The period since the last newsletter has seen a number of significant developments in Victoria, particularly as a result of the efforts of our hardworking Learning and Development Subcommittee.

David Schloeffel, Director of Cubic Innovations, was a sensation in his introduction to the Web 2.0 at the September seminar. David left attendees in no doubt that, given the wide range of media commonly used by consumers to fact find on products and services, the marketing methods we commonly use are often just the tip of the iceberg,

In October, representatives of the Macquarie Bank provided an update on the various aspects of trust accounting, whilst November saw Kriss Will present on the range of ethical dilemmas facing those with practice management roles and provide a range of very useful techniques to aid in resolving those issues.

The Annual General Meeting followed the October seminar. Our thanks must go to resigning committee members – Mark Cannon, Deborah Hann and Helen Ayres, along with a warm welcome to our new Committee members - Heather Cook, Michael Rowlands and Shirley Hamel.

Steve Sampson has worked tirelessly on developing the association at both state and national levels over the past few years. Although Steve has now stood down from these roles, he will continue to make a valuable contribution as a general member of the Victorian Executive, a National Board member and in his roles on the Victorian L&D and Marketing sub-committees. Our thanks go to Steve for his tremendous contribution to date.
Harvey Ashton has taken up the position of Treasurer after the departure of Mark Cannon, who has relocated north of the border to NSW to take up a new role at Clayton Utz. Our sincere thanks go to Mark for all his hard work for the association and for bringing colour and movement to our financial reports over the last two years.

A highlight of our calendar this year was the 2007 Legal Management Summit, held in Melbourne in October. As reported by Trish Carroll, the Summit was one of our most successful to date, with registrations at a record level. This year, I was pleased to be joined at the Summit by our Managing Partner and three work colleagues. With the wide range of topics and innovative ideas presented throughout the program, it is certainly much easier to sell new concepts and explore and implement strategies learnt at the conference with the support of colleagues who have shared this invaluable experience.

Welcome to all of the new members who have signed up during the first six months of the membership year. I hope you are able to take full advantage of all of the terrific benefits available and I look forward to welcoming you at our upcoming events.

Our behalf of the Victorian ALPMA Committee, I wish you all a safe and peaceful festive season.