[author: Darlene Williams]

With all the hype leading into the NCRA Convention last month, it’s now time to reflect on the events and digest all those seminars. We reached out to a few attendees and asked for their takeaways, and here’s what they had to say:

• Lisa M. Barrett, RPR, CRR, CRC, CSR – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Attending the convention gives me such inspiration to keep the efforts of our small organization here in Ontario going. There is strength in numbers! There is an unbelievable amount of pride and professionalism that you see amongst the large group at the convention, and I feel that is my favorite part. People are interested and wanting to learn more, always, at any age, in our profession.
  • I attended a seminar on Protecting the Profession. There was a very important message to be taken away from that seminar: “Stop complaining and start doing!” The “doing” was realtime. The importance of being able to offer realtime and rough drafts to legal professionals is the ONLY thing that will ultimately set us apart from ER. We must be ready to provide free realtime to judges and do pro bono work to pique the interest of members of the bar and bench. That’s all there is to it. No one is going to save our jobs for us; we need to save our own jobs!
• Maren M. Fawcett, RPR, CRR – Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
  • I attended the NCRA Convention in Chicago this year and really enjoyed Mark Kislingbury’s macros seminar. He is always delightful, and I am always struck by his genius and quick thinking while writing realtime. When a macro doesn’t exist, he invents it and gets programmers to implement it. Amazing! I already used several macros from the writer, but some of the find and replace macros will make my realtime feeds even better. Even though I read the article in the JCR, having Mark highlight some of his shortcuts live brought the macros suggestions in Eclipse to life. It is amazing that we can use software for years and not realize some of the capabilities.
  • I encourage anyone on the fence about attending a state association or the national convention to put it on the calendar and make it happen. Not only were all the seminars educational, but meeting and networking with reporters from around the country helps us realize we have a team of reporters from many, many different states striving to be the best guardians of the record possible. Sometimes we are isolated because we aren’t in an office environment, and scheduling meetings for lunch or social hours, especially for freelancers, can be difficult. Attending a convention gives you the opportunity to see old friends from your own state, as well as meet new colleagues from all over the country and Canada. I even met a reporter from the UK. We all strive to be the best we can be in a silent profession. Attending a convention allows you to socialize and get your 5,000 words per day out, saving your spouse or significant other the earful!

As you can see from the testimonials, we get out what we put into our profession. The opportunities afforded at a convention, be it on the national or state level, cannot be matched by doing an online book report or summarizing an online article. Our colleagues challenge us each and every day to be the very best we can be.

Has your enthusiasm for your career path become stagnant simply because you are busy working? It’s your responsibility to yourself, to your fellow reporters, to the future of our profession, that you make the time to plan and attend a convention. There’s an educational seminar for most every issue facing reporters today. Do you fully know your software and all the magnificent tools and tricks it possesses to make your workflow seamless and efficient? Have you considered taking a weekend out of your hectic schedule to attend vendor training on your software to enhance your productivity? There are a multitude of individual seminars at these conventions to share all the secrets reporters from around the country and across the globe have perfected. Your only requirement – participate!

Beyond the educational experience, the networking with your fellow reporters at a convention is unlike any other. While you’ve been busy at home working throughout the year, so have your reporter friends. Coming together at a convention lets us share our experiences in a way that helps us return home feeling revived, refreshed, and ready to get back to making the record.

Here are just a few upcoming events:

• September 16-17, 2016: Maryland Court Reporters Association Annual Convention, the Osprey Point Retreat & Conference Center, Royal Oak, MD 21662
• September 29 – October 1, 2016: StenoCAT Users Network Fall Convention, Anaheim, CA
• October 1-2, 2016: The Certified Court Reporters Association of New Jersey, Atlantic City, NJ
• October 14-16, 2016: New York State Court Reporters Association Convention, White Plains, NY
• March 31 – April 2, 2017: Pennsylvania Court Reporters Association Annual Convention, Lancaster, PA
• July 20-23, 2017: NCRA Annual Convention & Expo, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Mark your calendar now and start planning!