Whether you’re an official or freelance reporter, finding the time in your busy schedule to attend court reporting conventions may seem daunting, but here’s why it’s so important to make the time at least every other year:
First, conventions offer opportunities to network that you wouldn’t get anywhere else. Networking is key to your success. For example, if you’re looking to hire a scopist, doing so is made much easier when you attend conventions and have the opportunity to hear in-person word-of-mouth recommendations.
Only at conventions will you be able to try out for yourself all the new software and hardware available to reporters and captioners. At NCRA’s upcoming annual convention in San Francisco, you’ll be able to try out the Infinity Ergonomic, the Lightspeed, the Diamante and the Wave. You’ll be able to ask all the questions you’ve wanted to ask about software platforms, writers, and litigation support. You’ll have other opportunities at the exhibitor expo that include learning about different investment and insurance opportunities, as well as other products and reporting support services that can really simplify your life.
If you’re a freelancer and would love to travel, but airfare and lodging in the area you want to visit is prohibitively expensive, getting your name out there as someone interested and willing to travel for work may offer you excellent opportunities. For example, there may be an agency owner at the convention with a client anticipating three days of depositions in Italy and who has no reporters that want to travel. There’s an opportunity for you to step right in. The cost of that little get-away will suddenly become much more affordable.
If you’re a firm owner looking for new recruits, what better place to find them than at a reporting convention? And with NCRF’s “New Tricks, Tips & Techniques” seminar, what better place to learn about the newest innovations in business?
Finally, if you’re a veteran reporter and have been earning your CEUs from home for so long that you can’t even remember the last time you attended a convention, this year may be the “Year of Your Return” with the Vacation Property Auction/Fundraiser and the President’s Red Carpet Party.
The 2014 NCRA Convention may be just what you need to recharge your love of the profession, enjoy networking with colleagues, and explore the latest software and hardware innovations that our profession has to offer.