CALL held its fourth and final business meeting of the year on May 14, 2015 at Wildfire Chicago, 159 W. Erie. One hundred and nine members registered for the meeting.
President Margaret Schilt opened the meeting by recognizing the continuing and new Executive Board members:
- Julie Pabarja, Incoming President
- Stephanie Crawford, Treasurer
- Robert Martin, Director
- Todd Ito, Vice-President and President-Elect
- Diana Koppang, Secretary
- Konya Lafferty, Director
Margaret then offered her “deepest thanks” to the retiring Board members for their “hard work to CALL over the past couple of years”: Maribel Nash, Past President; Clare Willis, Secretary; and Jamie Sommer, Director.
Margaret welcomed four new members to CALL: Tami Carson, Preston Hamilton, Jennifer Lubejko, and Donna Tuke. She told them, “We hope you’ll have a long and fruitful association with us.”
AALL Annual Meeting
Margaret welcomed a table of representatives of AALL and noted that there was a table at the meeting for AALL and the AALL 2016 Local Arrangements Committee. She noted that there would be a raffle at this meeting for free registration to the Annual Meeting this summer. The Local Arrangements Committee was looking for volunteers to work at their booth at the Annual Meeting to “show the world how wonderful Chicago is” and encourage people to attend the Annual Meeting here in 2016.
Meeting Sponsor
Vice-President Julie Pabarja introduced and thanked our meeting sponsor, Intelligize, a website with broad range of resources in securities, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and private equity.
Paul Leighton, Director of National Accounts, addressed the members. He remarked that Intelligize has been adopted by so many large law firms, corporations, and the Securities and Exchange Commission because Intelligize has good content, search filters that are designed around an attorney’s workflow, analytical information, and subscriber support with a team of knowledgeable researchers.
Meeting Speaker: Holly Riccio
Julie then introduced the meeting speaker, Holly Riccio, the current President of AALL and the Director of Library Innovation and San Francisco Library Manager for O’Melveny & Myers LLP.
Holly started her talk by acknowledging the many CALL members who have served as leaders in AALL, including Keith Ann Stiverson, Deborah Rusin, Sally Holterhoff, Jean Wenger, Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Susan Siebers, and Mary Lu Linnane.
Your Personal Brand
Holly remarked that she recently attended the ABA’s National Summit on Innovation in Legal Services where the ABA president remarked, “If you don’t have a seat at the table, you become part of the menu.” Holly noted, “We’re not part of any menu.” Holly explained her process to prepare for her term as AALL President, which was based on a 2010 Harvard Business Review article, “Defining your personal leadership brand in 5 steps.” She said that the process is meant to develop a statement that helps a person convey her identity and distinctiveness.
The first step is to ask “what results do you want to achieve in the next year?” Holly looked at what AALL members told her in surveys, emails, and conversations at chapter visits.
Second, one asks “what do you wish to be known for?” Holly said that she chose six ideas that she is good at and aspires to: strategic, innovative, connection, willingness to take risk, transparent, and results oriented.
Finally, as Holly explained, one combines the six ideas into two word phrases along with the results one wants to achieve, which then becomes your statement in the form “I want to be known for being x, so I can deliver y.” Holly’s resulting statement is: “I want to be known for being a strategic, innovative, results-oriented risk taker to deliver the best AALL member experience.” She encouraged the members to own their statement, live it, and ask people for feedback.
New AALL Initiatives
Holly then told the members more about what AALL is doing. She explained that the AALL Executive Board decided at their Fall 2014 retreat to look at everything AALL does in a holistic way to make sure it was aligned with member needs. She noted that AALL can now provide monthly webinars at no cost thanks to sponsorship from Wolters Kluwer.
She said that there will be an “extreme makeover” of AALL Spectrum, to have a print and truly digital version to incorporate links other content. Holly remarked that the Continuing Education Educational Program Review Committee is looking at all education offerings very strategically and making recommendations.
She noted that the Association is working on rebranding with an expert consultant, and encouraged the members to fill out the survey that would be in their email soon.
Business Skills Clinic
Finally, Holly reminded the members about the Business Skills Clinic being held in Chicago on October 16 and 17, 2015. She explained that the Clinic is an opportunity for members to learn about the business of law, strategic planning, human resolves, and marketing. She explained that the Clinic arose out of a conversation with someone who wanted to become a law library director, but noted that all law librarians need to be concerned about the business of law.
She encouraged the members to attend the AALL Annual Meeting. She pointed out the great programming, yoga every morning, keynote speaker Terry Gross, and the new mobile app for the meeting.
Conclusion
Holly ended her talk by encouraging the members to volunteer with CALL and AALL. She noted we all bring something unique and individual and when we all participate, that is when the Association can be at its best. She remarked that her law firm was very supportive of her during her term as AALL and noted that she thinks she can be a model for other law firm librarians who are interested in running for the AALL Executive Board.
Margaret thanked Holly for her “perspective on personal leadership and information on wonderful programs and initiatives put forth and forthcoming.”
Award Announcements
Margaret and Maribel Nash then presented the CALL awards. They thanked the Grants and Chapter Awards Committee for their hard work reviewing nominations and coming to conclusions.
The Agnes and Harvey Reid Award for Outstanding Contribution to Law Librarianship was given to JoAnn Hounshell. Keith Ann Stiverson accepted the award on JoAnn’s behalf.
The Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Law Librarianship was given to Mary Lu Linnane. Mary Lu thanked CALL, the Grants and Chapter Awards Committee, and her current and past colleagues. She remarked that she has gotten more out of CALL than she put into it, and encouraged everyone to get involved.
The Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Law Librarianship was also given to Lorna Tang. Lorna thanked CALL. She noted that she was honored to receive her award at the same time as her friend Mary Lu Linnane. She remarked that law libraries and CALL have changed a lot during her career. She remarked that serving on CALL committees was fun and a learning process whereby she met lifelong friends. Lorna gave a special thanks to Betty Roeske for teaching her how to negotiate with vendors.
The Award for Outstanding In-House Publication was given to Sean Rebstock, DLA Piper, for Managing My eBrief, a video for attorneys created using Camtasia software. Sean very briefly addressed the members to say thank you.
CALL Grants
Margaret then recognized the recipients of CALL grants. Emily Barney, Chicago-Kent College of Law Library, and Carolyn Hersch, Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, received CALL grants to attend the 2015 AALL Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.
The following members received CALL grants to attend other conferences:
- Jona Whipple, Chicago-Kent, the “Law Repositories 2015: Shaping the Future” conference
- JoAnn Hounshell, Chicago-Kent, Association for Collaborative Leadership Summer Institute
- Kara Young, Pritzker Legal Research Center, the ABA TECHSHOW
- Lauren Odom, Skadden, Arps, the Mid-America Association of Law Libraries (MAALL) annual meeting
AALL Awards
Margaret recognized the CALL members who are recipients of AALL awards, remarking that “CALL truly has a great presence on the national stage of law librarianship”:
- Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award: Sarah (Sally) G. Holterhoff, Associate Professor of Law Librarianship and Government Information/Reference Librarian, Valparaiso University Law School Library
- Excellence in Marketing Award, Best Newsletter: CALL Bulletin (the CALL Bulletin Committee, Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Lindsey Carpino, and Scott Vanderlin, co-chairs)
- Excellence in Marketing Award, Best Use of Technology: CALL-er ID (Scott Vanderlin and the CALL Public Relations Committee, Debbie Ginsberg and Kara Young, co-chairs).
Committee Announcements
Several committees had announcements for the members:
Continuing Education Committee
Scott Vanderlin spoke on behalf of the Continuing Education Committee encouraging members to register for the Half Day Institute, “Charting a Path to Management: Skills to Take Your Career to the Next Level.” Scott noted that there will be an outside speaker, Steve Hughes from Hit Your Stride, who will be presenting on ways to become a more effective and dynamic communicator. He remarked that Steve’s presentation has been one of the most popular programs at the last two AALL annual meetings.
Community Service Committee
Patricia Sayre-McCoy spoke on behalf of the Community Service Committee. The Committee collected in-kind and monetary donations for the Anti-Cruelty Society. Patricia noted that many older pets wind up in shelters because people can’t afford the pet or have to move to housing that does not allow pets. She also encouraged those looking for a pet to go to a shelter.
Bulletin Committee
Scott Vanderlin and Lindsey Carpino spoke on behalf of the Bulletin Committee. They encouraged all members to write articles for the “award-winning CALL Bulletin.” Scott remarked, “Lyo (Lyonette Louis-Jacques) is the real hero here. She has done more than anyone else to transition the Bulletin online and get the award. She deserves all of the credit.” He announced that the CALL table in the Exhibit Hall at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia will feature the Bulletin.
Lindsey added that the Bulletin is always looking for new ideas and is recruiting a library school student to write a column. She further noted that anyone looking learn more about working with WordPress should volunteer with their Committee.
Local Arrangements Committee
Megan Butman spoke on behalf of the AALL 2016 Local Arrangements Committee and her co-chair, Maribel Nash. She encouraged members to volunteer for the hospitality table at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. She also announced that the conference badge appliqués promoting the 2016 Annual Meeting will be the Chicago flag.
President’s Thanks
Margaret thanked all committee members and chairs. She asked all committee members, committee chairs, and board members to stand and be recognized. She then asked all those who had ever been in one of those roles to stand and be recognized. She then encouraged all those who had not yet volunteered to “take the leap.”
New CALL President
Margaret then turned over the gavel to Julie Pabarja, the new CALL President. Julie said that she has been “lucky this past year to work with a great group of strong leaders.” She praised Margaret as a great mentor and a great leader and thanked her for her service to CALL. Julie invited the incoming Vice-President/President-Elect, Todd Ito, to join her at the podium.
Julie told the membership that the incoming CALL Executive Board is here to work for them. She said that she would send out two special invites: a survey to make sure that CALL is meeting the members’ expectations and an invitation to serve on a CALL committee. She said that she was looking for the members to share their talents, and hoped that everyone would get involved.
Door Prize Drawing
Julie and Todd drew the door prize, which was sponsored by Lexis Nexis. Todd Hilmer and Kathleen Bruner won the drawing.
There was then a second drawing for the free AALL Annual Meeting registration, courtesy of AALL. Holly Riccio drew the name, and Tom Gaylord won the free registration.
The meeting adjourned at 1:22pm.
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