President's Message By: Kristi Smith

Congratulations to the Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators for placing in the top three in four out of five of the chapter award categories entered for the 2005 ALA National Conference awards ceremony held in San Francisco in April. I was so proud to be cheering on our chapter with 33 other AALA members. It is such an honor to be recognized for the hard work that so many put in to making our chapter one that is well respected by ALA, other ALA chapters, and members of the legal community. In addition to these awards, our chapter was recognized once again as a Platinum level chapter. In order to receive Platinum status, the chapter must accumulate points by fulfilling certain requirements set forth by National ALA.

The entire list of requirements can be viewed here on the ALA website , but some of the requirements include: communication to the chapter members of guidelines, resources, and benefits of ALA membership; professional development of members by offering quality educational opportunities; recruiting new members and retaining current ones; and making sure the chapter is managed correctly and within the law. As you can see, accumulating points in each of these areas requires teamwork and determination by not only the board of directors but committee and section leaders and individual members as well. I am honored to be working with a few of these determined, hardworking individuals on the board this year. Michael Stephens continues to serve as the Chapter Webmaster and Past President. Carol Morris has stepped up to the plate to serve as Vice-President/President-Elect. Cathy North has recently taken over the Chapter Secretary position. Reinhard Breckner is currently serving his second term as Chapter Treasurer, and Jeff Hamrick is serving his second term as Director of Vendor Relations. Joan Gingrich serves as Director of Membership, and Brian Gedeon is serving as Director of Newsletter and Public Relations.

I don't write this message to boast about winning awards. Instead it is an attempt to convey to all current and future members of the Atlanta chapter just how much talent, knowledge, and dedication members have given to the ongoing success of our chapter. At the time of my writing this article, we do not know what the 2005 requirements will be to achieve Platinum status for the chapter for a third year in a row. More and more chapters are able to accumulate the required points. ALA will most likely increase the requirements to make it harder to maintain Platinum status if not this year, then maybe the next. My point is that it takes all of our backgrounds, experiences and philosophies to make this chapter what it is.

It is here that I am reminded of my son's very recent Pee Wee League baseball double elimination tournament. Tournament games were scheduled during the week and then the final championship game was to be played on Saturday afternoon. I am no expert on baseball and tournaments and such, but I do understand why the director scheduled the games as he did. In this particular tournament there were only five teams that competed against each other for 1st and 2nd place. If a team loses two games, they are out of the tournament. Those teams who ranked first and second during the normal season didn't have to prove themselves by playing quite as many games as those who had not done so well during the normal season.

My son's team was the 5th place team going into the tournament, not expected to win any of the tournament games, and of course, one of the first to play. As Mother Nature would have it, it rained everyday of tournament week until finally on Friday, the first game was played. As luck would have it, my son's team won their first game. Without going into all of the details of that long, hot (humidity was 93%), emotional roller coaster type of day we had that Saturday when our tough little seven year old boys played their hearts out in four tournament games in one day and ended up in second place I will tell you that it was not the effort of just one or two boys that got them to the trophy ceremony at the end of the day. It was the determination and teamwork of eleven boys each with a different talent that they brought to the team - some were great dugout cheerleaders, a few made awesome catches and then actually knew what to do with the ball once they had it, and still others could hit the ball to the fence that day.

With this type of teamwork in mind, I encourage and, yes, even challenge each of AALA's 233 members to lend your talents and knowledge to our chapter. Even if it is a small part - a few hours on a Saturday morning helping with Community Challenge Weekend in October or offering to speak on a topic at a section meeting or by simply attending the monthly meetings in support of our chapter - it will certainly make a difference in the continuing success of AALA.

In closing, I'd like to ask members to spend a few moments and think about what you receive most from your membership in AALA and what you think could be done differently to improve our chapter. Send me an email or a letter or give me a call to let me know your thoughts. Your ideas can make a difference in the chapter and volunteering your time to make those ideas a reality can make a difference both in the chapter and in you. I can be reached at 404-659-6600 or via email at ksmith@atlanta-ala.org.

Editor: Brian Gedeon (BHGedeon@duanemorris.com) (This publication is the property of the Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators. Reproduction or reprint without prior permission is strictly prohibited. Click here to request reprint permission.)

Designed/Distributed By