on the cost. Encourage the instructors from those schools to speak at a meeting and/or study group. 5. Contact a local courier service to find out if they will deliver promotional flyers for your chapter. Offer them a free ad to be included with the flyer, or a free ad in your next bulletin. 6. Get involved in charities in your community. 7. Solicit an ad-swap with another legal publication in your area. This will save you money, yet still get exposure to people who read other legal association publications. 8. Invite attorneys from firms who currently don’t pay membership dues to your next recognition event. You could even offer to pay for the attorney’s lunch to get him/her there. After he/she see the benefits, and how professionally our meetings are conducted, hopefully they will re-think firm policy and pay the dues for staff members. 9. Encourage legal support vendors to become business or corporate members. If your chapter does not have a category for business or corporate members, start the ball rolling now to add that to your bylaws. Corporate sponsors are thrilled to be recognized by our associations, and it’s a good way for them to meet new potential customers and/or clients. 10. Recognize, recognize, and recognize your current members. They are your best source for advertisement. Keep the members enthusiastic, and we all love recognition. Recognition could be accomplished both in writing – through articles in your newsletters, as well as publicly at your next meeting or event. Send thank you notes to members who have gone above-and-beyond in something they recently achieved or completed. Always recognize new members as soon as possible. Feature a member in your publication. 11. Pass out recognition certificates to members who have renewed their dues. 1‑year, 5-year, 10-year, etc. Recognition certificates are welcomed by members who continue to show their dedication and commitment to your association and its goals. 12. Lastly – go to two vital tools on the NALS website: The first, www.nals.org/leaders and download the NALS.org manual, Chapter 10; and the second, www.nals.org/marketing for the Marketing Tool Kit. Both of these online tools will give you more than you can ever imagine on how to promote, retain, recruit, and market members for your Association.
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Procedures to Promote Your Plan Marketing your membership drive and/or chapter Last month, you were given tips on the basic steps for planning and preparing a membership drive. This month, we will discuss ways to promote and market your plan. Take some time to prepare. Once you have a basic plan, it’s worth taking a little time before the event to coordinate your efforts. It’s not enough to have a plan, but you should discuss it with your membership committee and/or your chapter officers and chairman[1] so that everyone knows exactly what role they will play prior to and the day of the event. Encourage everyone on your Committee and especially, the officers and chairman to plan on attending the membership drive. Sell it to your Committee. Oh yes. This is often overlooked and you should start off by “selling” the membership plan to your Committee. When was the last time you saw a team, such as a football team, all pumped up and ready for the game? There was no doubt in anyone’s mind of the enthusiasm and commitment of the team. You knew everyone was there to play hard, play well and win--together. Try to motivate everyone on your Committee to get excited about the plan, the event and the chapter. Who wouldn’t want to join a winning team? Get the word out. Well before the event, start getting the word out about your event. Of course, you can do this through your chapter members, but don’t forget to send information to other legal organizations such as the local bar association, office administrator’s association, and key individuals at the courthouses. Post your handout or notice on bulletin boards. There are plenty of them around. At the library, courthouse--anywhere you can post a public notice. If you have access to emails for firm/office administrators, you should send emails; if you have flyers to hand out, hand them out. And always send a similar reminder the day before the event. Take a few minutes to announce the date and time of your membership drive at the membership meeting prior to the event, but don’t stop there. Ask your members to start inviting other staff from their firms to attend the event, and suggest that the member accompany that potential member. One of the biggest reasons potential members don’t attend membership drives is because they have no one to go with, no one to remind them, and no one to “nudge” them. Remember, your first meeting or membership drive? You were probably a little timid and nervous. These potential members are no different. So, give them some encouragement to join you at the event. While you have the floor, introduce and thank the Committee and let chapter members (and any visitors you have in attendance) know that your Committee has been working hard to coordinate the membership drive. Everyone likes a little recognition for hard work done and that may be enough for your visitor to become a new member. If you plan to award incentives or door prizes to members or potential members, distribute a flyer containing this information at the membership meeting. Be sure to repeat the date, time and location of your event. You cannot share this information too much, so share it every chance you get. The Day of the Event. Be seen! If you are in a remote location in a building, make sure you have placed plenty of signs, banners or whatever you need to let your guests know where you are. The day of the event, relax and enjoy. Don’t let yourself get stressed out about how your membership drive will be perceived. You have no control of that. There is nothing else you can do now except enjoy the event. So, have a good time. Be sure to mingle and talk to as many guests as possible. If you have business cards, hand them out. Potential members come to find out about your organization, not necessarily to join on the spot. They leave not having yet made a decision to join. Let them think about it but give them a way to contact you. Finally, the best way to promote your plan isn’t just promoting a once-a-year event. Talk about your association every chance you get. Talk about the things you do, the places you go or the CLE topics presented to you. Talk about the things you enjoy and never stop inviting potential members to attend a meeting with you. [1] “Membership committee and/or officers and chairman” will be referred to collectively as Committee. |
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Remember–Election Procedures Have Changed! The Call for Nominations for Elections of Texas ALP officers will be issued no later than October 1, 2006. Nominations must be submitted to the Nominations & Elections Chair no later than November 15, 2006. An in-depth article regarding these issues will be in the winter issue of The Texas Docket. Meanwhile, refer to Standing Rule No. 25 for new election procedures and to Standing Rule No. 36 for new campaign rules.
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Cheryl Moseley PLS, CLA,
TSC The 2007-2008 Leadership Team NEEDS You!!! I am still looking for volunteers to chair committees and members to serve on committees next year. For this Texas Roundup edition, I highlight the duties of the Finance Committee and the Financial Review Chairman. Are you ready to step out of your comfort zone and give back to our association? The FINANCE CHAIRMAN is responsible for devising ways of raising funds for Texas ALP. Logo items are developed and marketed after approval by the Executive Committee or Board of Directors. They “hawk” their sale items at all Texas ALP meetings and are usually quite effective at convincing the members to spend their hard-earned money. At some of the meetings, the Finance Committee will collect raffle items and sell tickets for those items, with the raffle proceeds either going to benefit Texas ALP or a special event approved by the Board of Directors. All in all, this is probably the most fun committee on which to serve. It works best with a chairman and one to two committee members. The time commitment is usually centered around the conference itself, and does not take up much personal time after the meeting. The FINANCIAL REVIEW CHAIRMAN loves to crunch numbers and is responsible for verifying the financial records of the Treasurer and the Finance Chairman. This chair is also responsible for verifying the accounting records of the finance chairmen for the Fall and Annual Texas ALP conferences. On a regular basis, the Financial Review Chairman receives the records from each person he or she is to review, and they conduct an in-depth review to make certain that the funds are accurately transmitted, deposited, and reported. This committee typically only has one person serving as the chairman, with no committee members. It is not a difficult committee, and is actually a good introduction into service on the state level. This position will require a few hours of time about three times per year when reviewing the books. Remember – you only get out of your membership what you are willing to put in for the association. Reap the benefits of membership by working on a committee, serving as a committee chair, or attending a Texas ALP meeting. If you are considering serving on a committee but are afraid that you’ll be in over your head, rest assured that a seasoned member can always be called upon for guidance and instruction to help you get comfortable with your duties. You can find the 2007-2008 preference sheet (on which to note the committee you are interested in) on the Texas ALP website. I really want to get some new faces on the leadership team to complement the mentors that will be serving. Please fill out your preference sheet, email it to me at cmoseley@qsclpc.com, deliver it to me at the Fall Board Meeting and Educational Conference in September, or drop it in the mail. Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions about any of the TALP committees. As always, I'm just waiting to hear from you. :) ~~ Cheryl |
