The Annual CCRA Luncheon:

Yes, my lovely readers, today was the much anticipated CCRA (Colorado Court Reporter's Association) annual luncheon. I look forward to this event, not merely for the networking potential, but because the food is usually impeccable at The Denver Chop House.

This year was particularly beneficial as I got to meet up with my local mentor and get to know some other reporters as well. Being in the 180/200 speeds this time, you tend to get more out of functions like this because you're ALMOST THERE!

In-car selfie before the event... :P

We were in the Caboose room this time. It was freaking beautiful! I can't say I didn't wish that the gorgeous bar wasn't an open bar... Also, the music was all from the 1940s to 1950s and made me want to Lindy Hop my way to and fro from the bathroom.

These events are usually full of announcements that don't necessarily apply to students at the time. However, some exciting news for those employed in our lovely state was shared. We're trying, and looks like we'll probably be getting, the ability to administer the FCC type test here so that reporters will no longer have to make a sort of exodus in order to achieve that certification! Yay!

And... More exciting news. Page rate increases are on the horizon! Apparently, we've not had a page rate increase since 1998. Yikes! So that is definitely something that is exciting.

There was an entire segment on "What Would You Do?" where reporters answered that question to varying situations that can arise on the job. Most of the scenarios had to do with sharing transcripts between attorneys (no, no) and attorneys or witnesses bringing their own recording devices to depositions, or the lovely scenario where an attorney announces himself as a fast-talker and that he's not to be interrupted. One of the scenarios presented gave me a thought... It was that an attorney at a deposition is looking at your realtime feed on your laptop, which is not being provided to either counsel, you, the reporter, hide your screen by making it go blank (here's where I learned a handy stroke for that: B*N/B*N) and the attorney is persistent and wants to look at your screen. It was suggested to use the a fore mentioned stroke to hide your screen, but I couldn't help thinking, can't you just say something to the effect of, "Hey, Mr. Attorney, if you want realtime, you have to pay extra." Or, "Hey, Mr. Attorney, if you want realtime, you have to ask for it beforehand!" Maybe not in those charming words, but something more professional.

This was not offered as a solution at all. I am not sure of the ethics involved in such a situation, or whether or not suggesting that the attorney can request a realtime feed is possible, it's just what popped into my head at the time.

While we're on the subject of realtime, I was surprised how many working and seasoned reporters at the luncheon were not regularly providing realtime at all of their jobs. I'm not judging, obviously, but seeing as how that is where the industry is moving, particularly in the international fields, why not? Quite a few of them said they had been writing realtime for themselves, but fewer still stated that they had been providing realtime regularly on jobs.

WHAT?

This seems so antiquated to me because I'm involved in many groups and pages and admire so many reporters that are providing realtime all day, every day. That being said, I'm now wondering how realistic it is to expect to be realtime proficient out of the gate. I mean -- at 225, and realtime ready? Or is that a pretty unrealistic expectation? Inquiring minds want to know, so leave a comment below. Ha. I'm a poet. No, really, I am, you can check out my poetry blog if you need proof...

NightGlassPress

Shameless self-promotion.

Anyway....

I have to be properly at 200 wpm in order to begin shadowing my local mentor. So I have a goal to work towards. I am also going to be taking part in mock trials at DU (Denver University) on March 28th. This will be a good way to see where I'm lacking and what I'll need to work on.

I was hoping to get the ball rolling on sitting in and possibly learning to scope or proofread properly. That hasn't happened yet. I always tell everyone that I want to have the skills to do anything steno related that life could possibly throw at me. I think I get the "smile" the, "she's quite naive" smile a lot as a result. Maybe it is naive, and maybe I'll prove everyone wrong one day.

I want to scope, proofread, CART, international freelance, depositions, captioning, and even French to English subtitles or captioning. I want it all and why not? I got into this career path because there are so many options and because I know myself. I'll get bored if I have to be an official in the same court house day in and day out. No thanks. Oh, and after learning about tennis captioning, HELL YES, PLEASE!

All in all, the food was good. It would have been better if I didn't have to attempt to eat and then decide to not eat marble rye bread. YUCK. That's just preference, though. As I've said, the food at The Denver Chop House is always amazing, the staff is lovely to a T, and the space is elegantly vintage.

I really love how supportive the community of reporters is here and abroad as well. I couldn't help but talk about a certain amazing reporter in HK who's my inspiration and motivation.

Proudest Moment: Avoiding a theory war confab with a student who was encouraged to switch from Phoenix Theory to StenEd because Phoenix is an inferior theory... (Mouth successfully shut.)

Least Proudest Moments: Hitching down my skirt and slip so many times that I couldn't help but think about this video: You Don't Know How To Behave in a Dress




Love & Peace & STENO!

-L.A.