Lester Tate writes:
I am writing separately to respond to the blog posts you sent earlier. Again thank you for your comments and for providing a forum to discuss these issues.
Having served on the Board since 1996, I can truly tell you that there is probably no more issue ripe for dissatisfaction than where the Bar holds annual, midyear and Board of Governor's meetings. I sometimes envision it as having a giant bus with all 42,000 members on board. Once on the bus, someone says, "Where do you want to go?" And you immediately get 42,000 different opinions. There is, quite simply, no answer that's pleasing to everyone.
To try to deal with the issue, we have repeatedly put out the facts about choosing a location, though there is always a new crew who hasn't heard the facts. Or there are others who have heard the facts, and simply want to breeze by them as if they don't exist. For example, you say there is "some talk about the board checking out various locations as potential sites for the annual meeting, which requires a large number of rooms, etc." (Yes, I've directly told the Board my purpose on numerous occasions!) And you followed that by saying the the Bar has a "a stock response on their web site as to why the annual meeting is held out of state" (Unfortunately, the stock response is necessary because a large number of people are unaware of the logistical challenges of the annual meeting. Further, and perhaps more importantly, derision of those facts does not change their existence.)
I won't rehash the logistics again (its on the website for anyone to read) and I have (again and directly) said that it was part of my purpose to take the Board to places which might be suitable for annual meeting this year. As I said earlier I made that choice and I stand by it. What I can do, though, is to tell you how some of the choices I did make would be attractive to the concerns that have been voiced:
1) A frequent concern is cost. While we are in the business of staging a meeting and not getting bargain basement rooms for members, cost was a major concern of mine. I believe you will find that the rooms at Panama City Beach were the lowest priced rooms we have had for a Board meeting in recent memory. Likewise, you will soon see that the price at Myrtle Beach for rooms is lower than it was at Amelia Island. (And I would further note that Myrtle Beach is almost exactly the same distance from Atlanta as Amelia...they are within ten miles or so of one another distance wise.) Looking for low cost rooms can only go so far, though. At some point, to get true value, you have to look at the possibility of combining your Bar excursion with a family vacation if you want to get the most out of it. Myrtle Beach surely offers the widest array of things to do for people of all ages of anyplace I have had the pleasure of attending an annual meeting in my 23 years as a member of the Bar. (During which I believe I have only missed one meeting!) Furthermore, our guaranteed rate at Myrtle is good for the whole Memorial Day week. I hope this will encourage families to come together and have a good vacation experience during their attendance at the Bar meeting.
2) Different places. Since I came on the Board in 1996, I think I've been to just about every place in Georgia that can host such a meeting twice...and perhaps three times! What's more I'm happy to go back to those same places! The real question is do we have to go to the very same places year in and year out without EVER taking a break and trying something new. I believe that a cursory review of past meeting sites would show that no president in the last ten years has scheduled 3 meetings out of state. What's more, I expect it will be another ten years before that happens again. So, I have to ask, is it such a bad thing that once every ten years or so we schedule a round of meetings that aren't in the usual places? In my mind (and I think in the minds of a lot of other long serving Board members) it isn't!
3)The Bar Center. At the outset, let me point out that two of my meetings were/are scheduled for the Bar Center, the August meeting, at which we burned the note, and the Spring meeting, at which we set the dues. That probably exceeds what many past presidents did (one meeting would be more typical) and I did that to compensate for the fact that we were going to new and more distant places in the other meetings. That being said, though, I want to point out that having a meeting at the Bar Center is logistically challenging. It is almost impossible to fit all of the meetings that go on at Midyear into the Bar Center because of space problems. Furthermore, we have to hire caterers who typically charge more than hotels because the have to "haul" all the tools of their trade down to the Bar Center. We also have to hire extra folks to come in and set up and take down meeting rooms to get them properly configured. None of that is free! Additionally, we have trouble getting room blocks from hotels for folks who can't sleep at home, because we are using none of the other hotel services or spaces. This is one reason that last years midyear (which was snow plagued as well) was held in its entirety at a hotel.
Finally, let me say a word of "apology," if I may. I apologize if I sound too harsh, too defensive, or too uncaring about the opinions of others. The truth is I care very much about what folks think and want from "their" Bar. I very much want greater participation by Bar members and greater ease, convenience and enjoyment for those who do participate. What I am "defensive" about is that I know what those concerns are and I also know that, hard as I may try, I can't please everyone. I also know that I (and all future presidents) are subject to logistical constraints that are very real. I hope you and others can understand how frustrating it is to have someone who is not aware of those constraints say "I know what you should do!," when many times their "solution" isn't even feasible. Knowing that I can't please all of the people all of the time, I've had to settle for pleasing some of the people some of the time, and I just want to communicate that I have done the best that I possibly can.
So I apologize if I have been too harsh, but thank you for your input and for providing me with a forum to respond.
From my time on the DeKalb Bar Association board, I appreciate Lester's point that no matter what you do someone is going to second guess the decision.
ReplyDeleteBut the issue of out-of-state meetings comes up so frequently that the State Bar has a link for the rationale.
Every time I mention that the upcoming meeting is in Nashville, I am asked why the State Bar of Georgia is having a meeting in Tennessee. This morning it was in a conversation with a lawyer who is originally from Nashville.
I realize these events are planned way in advance and that no one could have predicted the convergence of the Snowpocolyps with Icegeddon. However, inclement weather in January is reasonably foreseeable and it makes sense to make it easier to get to a meeting when the weather is likely to be miserable rather than farther away.
Every time someone has said to me they are not attending this meeting because it is so far away, and this was way prior to the weather disaster, I have asked them to please let bar leaders know.
I don't mean to be sassy. I just figure if no one tells them, they won't know that folks are complaining.
Sorry for the delay in posting -- I had technical difficulties.
ReplyDeleteAs a bar member of 28 years, a section chair, and a furloughed government lawyer, I appreciate the additional insight into why the upcoming mid-year meeting is in Nashville and the next one is in Myrtle Beach. Of course not everyone would be happy with any particular venue, and the logistics are truly daunting. And the Bar staff are extremely good at managing these events.
I never participated in the bar much until the last few years. Frankly, it has always seemed to me that one must reach a certain income level before full participation is possible, due to the commitments of money and time required. That impression has not changed.
While the Bar certainly is not in the business of getting bargain basement hotel rooms for members, it is in the business of setting up accessible meetings. An eight-hour round trip for a three-day event is not accessible to me. It is physically taxing, as well as expensive and time-consuming. Many of my section members whave told me they would have attended if it were in Atlanta, but can't go to Nashville. Even UGA is not honoring its alumnae judges at the mid-year meeting as usual, but instead is doing so next week in Athens.
The Bar is a business organization, and finding a locale that appeals to vacationing families seems like a misplaced priority to me, as does finding someplace new and different. I realize these considerations are entrenched in the organization and that a radical shift in perspective is unlikely any time soon, but I'm concerned about the perception that the Bar is elitist, a perception that is reinforced when the meetings are held out of state.
I did make it to Nashville, though escaping Atlanta yesterday was tricky.
Christina Smith
Chair, Appellate Practice Section