Greetings Everyone,

We wrapped up our 43rd Annual Conference on Sunday and I wanted to share some of the news of the weekend with you. The Peppermill Resort, a hotel known for really nice rooms at a reasonable rate, was our meeting spot this year. The Conference Committee, lead by Stephanie Sayler, decided that this was the year to change things up. The theme of "Sell, Service & Succeed" set the tone and Stephanie made sure that education and networking were top priorities.  

An incredible off-site party at Pinocchio's with door-to-door chauffeured shuttle service started things off right. Great food, adult beverages, fun music and some time to leave work behind made this a great Friday night! We started Saturday with the annual business, a highlight, of course, being the election of our new Board and Officers.   Our new Board of Directors for 2011-2012 are Wendy Bowman, Cliff Jacobs, Jeremiah Jones, Michael Kern, Larry Kirlin, Brett Peters, Robert Porambo, Stephanie Sayler, Rich Stitts, Sam Virk and myself. Our officers this year are Mike Kern, Secretary-Treasurer, Cliff Jacobs, Vice President and me, in for a second term as your President.  I really appreciate your support and confidence in my efforts over the past year. The CALSPro leadership worked very hard this past term and I couldn't more proud of our accomplishments.

There were a number of highlights over the weekend, one of which was the unveiling of our new web site. If you have not yet had a chance to check it out, you ought to take a look. I think it's safe to say that the web site surpassed all of our expectations in design and content and as David Nill, pointed out, "It's Alive!" This is work in progress and the site will continue to change and develop. This is a very exciting move for CALSPro.

Saturday's full agenda included three speakers. Stephanie really wanted to punch up the value to the attendees. Granted, Association business is a necessary part of every conference, but this year we wanted to move through that relatively quickly and get back to speakers and education that benefited the membership directly; information that we could each take home with us to improve our business.  

At promptly 10:30 AM and yes, we were watching the clock, Eric Vennes, got started with a topic near and dear to all of us - Insurance. What makes Eric unique is that he is a process server, a business owner and an insurance agent. He's one of us and completely understands the challenges. Eric's presentation can be summed up easily: Always 100% relevant. Next, Gretchen Lichtenberger spoke on a number of topics relating to the service of process, but particularly the science of service at mailing locations, breaking it down for full understanding of the CMRA's obligations relating to the service of process. Then we wrapped it up with an amazing presentation by Michele Stuart of JAG Investigations on internet profiling and intelligence. I think we all felt like we could have buckled in for this presentation because it was non-stop. Tons of information, advice, tricks, tips and truths about what's going on out there on the internet. One tidbit: Did you know Facebook has stored each and every picture uploaded on to their site? Millions of pictures. Each and every snap shot is being held in storage for the purpose of being shared with a facial recognition software provider. Yes, there was a gasp the room over. One of many, quite honestly, during this incredible presentation by Michele. This was a highlight and exactly what we were looking for in the new CALSPro conference format. Sunday's early morning session provided the opportunity to anyone who wanted to take the CCPS test and then Cliff Jacobs, our Continuing Education Chair, lead right in to a full-on demonstration of our online learning educational programs.

If you were not able to attend this year, you missed a really great conference. The conference next year will be in Anaheim and I hope you can attend. I can promise you an exciting, fast paced and interesting event you won't want to miss.

Best Wishes,

Chad Barger

President, CALSPro