Can anyone believe it is the end of August already? I cannot... and it is amazing to me how fast my time as President is flying by. I am proud to say the Gateway Chapter has accomplished a lot in the past few months...
Back in June, our Chapter focused a great deal of time on diversity which is an important aspect of our Chapter’s identity. We started with “A Matter of Faith” panel discussion and alongside our members and SLIP students, we learned about the different perspectives of our panelists related to their beliefs. We concluded the month of June by walking in the St. Louis Pride Parade where we showed our support for diversity. We had a fantastic turnout at both events.
While we are on the topic of diversity, as law leaders, it is important for us to recognize we have a responsibility to promote and encourage increased diversity in our Firms. ALA Gateway can help us do that by providing a roadmap. Please check out the Diversity Scorecard for Law Firms at this link, https://www.alanet.org/about/diversity/scorecard-for-law-office-administrators.
Also in June, the Gateway Board had the honor of traveling to Kansas City for a one-day Leadership Summit with the KCALA and Iowa Chapters. The three Chapters shared ideas, discussed solutions to current Chapter challenges and spent valuable time with our co-business partners. Our Board came back with a ton of new ideas to implement and make our Chapter even better than it already is. Thank you Thomson Reuters, Epiq, and Konica Minolta for sponsoring and supporting our Chapters!
In July, the Chapter remained hard at work learning about our new tax laws and spending more time with business partners at an amazing social connection at Third Degree Glass Factory. Acropolis Technology Group and IST sponsored this event and it was a great evening of networking and strengthening our relationships with our valued business partners. If you think this event looks fun, please make sure to sign-up for our next social connection at Top Golf on October 23rd.
And speaking of business partners, in early August we held our Annual Business Partner Expo. The day started off with a Strategic Alliance event and fabulous presentation on “Design Thinking to Innovate and Differentiate”, followed by the Business Partner Expo. I would like to extend a huge thank you to James Cornell, Alycia Sutor, Brie Leung and Dean Leung for this great presentation. All in all, we had over 178 Business Partners, members and guests come out to learn, network, develop and strengthen valuable relationships with each other and our Business Partners. Thank you to all who attended this amazing event.
As you have probably gathered, the Gateway Chapter highly values the relationships we have with our Business Partners. All-State Legal describes their personal experience as a Business Partner with the ALA Gateway Chapter. Please take a few moments to read about their experience.
Why ALL-STATE LEGAL is Proud to be an ALA Business Partner
By ALL-STATE LEGAL
We are proud to be the First ALA Business Partner and of our continued support of National and Local ALA Chapters like the Gateway chapter. The business relationships and friendships that we have developed over the years are directly due to our involvement in ALA are some of the best that we have today! In fact, we do business with a number of firms in St. Louis in large part due to the connections made through ALA events.
For those of you who don’t know who we are or aren’t sure of all that we do…ALL-STATE LEGAL is a printer/engraver who specializes in Service! Our number one priority is meeting the individual needs of our clients with engraved and printed stationery, marketing materials and promotional products as well as everyday law office essentials and supplies. Providing personal service and creating relationships with our customers to ensure we are meeting their needs is our number one goal. And the ALA helps us achieve that goal.
Below are just a few of the benefits that we have experienced over the years.
Networking
As a business partner, investing the money is a great start, but it’s not enough. Engagement is key! Administrators and office managers don’t always have time to meet with vendors in person – not that they aren’t willing or don’t have the desire. They just don’t always have the time due to the demands of their job responsibilities.
ALA helps us connect by providing various networking events. We try to attend every event to engage with members because we know they took the time out of their day to be there to meet us. We work hard to meet new members (or just new to us members!) and use our existing relationships to make new connections for others.
You get what you put in. If you show up and participate, the loyal ALA members will always give you a chance to talk with them and will often go above to share valuable information about the industry overall, about ALA and about their specific situations.
The Membership
ALA members are the most grateful, welcoming and giving people. Often at both local and national events, we can’t count the number of attendees that come by to thank us for supporting the association. It gives us great satisfaction to know that we have played a small part in supporting their ongoing education and when we do make a business connection, that we have alleviated a few of burdens associated with a challenge they are faced with, an office move or a re-branding program. If we can help our clients and ALA members in any little way, we want to make sure we do. It is truly a pleasure to work with such genuine people.
Market Knowledge
To thrive as a business you must remain knowledgeable about the market and professionals you serve. It is a vital part of business planning both short and long term. Without fail, the diverse members, educational sessions and other business partners remain our greatest source of market knowledge.
Thank you for being such a great association and for being truly wonderful people!
I would like to wrap up this newsletter by reminding you all of the benefits you receive as a member of ALA Gateway. This link will take you to a complete list of all of the benefits, (https://www.alanet.org/membership/case/benefits); however, I would like to mention a few specifically.
First, the VIP program which affords you the opportunity as a member of ALA to receive significant discounts for your Firm on services offered by our Business Partners. This VIP program is only made possible by our strong relationships with our Business Partners. Please visit this link for more information, https://www.alanet.org/about/vip-program.
Second, you have the opportunity to receive valuable educational opportunities that you would not otherwise receive anywhere else. The Legal Industry is changing by the minute and we, as legal professionals, must stay current on industry trends. There are multiple educational opportunities we receive as members. One is reduced registration fees to the ALA National Conference in the Spring and the Regional Conferences in the Fall. This year the Regional Conferences are taking place in Chicago on September 13th – 15th and in Austin on October 18th – 20th. It is not too late to sign-up for these conferences! Please visit (https://www.alanet.org/events/2018-events/regional-legal-management-conferences) for more information and to register.
Legal Management Digital Magazine is yet another resource we have to stay current in the five knowledge areas of Legal Industry/Business Management; Human Resources Management; Financial Management; Communications and Organizational Management; and Operations Management. To find the July/August issue please visit (https://www.alanet.org/education/publications/legal-management-magazine-current-issue). Listed below are three articles featured in the issue.
- Corporate Social Responsibility Done Correctly – Firms looking to initiate or augment a corporate social responsibility program may face a multitude of options – and an unexpected outcome.
- The Lateral Leap – Properly integrating lateral partners into your firm is critical to their – and your firm’s – success.
- Making Your DMS Migration (Relatively) Painless – Experts weigh in with tips for a seamless transition.
Webinars are another valuable resource to you as an ALA Gateway member. The webinars are offered on a regular basis either in live time or to be viewed at a later date. Below are some of the upcoming topics and you can find more information here, (https://www.alanet.org/education/online-learning/webinars).
I wish everyone a happy end of summer and look forward to seeing you all at an upcoming ALA event in the near future.
Nikki Cornwell
2018-19 ALA Gateway President
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