President's Greeting - 2008

A note from our President

New year, new Board of Directors, new opportunities and new challenges in 2008! It is with great pride, passion and purpose that I step into our chapter president’s chair.  Thanks to Joy Long, our 2007 chapter president who remains on the board this year as immediate past president, and to the 2007 Board of Directors for their hard work and devotion.

Last year was a productive year.  We held regular luncheon programs in Chicago and in Indianapolis.  We were also delighted to launch a program series in Milwaukee.  LMA has many enthusiastic, long time members in Indianapolis and Milwaukee and we look forward to growing our membership and our activities in those areas.   We held the first LMA Chicago Your Honor Awards and our biennial Midwest Conference was a fabulous success.  We conducted the first LMA Chicago Survey of Chicago Law Firm Marketing & Business Development Activities and look forward to reprising this study in 2009.

This year, we are in the process of planning another year of diverse and interesting educational monthly programs for Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and, coming soon, to metro Detroit. We will continue our alliances with AAM, ALA and other professional associations with the goal of broadening our reach, our credibility and our brand.  We have a new, outstanding In the Loop editorial board who welcome your participation either in writing assigned or submitted articles. 

We remain truly committed to increasing chapter membership as well as retaining our wonderful members.  We are restructuring our committees to expand participation and improve their efficiency and effectiveness.  We will improve and enhance communication among our committees and better communicate committee activities to our members.  We are streamlining and modernizing our chapter accounting and reporting procedures and initiating standardized, regular chapter data collection and reporting so that we know where we are and where we want to be!  And, as you may know, it’s my personal goal to continue our presence and our program series in neighboring cities in the Midwest. 

I sincerely hope that my presidency will continue to build on LMA’s unique culture of collegiality and inclusion.  I and my fellow Board members look forward to serving and working with you to make your LMA membership valued and significant. If you have suggestions, questions or concerns, I, or any one of the Board, look forward to hearing from you.  I encourage you to join a committee, attend our programs, meet your colleagues and help us keep LMA Chicago not only the first LMA chapter, but the best! 

Warmest regards,

Sydney