MARCH 2018                                                                                                          PROGRESS4U

 

MCRA MEMBERSHIP IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO HAVE ENOUGH ARROWS IN THE QUIVER TO FIGHT FOR YOUR CURRENT & FUTURE RIGHTS.

 

PLEASE CONSIDER RENEWING TODAY!

 

JOIN MCRA WITH AUTOMATIC MONTHLY PAYMENT!!



For the cost of a vanilla latte or chocolate mocha you can make a monthly payment of $9.32 and be a member of MCRA!!  Consider it a cup of MoCRA



Set it up on recurring payment and never think of it again!  
And it's a deduction on your taxes!

WE WORK FOR YOU!! 
LET'S MAKE MCRA GREAT!!



MCRA ANNUAL CONVENTION
4/27-29/2018
Drury Plaza Hotel, St. Charles, MO


 
Address
380 Mulholland Drive, St Charles, MO 63303


*** IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND VIA WEBINAR, PLEASE USE REGISTRATION FORM & WRITE WEBINAR ON IT.  PAY VIA PAYPAL OR CHECK.  MAKE SURE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS ON IT, AND YOUR SESSION NUMBERS WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU.  

       


Region V of the Missouri Court Reporters Association will be selling court reporter themed coffee mugs, wine glasses, and 20 oz. RTIC insulated tumblers at Convention in April and donating the proceeds to MCRA.  

Orders will be taken up to March 31st and all items will be delivered to you at Convention. 

Please email Roberta.Feeney@labor.mo.gov your order.  Payment due at the time you pick it up at Convention.


We will try the mobile app Eventbase this convention.  

In your App Store search for Eventbase; download it.  It is an app for many events, so in the search put "MCRA 2018 ANNUAL CONVENTION."  It should look like this:


I have found this site to be a little quirky in setting it up, so in "venue" I numbered the sessions.  Hopefully it will make it a little easier.  

You should be able to access  schedule, speaker information, map, social, make notes, etc.

We'll try it together!  And if it's an epic fail, well, Melissa Hannah did it.  

TOWN HALL SEMINAR

There will be a Town Hall Seminar during the MCRA Conference.  This seminar is scheduled for Saturday, April 28, 2018 from 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
The Town Hall will have a proctor, myself.  Geez, will I ever learn what the word "No" means!
A Town Hall is a forum to discuss specific interests, concerns, upcoming legislation and any variety of topics that court reporters may want more information and/or opinions of others to help them better understand how to handle certain situations.
I would like input from the membership on topics of discussion for our upcoming Town Hall seminar.  Please send your ideas and thoughts for topics of discussion to DebMcL1@att.net.  I will be putting together an agenda for this seminar.  This seminar will be conducted the same as other seminars and is meant to be educational and orderly.  
Please keep in mind, freelancers cannot get into any rates for services.  Officials can discuss rates and compensation because that is public knowledge set by the legislature. 
This seminar will be open to officials, freelancers, CART providers and captioners. 
I look forward to your submission of any item(s) you would like to be considered for discussion.
Deborah K. McLaughlin, RPR, MO-CCR, IL-CSR, KS-CCR Moderator for Town Hall Seminar
DebMcL1@att.net 314-974-1199
   
WOULD YOU CONSIDER DOING A CAREER FAIR OR SPEAK AT YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL?

Your MCRA Region Vice President has a bag with all the things you may need to man a table at a career fair or speaking engagement.  You can find your Region Vice President listed at mocra.org at the bottom of the first page.  If you do not have the contact info, just ask!  Email us at mocra.org and we will be happy to provide you with all the information you need.

You will find in the bag an event table cover, brochures on court reporting schools, posters exhibiting both machine and voice writers, and even a sample spiel.

Ninth graders are your target group of high schoolers.  You can contact the ninth grade school counselor to set those up.  

Thank you for all that you do!!





Things I learned at 2018 Bootcamp:

When speaking to staffers or in a hearing, you should have a short spiel ready to introduce why you are there, mention the bill number, give a short explanation.  Take an exhibit to represent your facts to leave with them.  Don't use acronyms when speaking.  

Always use their titles when speaking to someone in a hearing and don't forget your manners.  Be careful that your passion doesn't come across as pushy. 

Watch body language and adjust how you present accordingly.  

Know the person you are speaking to, whether their values are  "care" or "fairness," and how to appeal to individuals of different political perspectives.  

If you are in a hearing bring people with you to address all areas of concern, whether that would be as a reporter, educator, consumer, statistic fact person, etc., or in the absence thereof have the data to present.  Use a personal experience or have someone with you that would have a personal experience to share.  

And by all means if they get an interruption or one of them gets a phone call, keep going, don't comment on the interruption or make a deal about it.

And end with trying to get a commitment to sponsor, cosponsor, or to favor the cause.

On a personal note,  I learned that on escalators you stand on the right and walk on the left (Karen ;-))  On elevators I learned that if you are in the front and the back person needs off, you should step off the elevator to let that person off (observation).  I learned that you should not wear a lot of jewelry and dress simple because the security is going to make you take all that off EVERY time you come in and out of the building to go through metal detectors.

I learned that you should be at the exact place you want to be picked up and not on a secure non-accessible street before you call Uber (Melissa).   I learned that if you want to watch a Netflix movie on the plane, you have to use the app PlayOn Cloud and that buying the wifi on the plane won't work to do that.

It was long days and a lot of information.  I learned a lot and I will use that to further MCRA's interests.

I'll post extra pictures on Facebook of our trip!  Love to share them with you!

(Submitted by Melissa Hannah, CSR, CCR)

BIG SHOUT OUT TO CONNIE LANGDON FOR COVERING FOR ME TO GO TO THE NCRA'S BOOTCAMP.  

 

MELISSA HANNAH, MCRA PRESIDENT-ELECT

  
MCRA is looking for someone to fill the
following in April 2018:

                                      * TREASURER
* REG 4 VP         

Would you be interested?

Please email mocra.org@gmail.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! 
 

If you have a machine that you can donate for this cause, working or not, please contact Melissa Hannah
 (417) 827-4712.  Or if you would like to lead a class, and you need machines, please contact Melissa Hannah.

STUDENTS CORNER ...
BIG NOTE TO STUDENTS
YOU ARE FREE AT THE 2018 CONVENTION!!  
SIGN UP TODAY!!

HELLO, FUTURE COURT REPORTERS!
Robin Cox, RMR, CCR
 
Since I caught you on a break from your daily practice, I'd like to borrow a few moments of your time to address a few things that I remember swirling around in my mind during my days as a student. Before we get into that, though, let's start with a little pep talk. I'm sure each of you has heard the saying that anything worth having is worth working hard for. Well, I couldn't agree more with that sentiment when it comes to pursuing a career in court reporting. Getting through the program is tough, very tough, but I can honestly say that it is worth all the blood, sweat, and tears, and YOU CAN DO IT!!!
         "But when I complete the program, will I be able to get a job?" THERE IS A HUGE NEED FOR COURT REPORTERS!!! I myself am a official court reporter, which means that I work for a judge at a courthouse. 

We are in constant need of reporters as people retire or move on to other things. As well, freelance firms are always on the search for good reporters, not to mention the ever-present need for captioners and CART reporters. Please DO NOT let yourselves doubt that there will be a job for you when you complete the program. I have been fortunate enough to utilize my skills in the freelance world as well as providing CART services. Working in court is my personal preference, but I assure you that whichever area you choose, YOU WILL BE NEEDED!!!
 
         "People keeping asking me why they don't just tape record everything." Keep in mind, ER (electronic recording), has been a background threat since I started school in 1989. Even in this day and age, ER cannot surpass or even begin to meet our abilities. No recorder can tell you, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that," or "Could you please repeat that." In addition to that, someone would have to run and maintain the equipment, keep minutes as the hearing progressed, and then someone would have to transcribe the proceedings. Believe me, I could go on and on about why our skills are far superior to ER, but I'll save that for a future article.
 
"Who can I turn to when I have questions?" I highly recommend that you take advantage of the mentoring program that has been established through MCRA. There are many, many veteran reporters who would be more than happy to be teamed up with you. This go-to person can help you with the things you are afraid to ask or feel you should already know. You can't learn everything you need to know through a court reporting program, so they are an invaluable source of information and guidance, not to mention support. You can also shadow them and see first-hand what a working reporter does day to day. They are also your biggest cheerleader! After all, YOU ARE THE FUTURE OF THIS AWESOME PROFESSION!!!
 
This skill takes a lot of perseverance and work to achieve, but I can assure you that all of your efforts will truly be worth it! I've been a working reporter since 1992, and I can't see myself doing anything else. I feel very fortunate to be able to say that I still love my chosen career. Best of luck to you all!!!

2018 CONVENTIONS

 

MCRA
April 27-29, 2018
Drury Plaza Hotel
St. Charles, MO






NVRA
June 27-30, 2018
Double Tree Resort
Myrtle Beach, SC




NCRA
August 2-5, 2018
Hyatt Regency
New Orleans, LA
HELP WANTED
   
NEOSHO COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
OTTAWA, KANSAS, CAMPUS
COURT REPORTING INSTRUCTOR/COORDINATOR
Reports to:  Associate Dean-Outreach and Workforce Development
Classification:  Full-time, 10-month Employee
Applicant must be a certified reporter.
 
Pay Status:  Academic Management Support, Exempt
Fringe Benefits per Board Policy
Starting Salary:  $39,000-$44,000 
Created:  June 2017  
Contact Chris Herndon, M.S. Ed., CSR, RPR, CRI, Interim Director at 913.221.7479

HELP WANTED  




 
MCRA Website ..................................................................... mocra.org
MCRA Email.................... info@mocra.org  or   mocra.org@gmail.com
MCRA Webmaster/Consultant ............... Kathy Foley (816) 881-3804 
                                                                                kathyfoley09@gmail.com
Address Changes ..............................................................  Pat Baeske 
                                                                              patbaeske@earthlink.net
CCR Testing Information ..................... Maggie Burch (573) 751-7342
Continuing Education .................... Rozann Brancato (816) 881-4517  
                                                                      Court_reporter17@yahoo.com
Convention 2018 ............................... Rebecca Brewer (314) 974.2386
                                                                                btsreporting@gmail.com
Distinguished Service Award .... Deborah McLaughlin (314) 974-1199
                                                                                             DebMcL1@att.net
Legislative Affairs .................................... Kathy Foley (816) 808-7016
                                                                                kathyfoley09@gmail.com
NCRA Member Services ............................... Toll Free (800) 272-6272
NVRA Member Services ............................................... (601) 582-4345
Advertising ......................................... Melissa Hannah (417) 827-4712
                                                                                  grgmsyhannah@aol.com

 

Contact MOCRA
Email: mocra.org@gmail.com
Phone: 314.615.2682

       CLICK HERE
Missouri Court Reporters Association | info@mocra.org | http://www.mocra.org
6008 N Monroe Avenue
Gladstone, MO 64119