31-Mar-09 3:00 PM EST

Time Flies

By Carol Coombs

Wow, this is actually my last message. When I took over as President of this group, (or "Princess" as some affectionately dubbed me), I thought that time would actually creep by at a snail’s pace, maybe even come to a standstill. What was I going to do! But now it is time for me to pass the proverbial "gavel" on to Marianne Lawhead. As the old saying goes --time flies! And it literally does. I must admit that even though I was quite "nervous" to take this position, and as hard as it is for me to get in front of a group of people and speak, I had a great time. It has been a wonderful experience getting to know so many of you and learning so much about this organization. At this point in time, however, I am looking forward to that coveted Past President position, and I think you will find that Marianne will bring a wonderful dynamic to this Chapter. I look forward to assisting her in that endeavor.

We face some challenges ahead of us personally and professionally and we are very lucky to be a part of an organization where we have relationships to draw from. This year we have many things in store for us -- we are co-hosting the Region 1 & 2 Conference in Savannah, GA; having fun with the "Great Beantown Adventure" (your opportunity to win a $2000 scholarship to the 2010 national conference in Boston); providing learning opportunities with our monthly speakers series, section meetings and community service projects; keeping in touch with each other through our ever expanding website; and will be focusing on our membership and their needs!

When I wrote my first message as President, I talked about taking a lot of first steps, not being afraid of making mistakes, and all that other good stuff that comes with taking on new positions. Well, just after taking my Oath of Office, my full time job took me in many directions with travel (imagine that!). I found myself assisting our Jacksonville office when the administrator left that position to move to another firm and my Board was very patient with me when I had to move a meeting or two or three. A President is only as good as the Board that supports them, and I had a wonderful support team. I would like to thank them all for their hard work.

· Jeff Hamrick of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., our Past President, has been not only a confidant but extremely helpful to me this year, as well as to the Chapter, as he stepped in and took over the position of Director – Vendor Relations;

· Marianne Lawhead of Shea Stokes Roberts & Wagner, ALC, Vice-President/President Elect, who has done an excellent job with our educational programs;

· Will Lee of Goodman, McGuffey, Lindsey & Johnson, LLP, our Treasurer, for all the work that he did with our CPA this year;

· Beth Jenkins of Buckley Brown our Secretary who took great effort in finding new locations in Atlanta to accommodate members from all areas of the city;

· Dina Wolfe of Slutzkey, Wolfe & Bailey, who worked so hard to help me in our membership efforts and was instrumental in helping me maintain our Platinum status for 2009;

· Sheri Rowand of Carlton Fields, Director of Newsletter who worked hard to get follow-up articles from our speakers, remind me of my deadlines, and obtain other timely information for you; and

· Amanda Davis of Fields & Howell, who literally spent countless hours to make sure that we produced the outstanding website that you have enjoyed this past year; and.

Last, but certainly not least, Jennifer Brinkley, our Chapter manager. Without her hard work, this Chapter would not be what it is. She certainly made my life easier. Not to mention the fact that Jennifer has also spent many countless hours this year working closely with Amanda Davis on our branding and website.

This isn't all! There are many others that volunteer to serve as section leaders and/or committee leaders to help make this Chapter a success and I would certainly be remiss not to mention them. Those individuals are:

James Gillespie who continues to support our CLM Study Group program; Julia Davis who stepped up and did a great job as Small Firm Chair; Michael Steele who has pulled together a remarkable IT group this year; Peter Kuzel who worked hard as our Multi-Office/Branch Chair; Michael Stephens who continues to keep our HR Section going strong; Lois Hayward, our Corporate/Government Chair; Norma McKechnie who led our Diversity Committee in a new direction; Diane Hall, who continues to host our ALA Webinars; Taffy Stills, who gave a new meaning to our Finance Section, Joe McAdams who tackled the position as State Bar liaison; Tonya Poole, who tirelessly worked on our 2008 Salary Survey, Cathy McCollister, who works hard with our Community Relations; Amy Hutcheson, who placed our new members with chapter mentors, Sandra Moss-Mallory, who brought helpful information to our new members, and Carole Morris who works with students in need of scholarship aid.

As you can see, it takes a lot of people to help run our Chapter. Many more than those I have named have helped our Chapter this year – those who served on committees; came to our community events; participated in socials and other Chapter events, or just worked behind the scenes to get the job done. Working closely with these people has given me an opportunity to get to know them better, an opportunity I would not have missed for the world. I have gained some great friends through AALA because of my involvement on the Board and have leaned heavily on them this past year. I am also indebted to all of you for the support you have given me this past year.

So, I suppose I could stop here, but I guess I need to extend a final thanks to both Kristi Smith and Carole Morris for ever so gently twisting my arm and prodding me into taking this road, which ultimately lead to this position. Though I was certainly sure I wouldn't make it through this year, I did. I made mistakes, but I learned. In fact, I learned from all of you, both personally and professionally; and, I am thankful for the opportunity. I guess you can say, I allowed my "inner Princess" to shine just a little. I hope that more of you will decide that it isn't as scary as you think it will be to allow your "inner princess" or "prince" to shine, and that you will some day decide to take that chance too! It's not so hard!

Thanks again for a wonderful year.

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Comments:

Total Comments: 3

Marshall on 6-Apr-09 8:03 AM permalink
Great job Carol and welcome to the coveted position of past president! Thanks for your leadership.
Kristi on 3-Apr-09 8:02 PM permalink
Oh it was an ever so gently twisting of the arm! You and the rest of the board have done a fantastic job. Thank you for all your hard work!
Catherine on 3-Apr-09 3:27 PM permalink
A Job Well Done!