Presidents Report

  

Bronwyn Pott ALPMA President CEO, Swaab Attorneys

 

 

 I have some friends (even some colleagues) who love to write reports. Unfortunately for Kerrie, I'm not in that category. Getting me to sit down and put pen to paper is usually a long (and frustrating) experience, and usually only delivered under an extended deadline. But here we are again for another newsletter - the delivery of which I am holding up (again).

Committees are indeed strange beasts, made up of volunteers who give up their time (or their employer's time) to meet and work together to improve an organisation or, in some cases, just 'get things done'. I'm fresh from our own social committee after delivering the firm's 'end of year' (being politically correct here) function, and as usual there was a little fallout as some members put up their hands to resign at the end of the year. On reflection, we're very fortunate to have the dedicated committee members we do at ALPMA. I've occasionally made the quip that with volunteer positions you often get exactly what you pay for, but in our industry body, we get significant value indeed.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the national board for all their hard work over the last year. We've had some flux on the board as people have moved in and out with changes in their state committees and work pressures, but the contribution has been significant by everyone. For our three departing board members, Cate Shailer, Shelly Dunstone and Graeme McFadyen, I'd like to say a sincere thank you for all your efforts with the national board. For the (literally) hundreds of emails and broadcast ideas that you responded to late at night, I am genuinely grateful. For the support during meetings, for the national agenda and in your home state groups, the Association has been very fortunate indeed as the recipient of your efforts. To the continuing members, it's been a pleasure to 'meet' on our monthly teleconferences and the innumerable conference committee catch-up's, and the face to face meetings to experience your enthusiasm for the Association first hand. To our 'new' board members, Gill Duffy, Jodi Proudlock and John Pederick, welcome to two years of regular contact, robust discussion and an extended circle of supporters for your career.

I have always felt that individually the National Board walked a fine line, communicating the sensitivities of their home state to national, while working with representatives of other states to drive the Association forward. It's difficult to explain the positive atmosphere of the group when we get together, other than to say there is a tremendous amount of good will and genuine friendships which (from experience) can survive even the most robust conversation. That level of trust has been built up over many years, and is a credit to those who have led the group in the past, as well as to the Secretariats who support the Board.

To be really honest I've never had anyone comment on anything I've written in this column, so I've come to the conclusion you are all very hard to offend, or no-one reads to the end… but today I'm hoping the first is true, rather than the second, as I really want to have everyone in the loop on what we hope to come from amalgamation.

I've put in an extract here from a speech that Valmai Trudgen made at the Victorian end of year function or at least an early draft of it, which goes some way to explain why we are trying to fix something that isn't really broken, and to give some background to newer members who may not be aware how we got to where we are today.

As you may or may not know, the ALPMA is set up as a Federation. Each State operates as an Incorporated Association with one or 2 state representatives holding a position on the National Association Board. For a number of years the National Board has been has been slowly moving towards amalgamation. These steps have included raising the profile and benefits at national level by providing a quarterly newsletter, the road shows and webinars, ALPMA Updates, a new web site with many online facilities. Over the last 18 months membership and finance have been administered at national level. For us in Victoria, these changes have been subtle as Kerrie Billings holds the dual role of ALPMA Vic Administrator and the National Secretariat.

Over the coming months, the National Board will be meeting and reviewing white papers and draft policies with the aim to providing a seamless transition to becoming a national association.

By becoming a national association, ALPMA aims to:

• Provide a standardized level of quality throughout the states in both professional development programs and administration
• Further open the lines of communication allowing state based committees better access to successful programs run in other states
• Reduce the administrative role of state level Executive Committees, thus freeing up valuable personnel to concentrate on the strategic development of ALPMA

These may seem like small changes, but in essence, most of the administration changes have been made, with the benefits already being realized.

The amalgamation of the states cannot take place without a successful vote from each state. We anticipate that a vote will be taken to members in April, with the view to amalgamate 1 July 2009. Information sessions will be provided to members before the Special General Meeting to field any questions members may have.

Many of the communications you will be receiving from both the National Board and your State Committee over the next few months will expand on this introduction, but suffice to say the overarching desire of the National Board is not to take away anything from the state groups, but to add to it, and to prepare the association for the future. As our profile grows, so will our reach into the legal community, and with that, our ability to connect to many more firms and their managers. It's important that we are seen to be relevant to the profession, as well as to our members, and that the offering we make is compelling. Over the next few months the state executives will be considering many suggestions for our national structure, including additional classes of membership, new state committee structure, alternative sponsorship arrangements etc. Our aim will be to distil all this feedback into a national structure which will support the association through the next decade.

I've heard lots of informal responses from members in our association as well as members in other associations, about what we should / shouldn't consider and I would ask everyone to take the time to review the communications that come to you in relation to the new national structure and raise your concerns if you have them. While there is no doubt that there will be some adjustments necessary so that we can accommodate the practices of the five existing state groups, if we are all open in our communication with each other, I'm convinced that together we can a achieve something really special.

On that note, I hope everyone has an enjoyable festive season and a relaxing summer vacation. Here's to all the change and excitement of our new year.

 

 

Bronwyn Pott