President's Update -  Larry Kirlin


A Year in Review

It's hard to believe a whole year has passed since I was elected president. I remember the short speech I made at the banquet last October. My emphasis was to return our association to profitability by making incremental changes. The story of whether or not the association gets back to being in the black will be known soon but I do think we are on the right track.

Being a new president, I wasn't sure what to expect. Was the job going to be a constant interruption to my work at First Legal or could I balance it in between? It turns out that it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. There are busy times but overall I was able to keep things balanced. Something did happen that I didn't expect though.

I always knew that CALSPro had a lot of great members but until I became president I didn't realize how much time and effort our members put back in to the association. Here are some highlights . . .

Ken Hastings and the conference committee have been working on this year's conference since the last one ended. They had the vision to select a venue that would attract the maximum number of participants while keeping costs down and value high. Ken's leadership has been most impressive. The chapter of the story of conference is still unfolding but I can say the details so far are impressive.

The Education program was next on my list and was by far my biggest concern. My thoughts went to Kristian Pujol because he has a strong background in academics and if anyone could take this program to a new level it would be Kristian. When asked to lead he was off and running and accomplished much more than expected. The chapter of the story of education is also still unfolding but I'm certain the results will be among the best we have seen in years.

The newsletter was another area that got a lot of attention this year. Tom Alkema and his committee had a fresh vision for the newsletter. They wanted to take more advantage of technology with a trend toward blogs and higher frequency communications. I for one think the new format is more attractive and easier to digest. From the feedback I've heard I know others agree Tom moved things in the right direction.   And again, the chapter of the story of our newsletter is still unfolding.

The last and biggest effort I want to recognize this year is the Strategic Planning Session held in Sacramento this past July. Andy Estin and Jennifer Blevins worked tirelessly to prepare and execute what will become the most important meeting for the next generation of CALSPro members. Those who attended the session can attest that Andy was on fire while Jenny and the CAMS staff did their customary great job of organizing the meeting. The CAMS staff has more passion and energy for CALSPro than anyone could ever expect. This critical chapter in the story of CALSPro is already paying dividends with so many more benefits unfolding.

In summary, my chapter as president has been a blessing. It is a true honor to work with the volunteers that give so much to our industry. I intend to run for president in 2018 and hope that our members give me the opportunity to serve again and to help add chapter upon chapter of CALSPro successes.
Thank you,

Larry Kirlin,  CALSPro President
CALSPro "Affiliate of the Year"

This year we are pleased and proud to announce a brand new award to recognize the Affiliate of the Year. Whether you have a large or small company we truly rely on CALSPro members to handle assignments in their respective areas. We want to recognize these top performers and let everyone know what a great job they do. What makes this award extra special is you are nominated by your industry peers. We all know this is a very demanding and stressful industry and once you find an affiliate you can trust it provides great piece of mind knowing your assignments will get done in a professional and prompt manner.

All nominations will be categorized and winners will be selected by popular vote at the 2017 annual conference. Awardees will be recognized at the conference banquet and listed in the CALSPro Press.

The following are nominees for the "Affiliate of the Year"
 
Affiliate of the Year Nominations (All Categories)
530 Process Servers, Chico, CA
AAA Attorney Services II, Los Angeles, CA
Active Legal, Bakersfield, CA
Affordable Legal Service, Sacramento, CA
All Pro Attorney Services, Sacramento, CA
APT Legal Serve, El Centro, CA
Attorneys Messenger Service, Bakersfield, CA
Class Action Research, Penryn, CA
Commercial Process Serving, Ventura, CA
Delaware Attorney Services, Wilmington, DE
Hastings Professional Process Servers, Temecula, CA
Knox Attorney Service, San Diego, CA
Knox Services, Irvine, CA
Legal Document Specialist, Palm Springs, CA
S&R Services of Solano, Fairfield, CA
Sterling Madison, San Jose, CA
United Process, Santa Barbara, CA
2017 Conference

It's time!  Conference is here!
 
Here are just a few of the highlights that you can expect at this years conference:
  1. A family friendly environment complete with water slides and a lazy river
  2. A tremendous keynote speaker in Bob Davies
  3. Awesome live music at the Friday Night Mixer from Simon Alcantara
  4. Important bylaw vote regarding the future of CALSPro
  5. Legislative breakout session specific to photocopiers
  6. Possible California State Legislator guest appearance
These are just a few of the reasons to attend this years conference.  Please visit http://www.calspro.org/Docs/2017_CALSPro_Conf_Brochure.pdf for full details.

CALSPro Blog Update 

CALSPro is increasing its efforts to communicate more often and provide more relevant content to its membership. A couple points discussed at the Strategic Planning Summit was to offer more benefits and to better communicate to the membership. One thing we are doing to accomplish both of these goals is to create and share more relevant content by way of blog posts and social media.
 
Our basic guidelines are to post blogs as often as possible and provide relevant content in the areas of service of process, electronic filing, photocopy, technology, small business, etc. We will be doing this with both original content as well as articles found from other sources that we believe will not only be helpful to you in the running of your business, but also in your everyday life. If you come across anything you believe is relevant to our members or have a topic you would like to see posted as a blog, please email me at andrewg@janneyandjanney.com.
 
The CALSPRO Blog can be found on the CALSPro website at http://calspro.org/blog .However, the best way to make sure you receive the most update-to-date and relevant information released by CALSPro would be by subscribing to the blog posts. You can do that by following the link above and clicking on the "Subscribe to RSS" button.
 
Keep in mind that subscribing to the RSS Feed only works if you have a Feed Reader or another application with one built in, like most email management programs such as Microsoft Outlook. If you do not have a Feed Reader already, there are several free web based Feed Readers available. One that comes highly recommended for its ease of use is Feedly. It is simple to navigate and easy to add content to follow. They also have a free app for smartphones that allows you to view your feed wherever you are. CALSPro recommends you always speak with your IT department before making changes or adding programs to your operating systems.
 
RSS Feeds are a way to get information from several different sources in one simple, easy to use location. If you do not have an RSS Feed Reader or you feel this is all way over your head, do not worry. I would just suggest that you go to the URL listed above and save it to your favorites or bookmark the web page. Doing this will add it to your toolbar and allow quick access from your internet browser. The goal is to keep you well informed and provide relevant information for you and your business.
App ALERT! App ALERT!
Kristian Pujol - Continuing Education Committee, Chair

The CALSPro mobile app is in the works! We are excited to announce the ongoing development of the CALSPro app which will soon be available to all our active members! The idea for the app emanated at the Strategic Planning Summit held in July and was immediately put on high priority by the Board of Directors. Research and Development soon commenced thanks to the IT team at CAMS in Sacramento at the direction of our President, Continuing Education and Technology Chairs. We have been working diligently to meet the goal of introducing a prototype of the app at this years' annual conference! The prototype will highlight some basic functions such as deliverable address verification, witness fee calculator and a substantial list of CCP codes-all to be held soon in the palm of your hand!

At the conference demo, we will be open to any suggestions or ideas from the membership regarding the app, its functionalities and final launch. We hope to release the first version of the app as early as January 2018. Please come to conference, offer suggestions and requests, and partake in the formulation of this new and exciting app and future benefit of CALSPro! More information to follow in the next publication.

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