Karen Glowacki is Executive Director with Sherin & Lodgen LLP in Boston. She is current Chair of the 2013 ALA Annual Conference and also served as a member of the 2011 and 2012 ALA Annual Conference Committees.
“Mind-set flexibility, not proprietary expertise or resources will define the successful business and leaders of the future.” – An excerpt from the book ”Fl!p” written by Peter Sheahan, 2013 ALA Annual Conference Keynote Speaker
It’s hard to believe that more than one year ago, the 2013 Annual Conference Committee and ALA Headquarters staff met for the first time on site at National Harbor for our weekend planning meeting. We are now in the final stages of planning and we are focused on reviewing the session descriptions one last time with speakers and helping ALA promote the Conference. It’s a feeling of great satisfaction for all of us to have participated in making this Conference so special.
After brainstorming our ideas during the first few months last year, we formulated our educational sessions and chose our top sessions. The committee recognized that this was the year to do things a little differently. So, we resolved to make every effort to choose new speakers for this conference, and we called on our strategic partners, such as ILTA, to help us design sessions using their expertise, specifically for administrators and functional specialists. We recognized that our experienced members have been asking for higher level educational sessions so we developed the series “Seasoned to Perfection.” We all agreed that the law firm industry has been going through swift and significant changes over the last few years. It was important to provide sessions that embrace change, so we designed a series called “The Future Law Firm.” We can’t wait to experience the results of all the planning!
If you’ve made it this far, I hope you are enjoying this regular blog, and that you will subscribe, comment and stop by often. Social media and the “paperless” Conference have been embraced by all of us, and we are looking forward to providing many more blogs over the next few months, written by our talented 2013 Annual Conference Committee members, ALA staff, speakers and our business partners. This blog will provide you with detailed previews about many sessions we are planning, information on our strategic partnerships, information for new and international members, links to resources,and many more highlights of the Conference. We’ll try to keep it short, to the point and worth your time.
We’re glad you’re with us as we continue to explore and blog all our excitement about the 2013 Annual Conference. Chairing this committee is a wonderful experience, and I’m so proud of what this team has accomplished. I can’t wait to see all of you in National Harbor, where just a year ago we met and talked about how to turn our vision into a reality for 2013.
Karen,
Quite a journey for you and the 2013 ACC the past several months. You and the team have made the preparation for this conference very exciting and intriguing for the anticipating conference attendee. Well done! Mark
Thank you Mark! the 2013 ACC is a very talented and creative group! Also, spread the news – Early Bird Deadline has been extended to 2/15, so for those who haven’t yet registered, there is still time to save $200!
It’s been an honor serving with Karen and her great leadership abilities, and I cannot wait for members to meet and hear some of our great new speakers such as Dr. Christopher Bray, Nancy Myrland, Matthew Steilberg, and Kerry Bolls—just to name a few!
Thanks to the committee for all of their hard work. It should be another great conference.
Thanks for all your hard work, Karen! I am very excited about, and impressed with the new educational offerings. It will be great!