TLOMA Today

My fellow TLOMA members!

It has finally happened – I am now your president and I am rushing to my desk to issue my first executive order.  Namely, on the 23^rd day of March this year you are all invited to TLOMA’s first Spring Fling, a cocktail party to celebrate the changing of the seasons.  See, change is everywhere.  One might even say that at TLOMA we are changing the world but we are not going there lest we are mistaken for the diaper manufacturers association.  Anyhow, the Spring Fling will be held at Metropolitan Restaurant & Bar, 20 Victoria Street and starts at 4:30 pm sharp.  Book early as space is limited.  We are going to have a great time. 

Now, when I say 'we' I mean all of us together and not 'we' in the royal sense.  I am your President, after all, not your king, yet, although delusions of grandeur are not foreign to any of us.  But then, it seems too taxing to have one’s hair dyed orange, name a last born Duke or Prince or Marquis and start building walls.  One has to be completely full of oneself and a bit removed from reality.  And since this administration promised to keep it real, I sincerely hope that at least one of you will say something before we begin to overflow.  After all, it takes a village to raise a president.

Keeping it real used to be simple.  Now it’s difficult to tell what’s real and what’s not.  In most dictionaries reality is described as “the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them”.  But is that really so?  While it is impossible to dispute the realness of “things” like gravity, electricity, radiation or pollution, it is difficult to imagine that things like money, banking, corporations or the law are not real.  Ironically, imagine is the operative word here.  Imagining things is what we humans have been doing for millennia.  We make up stuff and then all it takes for it to become “real” is for enough people to believe in it.  Did you know that “legal fiction” is a term used to describe a corporation which means that it exists but only in the eyes of the law, otherwise it is not real?  We believe it and agree to make it so.  The most enduring example of humanity’s belief system is money.  No matter what nationality, religion or color we are or what language we speak, our belief in the US dollar is universal.  We don’t have to explain it, it just is.  But is it real?  Not really.

And why are we talking about this, you ask?  Well, lately we’ve heard some high ranking politicians use the term “alternative truth” to describe their actions, their lies really.  As disturbing as this is what’s more troubling is that for the most part it was met with shoulder shrugs and we went on with our lives.  I thought, why do we accept this, why is it normal?  And the only answer I have is that it is all made up and we can’t tell the difference anymore.  We live in our heads and our beliefs have taken over the real world and that’s how we exist.  Even the way we see ourselves is quite different from reality. Show me someone who says they see in the mirror the same image they have in their minds eye and I will show you a liar.

Again, you ask, why are we talking about all this?  I have to fill two pages with words, if you must know, and also to emphasize that, unlike gravity and radiation, beliefs change making everything even more confusing and difficult to keep it real.  What helps is communities like TLOMA which are support systems for keeping things in perspective and, on occasion, getting a reality check.

Speaking of TLOMA, I want to share with you a few changes to the structure of the association’s operational administration made recently and welcome the new committee members whose names and short bios you can find here.  As illustrated by the TLOMA Organizational Chart below:

• The Executive Committee structure remains the same.  A warm welcome to Michelle Medel who is your Vice President.
• The Board of Directors now includes the members of the Executive Committee,  the Communication Coordinator (formerly Secretary) Meghan Clavel, the Conference Committee Chair Bernard Quilty and the Education Coordinator Angela Kirkpatrick.  Best wishes and good luck to all of you.
  
  

You may have noticed that the SIG Leaders are no longer members of the Board of Directors but are represented by the Education Coordinator who is also working with the Conference Chair and the Vice President on all educational initiatives throughout the year.  It was felt that bringing all education under one umbrella would help standardize and thus simplify and streamline the delivery of better educational content easier and faster.  At the same time “freeing” the SIG Leaders from the Board of Directors means less time spent in Board meetings and more time to spend on session preparation. 

You have also noticed that this year’s Conference Committee is much smaller and one of its members is peculiarly named I.C.E.  It is in fact an acronym for Intuitive Conferences + Events, the company we have engaged to help plan and execute TLOMA’s 2017 Conference and so far the results are very encouraging.  The decision to outsource the Conference organization has nothing to do with prior years’ performance or operation.  In fact, if you have ever attended a TLOMA Conference you know that they have always been spectacular.  At the same time, if you have ever served on the Conference Committee you know that it takes a lot of time and resources to put together such a great event and very few people are willing to commit so much time and effort.  This model was hardly sustainable anymore and it still costs quite a bit of money.  For that reason it was decided to hire a company which specializes in events planning this year.  We are still in control of the Conference design, marketing and Business Partners, but I.C.E. will do the heavy lifting.  After the 2017 Conference, we will re-evaluate and plan for future conferences.

Thank you for being such a captive audience and don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns. 

Throughout my career, I have heard partners at law firms complain about "associates these days." They complain that associates are unwilling to work hard, feel entitled to have it all and don't know how good they have it, compared with what it was like back in the day. 

Undoubtedly, the partners' views are reinforced by the fact that most of those associates are millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000), a generation that has been repeatedly lambasted as being lazy, self-entitled and coddled.

Although I suspect there may be a kernel of truth in their critique, this article is not about whether the complaints are grounded in reality. Rather, it is about the dangers of disregarding the millennial viewpoint in this generational culture clash. 

Law firms ignore millennial ideas at their peril 

Change is hard – everyone knows that. The problem is that the status quo, while comforting, can also be dangerous. If you refuse to move forward, you may be left behind. 

It is far easier to dismiss an idea if you discredit the person who espouses it as nothing more than a lazy millennial whiner. But this results in good ideas being ignored. By over-diagnosing an entire generation as lazy whiners, law firms are giving themselves an easy excuse not to change. The irony is that tech-savvy millennials (who also understand how other millennials think) are well suited to help firms adapt to the changing landscape. 

Not all ideas proposed by millennials are motivated by a desire to work less 

Why should a firm care if, instead of working until 9 p.m. at the office, a millennial associate goes home, sees his children from 5-7 p.m., and works remotely from 9-11 p.m.? He is working no less, just in a manner that allows him to see his children. This seems obvious – yet, many associates feel that being seen leaving the office at 5 p.m. every day will be held against them. 

Not all ideas are bad even if proposed by a millennial with "unworthy" motivations. 

If an idea is good, a person's motivation for proposing it should be irrelevant. If Jen, a millennial associate, suggests her firm invest in technology to reduce the amount of time she spends reviewing documents, the only relevant question should be, "is it a sound investment?" If the answer is "yes," then the firm should invest. It should be irrelevant that Jen's motivation for finding the technology stemmed from her hatred of doing document review, a task that she considers boring. From the firm's perspective, that Jen will no longer have to spend time doing work she hates should just be a bonus. 

If millennials find ways to accomplish the same results while putting in less effort, or doing more rewarding work, well then good for them. They should be applauded for their good ideas, not reprimanded because their motivations are deemed unworthy.

Decision makers should be careful to ensure that their decisions do not stem from a desire to make the next generation "suffer" in the same ways that they once did. We get it: you walked uphill to school, both ways! That doesn't mean that there isn't a better way of getting there today. 

Law firms should evaluate the status quo before criticizing those who propose change

I was mocked by a partner at my previous firm because I told him that it was non-negotiable that I needed to eat lunch every single day. Apparently, for him, skipping lunch some days would have been a sign of my devotion to the law and the firm. For me, it was inane. I was willing to give up many things, but lunch was not one of them. 

In many firms, discussing work-life balance and law firm culture issues (outside of recruiting season) is a no-no. The problem with this mentality is that it presumes the older generation's approach to work is the right one. 

Before complaining that millennials' views of work-life balance and firm culture are wrong, law firms should be evaluating whether they currently have it right. How many partners are divorced? How many missed one too many dance recitals? How many battle with anxiety and alcoholism? Law firms should be asking themselves if they are 100-per-cent confident that the system doesn't need to change – even a little bit. Because if it does, then the topic needs to be open for meaningful discussion. 

Small changes in a firm's policies and attitudes can make big differences to morale without affecting the bottom line. A small but telling example is the propensity of partners to set false deadlines. There was nothing more frustrating than the Friday afternoon call requiring me to spend my weekend drafting a document, allegedly due Monday morning, that was not reviewed until Thursday. If believing that I should not be required to spend a weekend working for no real reason makes me a self-entitled millennial, I accept the title. I suggest, however, that it simply makes me someone who believes that I should be treated with common decency and a modicum of respect. Make a small change; set a deadline when it is really a deadline. 

Bigger changes can affect a firm's bottom line because they relate to the overall number of hours that lawyers spend working. I understand that firms are reticent to open this can of worms because, generally speaking, hours worked translate into dollars earned. What I don't understand, however, is why law firms seem to believe that there is only one way to skin a cat. In many firms, either an associate is willing to put work above all else, or he or she is unlikely to rise to the top. If a brilliant lawyer wants to work four days a week, does that make him any less brilliant? No – it just means that his pay should be adjusted accordingly. Law firms' rigid one-size-fits-all mentality only ensures that they will continue to lose great lawyers for no good reason. 

Our profession is only as strong as the minds it attracts and retains. If firms refuse to listen to those moving up their ranks, they risk losing bright millennial minds. Instead of wasting time complaining, firms should be spending their time trying to understand how to best harness the millennials' energy. They are, after all, the future.

This article was originally published in the Globe & Mail.

Thanks to erratic economies, digital disruption, demographic shifts and other forces, change and its challenges can blindside leaders every day.

Health care leaders are in the midst of mergers or other complex changes to support Canada’s aging population, which is expected to increase from almost six million seniors today to more than 10 million in 20 years. 

Fallout from these or comparable changes in other sectors threaten a leader’s success, status or legacy. 

How does a leader mitigate risks and adeptly steer their team through change? The answer lies in focusing on people. Engage your team, partners, clients and other stakeholders to foster dynamic dialogue and co-creation. 

According to Dr. John Kotter, author and leadership professor emeritus, Harvard Business School, “70 per cent of all organizational change efforts fail, and one reason for this is executives simply don’t get enough buy-in from enough people for their initiatives and ideas.” 

We may not have all the answers but when we engage, we bring stakeholders’ questions, concerns and fears to the surface. As leaders, we need to listen to our stakeholders’ authentic feedback, reframe it, help them understand our perspective on issues and explain how we plan to address them. 

Without engaging, the vacuum fills with rumours that can rapidly spread through social networks and outspoken activists. We undo our team’s good work, if we fail to engage. 

Here are five proven ways leaders in multiple sectors can engage people during change:  

1. Start internally to set a shared vision 

A leader must consider each team’s priorities and the culture they need to manage through the change. 

Start by interconnecting your teams with common goals, shared quality indicators and a united vision. Regularly measure employee engagement, based on values, such as recognition, trust, communication and empowerment. 

Health care has unique challenges. Today’s patient care teams need to know how the change will impact the value of their work. To retain them, you must engage them with energizing work and the ability to co-develop a better way to deliver care. 

You need to mesh as a team before you can integrate with others. The more cohesive you are, the more you can engage the strengths of each other and effectively realize your organization’s new vision. 

2. Involve frontline employees and others to shape change 

Attain input from key employees, partners, vendors and others on the frontline. 

Understand what each of those stakeholders does to deliver your mission, not for your organization’s benefit but for the people you serve. Provide transparent communication and timely feedback opportunities that enable them to shape how and when processes change. 

Coordinate changes through carefully prioritizing and sequencing work that respects interdependencies. Consider how each change affects people and seek solutions to maintain continuity.

3. Consult clients with a solutions-focus

Engage clients, customers or patients through a structured, solutions-focused approach. 

Whether it’s a focus group, an advisory forum or exhaustive site visits, like Cargill’s “learning journeys,” define a clear scope and guiding principles to facilitate the process. Engage this group in a way that uncovers valuable insights about what really matters to them. 

Cancer Care Ontario developed a Patient and Family Advisory Council that our community care access centre (CCAC) modeled for its Share Care Council, with a mandate to provide input on programs or services. Feedback from our council informed a new approach to help patients transition from hospital to home, which reduced their readmission rate by 52 per cent.

4. Engage those with the highest stakes 

Meet with those people most affected by change, such as employees, who will be re-located. Take a long-term view on how the change will impact their lives and what supports they need, even beyond your strategic plan’s timeline. Thoughtfully interact with them in-person, explain your limitations and collaborate with them on long-term solutions. 

In its Authentic Advocacy report, the Arthur W. Page Society recommends enterprises move beyond transactional stakeholder activities to “long-term agreements based on shared belief and commitments, marked by true listening.” 

5. Probe for tough feedback and follow through 

Encourage feedback through broad-reaching formal tactics, such as surveys or an ombudsperson, even if it’s hard to hear. 

Use those tactics to ask questions or create opportunities to hear assumptions behind concerns. We can’t assume all input is based on the best or most up-to-date information. Taking this important step can lead to critical clarity. It may also prompt dialogue that leads to better solutions. 

Explain what is feasible, response plans and timelines; then, follow through. 

Engaging is not difficult but it takes time for a leader to put people at the centre of change. That time is invaluable because in the end, it’s those stakeholders’ commitments that make a change successful. 

This article was originally published in the Globe & Mail.

 “Be excited by the future, and meet it with a sense of optimism.” Rohen Phoenix

New and emerging technologies are fundamentally changing how professional services operate, and the legal industry may be the most affected. The costs of doing business aren’t getting any smaller; investing in technology that allows lawyers to deliver services in ways that deliver real value to clients while keeping costs down can make the difference in an increasingly competitive market. 
 
In this three-part series, I will focus on key trends in technology and business and how they will affect the legal community.  In Part One, I will look at how technology will change the traditional lawyer-client relationship and the ways that organizations may have to change their cultures to adapt to the shift.

Clients have great (technology) expectations.

According to Richard and Daniel Susskind, authors of The Future of the Professions, today’s legal clients expect firms to have the same level of technology that they do, while most legal working practices haven’t changed since the days of Charles Dickens. Clients expect the latest hardware and software, digital archiving, encryption in transit and at rest, immediate recall of documents and, collaborative data rooms for deals.

Most important, they expect these to be highly secure and always available. Law firms will need to adapt their processes and their strategies to meet this technological challenge.

“Google Lawyer” is coming and it’s going to disrupt traditional practices.

The law is ripe for disruption – and the Uber-ization of its practices are happening right now. A traditional aversion to risk has kept many in the legal profession from the vanguard of new technologies while providing with a service that many clients perceive to be costly and opaque. Just as many people have become their own “Google Doctor”, the internet has made clients more interested and informed regarding legal matters.

People inside Silicon Valley and inside the legal profession see a new market emerging, and are seeking to provide access to similar resources as lawyers at the fraction of the cost as tech-savvy corporate clients question the size of their legal bills and want to reduce risk.

While search engines give clients free opinions and broad access to legal knowledge, it doesn’t give them practical application of the law to their real-life scenarios. If firms can break away from traditional mindsets and provide clients access to knowledge in a commoditized way, they can become more than simply a source of opinion and expertise in times of change and crisis.

Different generations will have different I.T. needs.

There are a number of law firms across the country where four generations are working together – from Traditionalists (born 1927 – 1945) through to Millennials (1980s to 1991). Each generation has a different comfort level with technology, how best to use it and expectations of its ubiquity.

Firms are trying to understand how to balance the technology needs of each group without reinventing workflows for each generation. For some, simply convincing senior equity partners to invest in technology is their biggest challenge, while others are scrambling to catch up with their users who are “going rogue” in an attempt to improve their own technology experience at work.

Connecting to a legal professional is going anytime, anywhere.

Internet-based applications, software as a service, secure web access and powerful mobile devices mean that legal professionals can work remotely from anywhere with a data signal. Giving clients greater access and connectivity with lawyers may improve their experience, but it can be a double-edged sword in a profession notorious for long hours. For some practitioners, this increased connectivity allows for greater flexibility in their schedule, but for others it means never truly being away from work. 

LinkedIn is now the world’s largest business networking site. As a category or group, lawyers are among the top five groups of LinkedIn users worldwide. The demographics of LinkedIn skew older, wealthier and more-educated than any of the other top social media sites. In short, LinkedIn is a good place to “go fishing” to find law firm clients as well as referral sources, associates, paralegals, and law clerks.

According to a 2012 survey by the American Bar Association ("ABA"), 95 per cent of ABA members have a LinkedIn profile. In business-to-business law ("B2B"), 70 per cent of corporate counsel indicate that they use LinkedIn to look for and vet outside counsel. So, a LinkedIn profile is even more important than the profile on your firm’s website because it will come up first on a Google or a LinkedIn search.

In Canada, many lawyers, especially business-to-consumer ("B2C") lawyers (family law, wills & estates, residential real estate, personal injury, and criminal law) have LinkedIn profiles yet fail to reap the benefits.

Here is a five-step marketing plan to build your “book of business” whether you are a B2B or B2C lawyer:

1. Establish your purpose for LinkedIn.

What are you “hiring” LinkedIn to do for you?

• Connect with more paying clients?
• Establish and develop relationships with lawyers who could be referral sources?
• Prepare your law firm for a new practice area in a new industry?
• Gather intelligence about your practice area, your clients, and your competitors? 
• Establish your reputation as a leading lawyer and thinker?
  
  

Establishing your purpose for being on LinkedIn will drive everything you do on the site: what you include in your LinkedIn profile, who you connect with, what you share, which groups you join, and how you regulate your privacy settings on LinkedIn.

2. Clean up your LinkedIn profile. 

Your photo, headline, and summary section are the most visible to users and the most widely read.

In 2017, I am still amazed at the number of lawyers who have outdated photos, fuzzy photos, and inappropriate photos. Three weeks ago, I received a connection request from a lawyer (we had more than 200 people in common) who posted a photo of herself either on the beach or at a spa. It was not a good first impression. 

Use your headline to stand out. Write, for example: “A labour lawyer who will keep your firm out of the headlines for the wrong reasons” or “A proactive insolvency lawyer who can help save your company”. Keep the headline to about 10 words.

Your summary section is the most widely read, so make it count. Don’t re-hash your years of experience or where you went to law school; that’s what the job section and the education section are for, respectively. Put about five of your biggest achievements in the summary, focusing on results and benefits to clients. Use the active, not the passive voice. Use first person “I,” not the third person “she” or “he.”

Don’t write large and dense paragraphs; this is not a legal document. Instead, write bullets that readers can easily skim. You can pack a lot of content into a handful of bullet points. The goal here is impact — you want to impress people. Revisit and update your LinkedIn profile at least once a year.

3. Each week, add contacts to your LinkedIn network. 

Much of marketing is a numbers game, meaning the more people who know about you and the type of law you practice, the more you can increase the pool of people who will need your services. A larger LinkedIn network is to your advantage, plus LinkedIn is “gamed” to those with 500 connections or more. Those with 10,000 connections receive the designation of LinkedIn influencers—you get extra points with Google, too.

Establish a goal: do you want to add two, three, or 10 contacts a week?  It’s up to you.
 
Two x 52 weeks = 104 new contacts/year
Three x 52 weeks = 156 new contacts/year
Ten x 52 weeks = 520 new contacts/year

Importantly, ask your connections for introductions to people you’d like to know. This is one of the key benefits of LinkedIn. When you get introduced, offer to help the other person first, rather than doing a sales pitch to promote your own practice. That tends to put people off.

LinkedIn has a search feature to help you find people you might want to connect with.

For more information, check out the articles below:  
 https://blog.linkedin.com/2007/07/15/5-tips-on-how-t 
 https://zapier.com/blog/linkedin-search-guide/  
 
When you find yourself chatting to prospects or referral sources regularly on LinkedIn, move the conversation to direct email, and from there to a coffee or lunch invitation, as appropriate. 

4. Share two pieces of content every week. 

You can share information in the “Update” section (the daily news feed), which is great for newspaper and other media stories you come across. You can “tag” your prospects (or people you are trying to get close to) by mentioning them in the update. 

You can also publish your own content, such as an article or blog you have written in the “Publish a Post” section.  This has the added benefit of alerting each of your connections that you have written a post and that email alert goes directly to their LinkedIn mailbox. This is a big bonus, especially if you know your connections don’t visit their LinkedIn page every day. Plus, the post archive remains as part of your profile. 

5. Join LinkedIn groups relevant to your purpose. 

The number of LinkedIn groups has mushroomed in recent years, so there are hundreds of groups for lawyers. It will take a bit of time to find the right groups, but aim for two or three groups that are the best fit with your purpose in the first tip, noted above. Be systematic with your interactions, ask questions, and share useful tips with your connections.

How long have you been a member of TLOMA? Since 1996

Where do you work? Lerners LLP

What do you enjoy most about working in the legal industry?

In my current role, I am responsible for people, compliance and administrative details.  On the surface, much of what I do can be boiled down into metrics, outcomes, spreadsheets, equations, formulas, profit and loss.  However, it is also a huge - some would say sacred - responsibility because I am trusted with people's futures, needs and work-life well-being. 

What I enjoy most about working in the legal industry is the constant change and the great balancing act of dealing with two very different groups.  In law firms, you  need  to balance the interests of the Owners and Staff which can be quite challenging.  I work as a facilitator of communication and translator of information between our Lawyers and our Staff. Being the liaison between the two groups, and an advocate for both sides, is challenging but also very rewarding.  You get to wear many hats day-to-day.  Some days I am a cheerleader or a problem solver, but ultimately I am someone both groups can trust and confide in. 

What are your favorite hobbies? Travelling and Yoga.

If you were able to start a blog, what would it be about?  Doing my Om thing, the Great Balancing Act --- Type A Law Firm Manager by day and Zen Yoga Teacher by night.

Name one thing you can't live without and tell us about it? 

Yoga. Studying and teaching yoga is my passion.  I began my journey with yoga in university, practicing classic hatha at a studio in downtown Toronto. After completing my studies and joining the workforce,  I continued to practice recreationally.   Over the years as I moved into Executive Management, I came to notice the strain and tension work created in my body, as well as my emotions.  Gradually, I began to regard my yoga practice as a form of self-therapy.  I completed my first Yoga Teacher training in Toronto in 2011 and since then, it has been my privilege to guide others in the powerful healing benefits of yoga.   It is my mission to cultivate peace in the lives of others through the practice of yoga and meditation.  I believe that many of the challenges we face in our busy lives can be overcome by developing a more refined sense of awareness and cultivating a practice of relaxation.  Yoga has brought healing and wellness into my life.  My deepest intention is that we all begin to realize that we are more than what we think we are.  Yoga can help us find an inner depth, a space where we can experience true happiness, peace and fulfillment both on and off the mat. 

Company Overview

Expertise & Growth 

Ricoh is a global leader in providing end-to-end business intelligent solutions such as workplace services, managed document services, as well as offering Ricoh’s unique brand of professional information management consulting services. Our fully integrated product and services portfolio is comprehensive yet focused on helping organizations share and re-evaluate critical business information quickly and simply. With scalable solutions and services paired with global technical support capabilities, Ricoh is first class in our ability to help organizations revolutionize how they manage their digital and paper-based information. 

Ricoh is a Fortune Global 500 Company. Ricoh has over 18.5 Billion CDN$ in annual sales in 2016 and employed a global workforce of over 110,000 people in over 194 countries and regions. Ricoh was established in 1936 when Riken Kankoshi Co., Ltd was established in Tokyo, Japan.  Ricoh invented the world’s first high speed digital facsimile and were pioneers in the development of computer-networked and digital multifunctional document systems, eventually becoming market leaders in color and black and white digital imaging systems, facsimile products, printers, scanners, digital duplicators, and wide format engineering systems. 

With the dawn of the 21st century, Ricoh began to expand its marketplace and consolidate its position as a dominant global market leader through a series of acquisitions and mergers. Ricoh continues to grow by developing leading edge solutions and technologies that help increase market share, expand our business information solutions services lines and services, and grow our Managed Document Services business.

We are a leader in providing services coupled with hardware and software solutions that can satisfy our customers’ business needs and pain points. 

Service Overview 

Ricoh’s Services represent the integration of our services, technology, and expertise which provide real solutions to help solve today's business challenges and desired outcomes of managing information. We address customer challenges, discover your business needs based on industry research and shadowing, and apply the comprehensive Ricoh portfolio of services to develop a cost-effective, secure, sustainable, and optimized solution. 

Ricoh delivers an integration of process-technology-people methodology and are driven by customer needs and focused on measurable customer outcomes:

• Process. Through workflow analysis, process improvement, and a variety of information extraction technologies and best practices, our processes help organizations easily integrate transactional data into their workflows.
• Technology. Ricoh’s technologies offer sophisticated workflow and indexing functionality for quickly digitizing documents, extracting important information, and distributing it to the right recipients.
• People. Our experts understand your business needs and processes. They collaborate with your management and operations staff to drive measurable efficiency gains.

How many years have you been a Business Partner of TLOMA? 15+ Years

What has been your partnership experience with TLOMA over the years? Well run organization that is being managed by a passionate team.

Favorite TLOMA memory? There have been so many over the years!  One that resonates with me is all the fun we had at Blue Mountain one year when a former colleague got on stage and decided to join the band for a couple of songs!

What is your favorite artist/band you got to see live in concert? U2 is one of my most favorite bands.  I've seen them perform 8 times in concert over the years.

What are your favorite hobbies? I'm an avid comic book collector.  I've been collecting comics for well over 30 years now.

If you could have a 60-minute conversation with anyone (fictional, famous, not famous, etc.) who would you choose? I would have to say Albert Einstein, most definitely.  "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new".