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Summer 2008 President's Speech at convention |
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Thank you. Wow! This is really something special for me. I would like to thank the Association for the tremendous honor you have bestowed on me tonight, and I promise to work hard to prove that your trust has not been misplaced. When I was thinking about tonight, there was one question that kept coming to mind. How in the world did this happen? I had been a member of ACRA for years, had helped on various committees, always enjoyed attending the conferences and even served as a district director. Then I got the telephone call from my friend Alan Peacock. Would I serve as treasurer? I had never aspired to be an officer, especially the president of this association. I am reminded of a comment by another, better known President Eisenhower that “Any [one] who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.” I am unsure which is true of me, but I suspect time will tell. In any case, Alan convinced me that it was a way to give back to the profession that had been so good to me. That one phone call has lead to this night. Thank you, Alan. I have always admired our leaders of ACRA. I’ve been around a long time and have seen a lot of presidents come and go, and we have been blessed with an abundance of good leaders. I see many of them in the audience tonight. I look to their examples for guidance during my presidency. Thank you, Diana Battles, for your calm, reflective leadership; Randall Murphree, for showing me not to be afraid to delegate, that we’re a team working toward a common purpose; Alan Peacock, always there to encourage, always willing to help whenever he could. I believe it was Alan or maybe it was Suzanne who formulated the president-elect’s lifesaver, otherwise known as the convention checklist. What an indispensable tool for putting together a conference. (Sheree, don’t leave home without it.) Suzanne Frazier, an awesome example of organization, how to set a goal and then reach that goal; Karen Drinkard, the example of gracious, humble leadership. And my friend, Pat Higgins, for her wonderful commonsense leadership. I am going to attempt to follow in their very capable footsteps and build upon the sound foundations they have formed. We worked hard to pass the state certification bill and now some may be asking, what now? Where should we go? Where should our attention be focused? There are many issues facing our profession and demanding our attention: Electronic recording, ethics issues, contracting issues, revising the bench manual for official reporters, and marketing court reporter value, just to name a few. Your input, suggestions and support are essential. I urge you to get involved now, volunteer to be on a committee, give your input. The dictionary defines an association as an organization of people with a common purpose and having a formal structure. Our common purpose is to improve and advance the profession of court reporting, including CART and captioning, in the state of Alabama. Our formal structure is in place. I want to thank each of you who will be serving as officers, district directors and committee chairmen this year. I am excited and look forward to working with you and getting to know you better. I also want to reach out to our members and promote more member involvement. I welcome suggestions on how to improve ACRA and make it more relevant to the individual members. I want them to see value in their membership in ACRA. Last, but definitely not least, I’d like to thank my husband Dwight and daughter Anna for being so supportive and always encouraging me. This has truly been a growing experience for me. I was just dreading my year as president-elect, thinking I could never been in charge of one state conference, much less two. This was totally outside of my comfort zone. I would be treasurer for four years, just don’t make me be president-elect. Of course, they wouldn’t let me get away with that. But after attending the national leadership conference in Washington, DC, last year, I came away with a new-found confidence, and I must say that it has actually been fun planning the midwinter and summer conferences. And I’m here to tell you if I can do it, anyone can. Of course, you don’t do it alone. You’re never alone. That’s the beauty of it -- it’s teamwork. Thank you to all who have given so generously of their time and talents to make this convention a reality. At the National Leadership Conference we watched a short video entitled 212 Degrees, The Extra Degree. It accompanied the book of the same name authored by S. L. Parker. Although it was a short video, it had a powerful message. At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees it boils. With boiling water comes steam, and with steam you can power a train. Just that one little degree makes all the difference. Think about that. The video went on to say that success in anything has one fundamental aspect -- effort, extra effort. It reminded us that we are each responsible for the results we achieve in our own lives and ended with the challenge to turn up the heat. If everyone here will determine to give the extra effort, that one extra degree of effort, at home, in their careers, for ACRA, just imagine the possibilities! Again, thank you all for being here tonight. Our conference is entitled Fun, Sun & CEUs. We’ve had the sun and we’ve gotten a lot of CEUs. Now let’s have some fun. I hope you’ll stay and listen to Dwight and the band.
Thank you!
Julia Isenhower, CCR, RPR |
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