Hello, NASJE friends and colleagues,
Todd Brower
Welcome to Spring! Well, in some parts of the country anyway…
The Board has recently finished our Mid-Year meeting and I wanted to update you on some of the things we decided or are working on.
- Conference: The theme for the upcoming Annual Conference in New Orleans, October 23-26, 2022, is “Judicial Education and All That Jazz!” Thanks to the Conference committee for that idea and we’re looking forward to the educational and social events building on that theme.
- Registration is scheduled to open for the New Orleans conference around June 1. Basic registration will stay at $600 for the Conference with $650 for late registration after September 1.
- The Board is excited to announce that in addition to the $100 discounted registration for conference presenters, we are piloting a group registration fee for organizations sending 4+ members to the conference. If 4 members from the same organization register and pay as a block, the organization can send 5 members of the organization for the same $2400 total fee. More details will be forthcoming in registration announcements, but I wanted you to know about this additional opportunity.
- Dues: Speaking of money, membership dues for the upcoming year will remain at $150. We have decided to move to annual dues payable on January 1 of each year consistent with the NASJE By-Laws. This change is overdue and will also increase efficiency in billing, record keeping and cut down on the number and frequency of communications on this topic between NASJE members, your organizations, and the NASJE Secretariat. We will be prorating dues for those of us, like yours truly, whose renewal date falls between now and January 1. More details to come, but look for this change to happen around June 1.
- Members and sponsors will be able to securely pay conference fees, dues, get receipts, and do most things related to payments right from the website. These things will be going live gradually, with the target date for everything being – when else? – June 1st. Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available.
- Communications: There have been concerns that some members have not received all information sent out. I’ll send an email shortly outlining the various member communication tools, their uses, and how to ensure access to them.
- As always, the website continues to be your source for member information and data about the organization, including, the NASJE conference, committees, and NASJE members. The NASJE Master Calendar and NASJE Hub for all events can be found in the Members’ area of the website under HUB – NASJE Calendar. For example, you can find information on the 2022 IOJT [International Organization for Judicial Training] conference in Ottawa, Canada immediately after our New Orleans conference https://iojt2022.nji-inm.ca/.
- As part of the Board’s and its committees’ continuing goal to meet the needs of the membership as it exists today and to encourage broader participation for the future, the most recent “Futures jury” collected extremely helpful information and suggestions on these topics. Upcoming juries will explore more specific issues within these goals, e.g., NASJE communications strategy and how best to interact among ourselves, and what modes and information are most effective and useful for our members, how best to develop a pipeline for members to become part of leadership.
- Of course, we always welcome your thoughts and ideas at the “open comment” period for members and committee chairs to speak directly to us at our monthly meetings. Our next meeting is May 11, 2022 at 11:00AM Eastern/10:00AM Central/9:00AM Mountain/8:00AM Pacific. If you want to speak, please email NASJE Secretary, Jessica Foreman () one week in advance of the meeting so that the meeting agenda can reflect your contribution and a zoom link can be sent to you.
Finally, thank you to all those who worked on the 21-day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge and those participating in this important initiative. It’s not too late to participate! See: https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/3484832/modules
As usual, I’ve gone on too long. But please feel free to connect with me via email: .
Best, Todd