Chair Ann Jeter called the meeting to order at 7:05 AM.

Chair: Ann announced that she would like to use the time to go down the list of committees and offices so we know what to expect next year. The biggest job at the moment is to make the committees move forward. As chair she has three priorities: 1. ALA 2. Toolkit 3. Strategic Plan

BNA will fund whole cost of the luncheon next year, although a small fee will continue to be charged. This is extra money that will be used to fund the cost of a good speaker. Kami Hedges of BNA suggested a speaker, Tim Green, who has remade his role. Green is in charge of all the accounting libraries at Ernst & Young, which has multi-disciplinary practices. The suggestion was made that this might be a one o'clock program rather than a luncheon program. Kathie noted that approval will have to be obtained with all necessary forms completed. The proposal should state a strong desire to have the same room as the luncheon and include a clear indication of the number of attendees expected. The cost of the luncheon averages $30-$50 per person. Two hundred eighty-six were guaranteed this year and two hundred and seventy-nine were served. This year's cost was $35.00 person. Treasurer Laurie Flynn said the cost is estimated for the budget, including the speaker cost.

Treasurer: Laurie Flynn noted that the Treasurer's report is due in the fall. Unused grant money will remain in the section account.

Grants: Stephanie Paup reported that the committee is going to get help from GSI on program design. Randy Thompson and Kathy Fletcher, committee members, are writing an article on applying for a grant from a smaller firm as a way to publicize the grants process. To further publicize PLL grants, Kathie Sullivan suggested that the section committee work with the AALL grants committee. Stephanie reported that she has made efforts, including asking for a link with the AALL grants page, but to date there has been no response. Ann will bring this issue up at the Board level or, perhaps, work through the SIS council. There were only five applicants this year, one had to withdraw and one was not a member of the section. The application process will be changed so that it will no longer be a one time only application. Recipients of grants will be asked to write articles for Perspectives. Kathie Sullivan expressed concern that first-time applicant be given priority. She will write a proposal for the board outlining a such a procedure. Stephanie also reported there is the possibility of more grants. The need for publicizing the availability of grants and various methods of doing so were discussed.

ALA Programs: Ann is going to contact her office administrator, who is the out going president of ALA, for recommendations for programs and exhibits. Kathie Sullivan suggested that section members write articles for the ALA journal. It would be useful to identify AALL members who belong to ALA. The help of headquarters could be enlisted or a query concerning ALA memberships could be posted on LawLib. Al Podboy discussed the ALA practice of allowing vendors to sponsor programs outside of the normal ALA programs. The SIS might be able to use this route to do programming at ALA. The information would have to be put under the doors of attendees to announce the program, but funding should be available for this. Al also wondered if there was money available in the treasury for giveaways in the exhibit hall. An issue of Spectrum on management, cost cutting or something similar could be given away. The Resource Guide should also be available at the ALA bookstore with order forms at the table.

By-Laws: There will be not any activity.

Education: Monica Wilson reported that although there are some problems with finding coordinators for programs, generally everything seems to be ok.

Mentoring: Al Podboy reported that the focus of the committee is changing. He is making an initiative to work with other SIS groups to form a committee within the SIS council. One member asked about the role of the mentor, which Al indicated was entirely up to the mentor. The committee worked through conference calls this year. Al talked to Roger Parent in November about having a closed discussion list which would also include membership. The committee is placing a letter describing mentoring in the SIS training manual. The committee will try to use committee news and articles in Spectrum and Perspectives to spread the word.

Newsletter Advisory: Jan Brown reported for Rachel Jones, the committee chair and advertising chair. American Lawyer Media has offered help in various ways, which will be outlined and sent to the committee. More money may be needed if the regional representatives write since the number of pages will expand. The advertising rate has not been raised. The idea of theme issues was discussed, perhaps two such issues a year. Laurie Flynn wanted to know if there would be an increase in postage if pages were increased. Deadlines for issues are the 15th of the month two months before each issue is due out; January for March, April for June, October for December. The deadline announcements in the newsletter are going to be moved to a more obvious place. A question was raised concerning inclusion of ads if the newsletter is placed on the web site and the existence of any type of policy concerning this. Terry Psarras reported that the full text of the latest issue had been placed on the web site and that this would probably be a continuing practice. Ads were not included in the web site version.

Nominations: Elizabeth Petty from Vinson & Elkins in Dallas is the chair. The committee is now populated.

Public Relations: Ann Jeter would like the committee to get more involved with the ALA program and to also work on the Toolkit.

SLA Liaison: There is no one currently in this position, but Ann will handle this in the near future. A suggestion was made that programming done by PLL be sent to the SLA group and in turn encourage them to submit programs to us.

Standards & Guidelines: Al Podboy reported problems in getting people together for phone conferences. He made an announcement of the committee meeting at the business meeting and still no one showed up. Al does not think this should be a standing committee and recommended that the committee be disbanded as a standing committee. The by-laws committee must be consulted on dissolution of a standing committee. He further recommends that the committee be folded into the Toolkit committee. The committee should become a task force that is called into action every few years. Kathie stated that she believed there is a difference between core competencies and standards and guidelines and would like to see a statement or report comparing the two. Ann Jeter and another person, preferably someone serving on the core competencies committee, will review these documents and memorialize the findings.

Strategic Plan: Martha Goldman reported that CAPLL now appears to obsolete since CRIV has been beefed up. The Toolkit and Resource Guides may have subsumed the objectives of RIPLL. The goals of both these committees have been accomplished. Martha solicited comments from members on the strategic plan. She also suggested that the Executive Board set a time frame, perhaps three years, for review of the strategic plan and call up the task force at that time. The plan should evaluate environment, strengths, weaknesses, needs, etc. Martha also reported that she has received a report date December 1999 from the Strategic Initiatives group. The report has been posted on the PLL web site. Martha suggested that members read the section on the PLL SIS with particular attention to the strategies outlined.