The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) met in Orlando, Fla., for the annual Conference & Expo this week bringing together court reporting, captioning, and legal videography professionals from around the world.
Featuring a variety of learning sessions from leading experts across the profession and beyond, the annual Conference provides valuable insights on thought-provoking topics that engage, teach, and enlighten.
This year’s keynote speaker was Jim Davidson, a resilience expert, an expedition leader, and a New York Times best-selling author. From his 39 years of adventure and survival, Davidson distilled compelling stories and uplifting lessons about how to overcome change, challenge, and uncertainty through resilience— something that all court reporters and students can certainly relate to.
In his speech at the premier session, NCRA’s 115th President, Jason T. Meadors, FAPR, RPR, CRR, CRC, from Fort Collins, Colo., remarked that “one does not compete successfully by standing in place and refusing to budge,” as he encouraged members to recognize the challenges ahead and to be resilient.
It was that spirit which prompted Meadors to invite Davidson to deliver this year’s keynote address. One of the major themes of his address was to ask the audience who and what are their sources of resilience. “When you know where your resilience comes from, you’ll be able to tap into it that much faster when things get tough,” Davidson said.
When it came to his treacherous mountain adventures, Davidson discussed how one must push through knowns and uncertainty while solving problems and continuing to move forward. He called it the resilient mindset where change, challenges, uncertainty, and setbacks are accepted, embraced, and perseverance is refined.
“You’re going to have to refine yourself,” he said. “That is how we find a better version of you and your industry — by pushing through unknowns and continuing to move forward.”
Davidson shared his own refinement, which was triggered when he was asked to mentor younger, less experienced mountain climbers shortly after the death of his own climbing partner. While initially hesitant to return to the mountains, Davidson thought of his own friend and partner, as well as those who were his source of resilience, which ultimately led to him resuming his hobby. “Be that person that you would want to work with … you want to be the person to start projecting that confidence.”
Another aspect of the resilience mindset of moving both ourselves and our industry forward is training the next generation, added Davidson, who propositioned audience members with the following: “How are you going to leave a legacy?”
As he concluded, Davidson had this to say about overcoming adversity in life: “Helping nurtures hope in them and you.”
Throughout the 2022 NCRA Conference & Expo coverage of sessions and events will regularly be posted on TheJCR.com and shared via email and on social media using the hashtag #NCRA22. To download the official app for this year’s conference, click here.
