November 2000

Celebration 2000: The Week That Was

by Jan Michels
WSBA Executive Director
janm@wsba.org

For all of you dying to know how it went … Celebration 2000 was a dynamite success. I don’t declare this falsely or for any other purpose than to let WSBA members, the judiciary, the legal services community and others know that the event "worked," and to recap a few of the lessons learned.

Early registrations came in strong, then waivered during the summer. There were more than 80 on-site registrations, making the total registration of 260 judges, 240 access to justice registrants, and 430 lawyers and guests close to our target goal. While not an overwhelming response or edict for a return to an annual convention, the numbers were strong enough to declare the event a financial success (i.e., revenue meeting expenses) and indicate interest in periodic gatherings.

The real highlights were the programs and workshops, though some attendees complained that there were so many choices they had to miss many events that interested them. There was the exemplary opening session by Clay Jenkinson in the persona of Thomas Jefferson and response discussion by high-tech experts in technology and human genetics. There were inspiring stories about the WSBA’s award recipients. The "blockbuster" jury trial, staged by WSTLA’s Bryan Harnetiaux and portrayed by some of Washington’s most renowned trial lawyers, was excellent. Three-hundred high school and law students joined the conference for this event, which included a program and study guide. Each of the four conference tracks — judiciary, access to justice, bar leaders and WSBA, featured specialized new learning opportunities and presented unique challenges to the profession in the information age. Each of these programs deserves its own tribute. All programs stressed the importance of diversity in the future planning and delivery of justice services. We can no longer expect to thrive without a full understanding of the life experiences of not-like-me persons.

There were over 45 choice sessions, and each is worthy of printed and published wisdom. My world view changed during the judicial workshop When Bias Compounds about the special challenge of being both female and a racial minority. The Future of the Profession panel for bar leaders produced three pages of notes for me to recap in a future column. We’re getting national inquiries for material from the Cyberspace and the Quill Pen seminar in the access to justice (ATJ) track. Another ATJ track program included a fascinating exploration of concrete action plans for creating a multi-cultural "justice imperative."

The two social highlights of the convention were the raucous and slightly funky ATJ skit, When Indifference Strikes, written and staged by Marla Elliot, and the more subdued (but only slightly by late evening) night of receptions. The theme of the ATJ skit was that by working together, superheroes like Superior-judge, Barman and Justiceguy can defeat the villainous Mr. Status Quo and his henchmen, Prejudice, Apathy and Bias. Given the number of connections and conversations I enjoyed on reception night and the reports of similar experiences from others, I feel assured that we achieved our renewal-of-collegiality goals. Receptions and parties hosted by law schools, WSTLA, Law Fund and specialty bar associations attracted people who might not otherwise spend time together for the proverbial "networking and renewing."

We had modest attendance at the family and social events that the Spokane County Bar Association worked so hard to put together. The weather (some of us "wetheads" have heard of such weather, but seldom experienced it for an entire week) was hot and dry. Dick Eymann took personal credit for that!

By not having a convention for over nine years, we lost some intuition about conference logistics. To encourage crossover attendance, we should have had more of the various tracks’ sessions in the conference center rather then spread to different hotels. The location of our vendor fair was too isolated to encourage strong attendance, and the program was too tight to allow much milling-around time. We should consider scheduling a future convention for longer than three days. Too many people missed the closing and what I deem as one of the best speakers and messages of Celebration 2000, Chasing the Justice and Equality Dream by Northeastern University Provost David Hall. (His speech will be reprinted in the December issue of Bar News.)

Overall, we think the success factors were the joint conference with the judiciary, the enthusiasm and energy of the bar president and board, the overwhelming spirit of fun and good will, and the hunger of attendees to interact and enjoy each other’s company.

Lastly, our logo, the symbol of Celebration 2000, really worked to help brand the event. In a prototype of a winged and diaphanously dressed lady justice, Mary McQueen of the Office of the Administrator for the Courts (and Superhero "OAC-Lady") suggested that we "ditch the wings and dress her." We have a few mouse pads and mugs left over and will offer them in the general CLE store at year’s end.

Will we do it again? Probably, but not right away!