As the New Year begins it's a time to reflect on the past, and plan for the future. Reflecting back on my tenure as an ACC-SFL member my most memorable year was 2005 when I Co-Chaired a first time event, "One Night Under the Sea." This was a huge undertaking that took months of planning and hard work but which resulted in fun had by all, business and social connections made, over $20,000 raised for the non-profit organization, Florida Children's First, and profit for our Chapter to use for future diversity initiatives. What made this event most memorable for me personally was the interaction with our membership, our then Board of Directors, the other Bar Associations, Sponsors, and law student volunteers. I formed new friendships and professional relationships, that continue today, with the people that I got to know through working on that event. Although we sailed into unchartered waters with such a large event, due to the joint efforts of many we achieved success.
As your new ACCA-SFL Board plans for 2101 we are once again heading into some unknown territory. We have planned two new events to focus on serving our membership in Miami/Dade and Palm Beach counties. Also, for the first time we are going to offer webinars to help you obtain more CLEs and provide additional benefit to our Sponsors. Another new initiative is a National on-line auction to raise money for our community events and other programs. Along with these new planned events, we will stay a steady course with programs that have proven successful in the past, like our Annual In-House Counsel Conference to be held in September. This event provides a great opportunity to obtain CLE credits while networking with your in-house counsel peers and our Chapter's law firm/vendor sponsors.
Like with "One Night Under the Sea," to make our new planned events a success we need your participation and enthusiasm. I encourage all of you to participate on at least one of our newly formed Committees (details to be sent via-email), attend the events, solicit a donation item for our auction, and communicate with your Board on how we can better serve your professional needs. Also be sure to encourage your in-house counsel peers who are not yet members to join our Chapter at www.acc.com . With your help, our Chapter will create more memorable events and better serve our community and membership. Best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year! Stay tuned for details on our exciting new events.
Sincerely,
Linda Kleinman
President, ACCA-SFL
Deputy General Counsel
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC
