PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE 

As I have been pondering my first message to you since Hawaii, I am reminded
of how quickly things can change. Rather than basking in the afterglow of a trip
of a lifetime, there was my son's surgery; my husband's on-and-off-and-on-again
surgery, the first of three, and his new cardiac issues; the death of two friends'
parents; and then, this past week, the death of a childhood friend and another friend
facing a battle with cancer. They say God never gives us more than we can handle
and there is always someone whose circumstances make ours pale in comparison.
Those words keep coming back to me, and they are so true. Everyone has
struggles, every single one of us.

The first of November my judge called me into his chambers to share with me two
tragic events in the life of our judicial assistant. He asked how difficult would it
be for me to move from my office and work at her desk for the next month or so
and to assume some of her duties. Throughout November and December, I took on
the role of judicial assistant, running between my "west office" and "east office."
I became the new receptionist/scheduler and tried to help in any way I could, in
addition to my court reporting and USCRA responsibilities. Back in the mid-'90s
I had done some of those things for my former judge, but then my office was in his
chambers, and if someone was out of the office or busy, I assisted. Now things are
so different with CM/ECF and text orders and keeping things on different drives,
etc. Once getting my computer all set up to take on these tasks, I learned how our
chambers functions, and we all worked together to make things go as seamlessly as
possible without a key player in our chambers.

You might wonder why I am sharing all of this. As I told my judge when he took
me to lunch after my duties as "JA" ended in the middle of January, I was happy
to help out. I was only doing what anyone else would do, and I was glad that I
could contribute to make our chambers efficient. This highlights my theme for
2012, Future United, and dovetails right into what I asked of you in my incoming
president's speech. When opportunities present themselves, we need to have the
foresight to see them as such. I made a choice to become an indispensable part of
our chambers and courthouse, much the same as we make ourselves an integral
part of the justice system when we provide realtime and other services to our
judges, attorneys, law clerks, probation, etc.

Speaking of coming together, when I took on this task, our Executive Committee
came to the rescue to help me with my USCRA duties, and I want to take this time
to publicly thank them, especially Jan who continued to do many of the duties she
should have been relieved of in October . You see, when we all work together, we
can accomplish so much.

I would like to take a moment to encourage you to please renew your membership
with USCRA and to think about how you can contribute to our association. We
need more people to step to the plate, not only to spread the workload among those
who benefit from the labors, but also to tap your infusion of new blood and ideas.

In conclusion, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, sadly it has come to my
attention that there are some judges out there who haven't experienced the benefits
of a realtime reporter. Please, please provide this service. They need to know
what they are missing. Without realtime, judges will be more likely to want to
go the route of DAR and video conferencing. When we market ourselves, we are
better than any other system out there. Embrace realtime. If you are one of those
struggling or afraid to write for someone else, dragging your feet, take that first
step. Very few write perfect realtime page after page after page. We can educate
judges and lawyers about the benefits of realtime and market ourselves.

I urge you all to join us in Kansas City for our Midyear Seminar April 28th and to
take the FCRR exam if you aren't already realtime-certified. Make that first step
in your future, in our profession's future. We need you!