If I Had 15 Minutes

IF I HAD 15 MINUTES
BRUCE A. MATTHEWS

Going through my materials for my speech at the business meeting, I have found that five minutes is such a short period of time that it barely allows me to discuss two topics in any detail at all. So I have decided to post here what I would say if I had 15 minutes to speak. And believe me, I could talk for a lot longer than that. Having five minutes, you really just have to jump from topic to topic.

First, I would say we have to do what our C&B says, promote stenographic verbatim reporting over all other methods. We have gotten so far away from that, it just makes me crazy. The current officers on this board talk about how we have to work with other methods. Well, we’ve been doing that for years and years. The difference is that now we’re losing more jobs, and instead of fighting tooth and nail to keep those jobs, they say that we have to work with the other methods. Not in my world, we don’t.

We need to stop the divisiveness that has been permeating the Association because the board has been going in one direction, while the majority of the membership wishes they would be going in the opposite direction. We need to promote us, ladies and gentlemen, and the best product on the planet, realtime. And we need a change in leadership to do it.

I don’t know this for sure, but I believe my opposition will say that I have been a cause of some of the divisiveness over the course of the past six months. I have always been a positive person, ladies and gentlemen. But when I’m running against what has been going on for the past several years, I have to talk about the negative things we have experienced. How else would I be able to express my opinions on what we should be doing that is different than what has been going on?

I have heard so many past officers say that they did everything they could to promote realtime and the members wouldn’t go for it. Well, that might be true, but that doesn’t mean you give up. This is partly the fault of the membership as well, and I’m not afraid to say that. We need to have more certified realtime reporters, period, and we have to provide the training to make that happen. We have to force feed the judges and attorneys to use it. That’s what we did where I work, and now they won’t do without it.

The board now says they’re going to listen to the members. Well, that’s good. They are supposed to represent the members, so yes, listening to them would be a good start. The majority rules, ladies and gentlemen. That’s how it is in our society.

While I don’t want to dwell on the past, I do want to talk about the thinking or logic of the board over the past several years. How is it that you are so concerned about the number of students we have in our schools, which we should be concerned about, but at the same time write articles and posts and talk about working with the other methods? I mean, if I’m a young person thinking about going to court reporting school and I see or hear what the board has been saying, why would I decide to go to court reporting school? Like I said, we have to promote us. If a prospective student goes to the NVRA or AAERT websites, they will see how NVRA says you only have to go to school for nine months and you can start working right away, and AAERT says their goal is to be the ultimate expert in making the record. And what has NCRA been saying? We need to work with these other methods. It just doesn’t follow, ladies and gentlemen.

After last year’s convention, I called the president of NVRA and asked her if NVRA had any desire for NCRA to do their testing for them. She laughed and said, “Heavens, no. We derive revenue from our testing program just like NCRA does. Why would we want to turn that over the NCRA?“ Now, I found that out in a five-minute phone call. Why would NCRA waste their time trying to do something which simply is not going to happen? Also, it would cost NCRA money to let these folks who use other methods come in because their numbers are so small. With everything that would need to be put in place to serve these new members, it would cost more to serve them than NCRA would receive from them becoming members.

Why over an eight-year period have we increased the Executive Director’s salary an average of 6.76% per year, while at the same time, over the same eight years, our membership declined 18.2%? Does this make any sense to you? It doesn’t to me, and I don’t put that on the Executive Director. I’m for everyone making as much as they can. I put that on the several iterations of the board who voted to keep renewing his contract at a higher rate.

And then there is the confidentiality issue I have discussed. Why do we, as court reporters, have to sign confidentiality agreements when we are assigned to a committee or on the board? Aren’t we all trying to do the right thing for our profession? I know there are things that need to be held in confidence, and so does everyone else. The Executive Director has even admitted that NCRA is over the top in regards to their confidentiality provisions. When I went to Melanie’s planning meeting in February, I was told everything has to be held in confidence, and I objected. I’ve been to more of those type meetings than any other member, and I was never told that things had to be held in confidence before. And after the meeting, it was determined that nothing discussed was confidential. I mean, we were talking about the future of the Association and the profession. What could be confidential about that? And who would we have been keeping it confidential from, the members? It just doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.

We need to move forward with realtime. We need to show the courts, the lawyers, and the funding sources that when you take all costs into consideration, DAR is no cheaper than having court reporters do the job. Why are we always taking a step back? We need to promote us.

So the board now says the question will be asked: What should the future of the profession and the Association look like? I hope we can all get together and tell the board that we want to promote stenographic verbatim reporting to the hilt.

I will have financial and membership data on my table at the hotel in Chicago. Please stop by to talk and take a look. I don’t want this election to be all about the duties of the secretary-treasurer, because to hold that officer position means a lot more than being the watchdog of the funds for the Association. The other part of the job is being an officer of the Association and helping to lead the Association through tough times. Ladies and gentlemen, I have served on the finance and budget committee in the past during tough times in the early 1990’s, and I have been in charge as president of the Association and the Foundation of all things financial regarding those entities. I am qualified and ready, willing and able to hold the position and if elected will try to hold the position for three years.

There’s one last thing I want to say. This past June, just a month ago or so, President Morgan admitted in her President’s Message in the JCR that the Association has been focusing too much time on becoming an umbrella-type testing and membership organization. I believe that to be true, and I‘m sure many of you do as well. The question is: Do you want the same officers who have been involved in that focus and on the board for the last several years to now lead you into the future? Or is it time for a change? That’s what this is all about, ladies and gentlemen.

Please check out my past experience on the next page.

Thanks for listening.



Bruce A. Matthews, RDR-CRR, FAPR

PAST BOARD POSITIONS

Past President, Ohio Court Reporters Association, 1984-85
Director, NCRA, 1989-1992
VP, NCRA, 1992-1993
PE, NCRA, 1993-1994
President, 1994-1995
Past President, 1995-1996
Trustee, NCRF, 1995-1996
Trustee, NCRF, 1997-1998
Vice Chair, NCRF, 1998-1999
Chair, NCRF, 1999-2000
Past Chair, NCRF, 2000-2001

PAST COMMITTEE POSITIONS

COPE, three-year term, two years as chair, after 1996
CAPR, three-year term, after 1996
Technology Committee
Realtime Committee
Realtime Contest Committee, wrote and dictated first two contests
Finance and Budget Committee, helped establish policies still used today
Executive Committee
Past President’s Advisory Board, after 1996
Quality Improvement Committee, Chair
Legislative Committee
NCSA Resolutions Committee
Constitution and Bylaws Committee, Chair, after 1996
Nominating Committee, Chair, 1996
Convention Committee
President-Elect’s Planning Committee, 2010 and many others

AWARDS
Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters, 1988
Distinguished Service Award, OCRA, 1990
Spark Award, OCRA, 1990
Honor Award, Academy of Court Reporter and Technology, 1987