As we wrap up a successful year for the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association we have been hard at work planning our 2008 meetings. A lot of thought goes into choosing the location for these meetings. With the majority of our members located in the continental United States, we make every attempt to choose locations that provide convenient access to our members. We strive to move around the country with our locations, providing both variety and not penalizing members on the opposite coast.
Once we determine a location for a meeting, we look for resorts that offer the facilities and services our members have come to expect. Our primary goal is to keep the meetings affordable. Lawyers have many options when it comes to obtaining continuing legal education, and I believe our meetings offer an excellent value.
Continuing legal education is one of the cornerstones of our organization. Our President elect, Susan Hofer, is putting together two excellent programs for 2008. Our programs will always emphasize aviation law, but we strive to include areas of interest for every practitioner.
Our Winter, 2008 meeting will be held at the Don Shula Resort in Miami Lakes, Florida; February 13-17, 2008. The Shula Resort is midway between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and is two miles east of the Opa Locka Airport.
The resort is nestled in a community reminiscent of a hometown Main Street. This location will give our members easy access to most south Florida attractions and night life. The resort underwent a major renovation in preparation for this year's Super Bowl XXXX1, and now features a 44,000 square foot athletic club and spa facility. Adjacent to the resort is the Shula Golf Course. The clubhouse features Shula's Steakhouse, one of the finest in America.
You will receive your registration materials for the winter meeting within the next few weeks and hope that you and your family will be able to join us.
Our Summer, 2008 meeting will be held at the Heidel House Resort in Green Lake, Wisconsin. We meet July 30th through August 4th, during the EAA Convention at nearby Oshkosh. We will spend an entire day at the World's Largest Aviation event. Stay tuned for more information on what will be a memorable meeting.
Our website, www.lpba.org has been online since 1997, making us an elder statesman on the internet. I have had the privilege of managing lpba.org for more than eight of these years. Technology has a way of sneaking up on you, and we realize the website is in need of a major facelift.
We are working with several web design firms to determine the direction our upgrade will take. Features we envision on the new lpba.org include a members only section with items such as an online membership directory and access to CLE materials. We plan to have secure online shopping for LPBA merchandise as well as the ability to pay membership dues and meeting registration fees online. We plan to have the new LPBA.org online some time during 2008.
As we approach our 50th anniversary as an organization (August 4, 2009) I ask each of us to find new ways to work to insure the future success of our organization. To be effective and prosper in the years ahead, the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association must attract new blood and learn from the fresh ideas our new members will surely bring. We must welcome our new members and give them important work so they will stay with us for the long term. Equally important, we must do our best to retain our current members.
We are first and foremost an organization of pilots. Our ability to fly is being threatened as never before. Irrational security measures, user fees and sky rocketing fuel prices threaten our ability to fly as we have in the past. There is no more vital organization than the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association for these uncertain times. Growth is essential for our future and it is of paramount importance that we recruit new members.
Ed Booth