VCRA President's Message

The annual convention at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia proved to be a fantastic opportunity to learn and see old friends while enjoying one of the most beautiful venues in Virginia. The Virginia Court Reporters Association board members worked diligently to bring its members interesting and exciting speakers and vendors, leaving some down time to relax and enjoy the Homestead's amenities. A big Thank You to all of you who attended and supported your association!

The past two years have been quite a challenge for VCRA. The economic downturn has reared its ugly head in Virginia, and every reporter and firm has felt the impact in some way. VCRA has been able to this point to meet the demands of continuing education for Virginia reporters, while remaining mindful of its budget. This burden would not have been met were it not for reporter participation in your state association. Continuing education and maintaining professionalism in the Virginia reporting community remains our most important goal.

Once again the board is beginning to consider another attempt at possible mandatory certification for Virginia. This is an extremely important issue and must be thoroughly considered before proceeding. Though Virginia is currently a “voluntary” state, many believe that mandatory certification would be a tool to increase reporter professionalism overall in Virginia, and a means of “weeding out” those who do not maintain a high level of skill and responsibility needed to produce an accurate record of proceedings. By maintaining your membership in VCRA, you will be kept abreast of these and other issues as they arise.

Of course achieving the Registered Professional Reporter or the Certified Verbatim Reporter status and beyond should be the goal of every court reporter. The VCRA began the CCR designation with the goal toward continuing to educate those who have not yet attained that goal. At our most recent convention, members voted to also require that any reporter who wishes to obtain the CCR designation must attempt the RPR or the CVR testing at least once per calendar year. This requirement will surely be of benefit to non RPRs/CVRs in the event Virginia passes the requirement of certification in the future.

With your membership renewal you will also receive a membership campaign letter. As a continuing member, encourage reporters around you who are not members to join your state association. If you are a new reporter to Virginia, join to gain opportunities to network and increase your knowledge base. If you are a longstanding reporter and are not currently a member, increase your professionalism by joining the VCRA. Follow the lead of other professionals and voluntarily decide that continuing education is an important component to being a professional reporter. If you are a firm owner, encourage your reporters to maintain membership. Stay in touch with current events in the reporting community by regularly reading the VCRA quarterly newsletter.

If you’d like to get involved in VCRA, mentor a student, plan a regional reporter dinner meeting, offer a suggestion, or participate in any way, please contact me at Gwender@earthlink.net. We’d also appreciate and request your contributions to the newsletter, whether it be an article you’ve written, or something interesting you’d like to pass on to other reporters. Submittals can be sent to our Executive Director, Colette Boes, at executivedirectorcb@cox.net.

Big changes are in the future of reporting in Virginia, and we need to work together to support our profession. Take part in our membership campaign to recruit new members. Our goal continues to be 100 percent reporter participation, and with your help we can achieve that goal. The board is gearing up for an eventful Education Day in Richmond on March 12, 2011. It will be a great opportunity to support your association and meet your NCRA and VCRA continuing education requirements. I hope to see you there.

Gwenda Applegate, RPR, CRR
VCRA President