 President's Message
By: Carole Morris
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How time flies! It is now time for me to pass the president's baton to Jeff Hamrick. Part of me does so gladly; part sadly. It's been a grand year for AALA; and I have thoroughly enjoyed being such an integral part of it. Now I will get to sit back and watch Jeff take over and, I am sure, do an outstanding job.
This is AALA's 30th anniversary and we will be celebrating all year. We have fun events planned throughout the year and a huge Casino Night, which will be a combination Community Challenge/30th Anniversary Event, planned for October. You'll be hearing more about that as the year progresses. Of course, we are already having fun with our "Are You In? You Bet" program and it should be entertaining at our December luncheon to see who has the highest poker hand and wins the $2000 scholarship to the 2008 National Conference in Seattle, Washington. Remember that every event you attend earns you a card and the more involved you are, the better your chances of winning the scholarship.
I had the pleasure of working with an outstanding Board this year; and I would like to take a minute to thank each of them. Kristi Smith of Hyatt & Stubblefield, P.C. , our immediate Past President, has become a great friend and was immensely helpful to me as well as the Chapter this year; Jeff Hamrick of Epstein Becker & Green , P.C. has done an outstanding job in arranging educational opportunities for us here in Atlanta; Will Lee of Goodman, McGuffey, Lindsey & Johnson, LLP , our Vendor Chair, provided us with great vendor sponsorship and the money to run our Chapter; Theresa Turner of Holland & Knight , found great venues for our monthly luncheons and has done a fantastic job in negotiating prices; Carol Coombs of McGuire Woods kept our money (and us) in line this year; Joan Gingrich of Carlock, Copeland, Semler & Stair, LLP, kept our membership up and constantly looked for new member opportunities; Marianne Lawhead of Shea, Stokes & Carter, ALC, is a great PR person and obtained new and exciting articles for our eNewsletter and continually looked for ways to keep our Chapter's name in front of people; and Michael Stephens of Alston + Bird , who has tormented me with his jokes about my age for the past four years and kept me laughing, has continued to provide our Chapter with an outstanding web site. And, of course, my year as President has been greatly enhanced by the hard work provided by our Chapter Manager, Jennifer Brinkley .
The people who volunteered to serve as section leaders and/or committee leaders and members also deserve a public thank you.
James Gillespie and Deborah Higginbotham , who co-chaired the CLM Study Group and had an outstanding pass rate (71%)!; Kelli Shelton , Small Firm Chair; John Ahlrich , Finance Chair; Paul Grulke , IT Chair; Sheri Rowand , Multi-Office/Branch Chair; Michael Stephens who kindly volunteered to lead the HR Section in addition to his Board duties; Jay Boros , Corporate/Government Chair; Jason Stephens , who led our Diversity Committee; Diane Hall , who kindly hosted our ALA Teleseminars this year; Natalie Kelly , our State Bar liaison; Denise Hofrichter , Community Relations Chair; and Cathy McCollister , our Social Director.
As you can see, it takes a lot of people to help run our Chapter. Many more than those I have named have helped our Chapter this year - those who served on committees; came to our community events; participated in socials and other Chapter events, or just worked behind the scenes to get the job done. Working closely with these people has given me an opportunity to get to know them better, an opportunity I would not have missed for the world. I have gained some great friends through AALA because of my involvement on the Board and have leaned heavily on them this past year. I am also indebted to all of you for the support you have given me this past year.
My focus this past year has been on the CLM and on member involvement. Therefore, let me take this opportunity to urge those of you who are not involved to become involved with your local Chapter and with Regional and National in any way you can. If you are involved in a small way, I urge you to become more involved. Chair a section or committee, throw your name in the hat to serve on the Board, study for and take the CLM; meet a fellow member for lunch, drinks or dinner. You will find that our Chapter, and ALA in general, has some of the nicest people in the world as members. Not only will you learn from your fellow members, your life will be enhanced by their friendship.
Lastly, I thank you for allowing me to serve as your Chapter President. I believe I am a better person for the experience, both personally and professionally. I do not plan to fade into the background as I want to stay involved and enjoy my relationship with all of you.
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