The 2021 NCRA Spring Fling sessions available for purchase by members and nonmembers earned rave reviews from attendees who participated in the live event that took place last month. NCRA has made available for purchase seven of the webinars that ran during the all-day event for a cost of $55 each for NCRA members and $79 each for nonmembers. Each session is worth 0.1 CEU and will be available for viewing for 30 days from the time of purchase.
One of the most popular sessions being offered is I Am Not a Cat, presented by Andrea Kreutz, CLVS, an agency owner from Des Moines, Iowa; LaJuana Pruitt, CLVS, from Bradenton, Fla.; Mindy Sindiong, CLVS, from Lawrenceburg, Ind.; Robert Butcher, CLVS, from Lakewood, Colo.; and David Jenkins, CLVS, from Minneapolis, Minn. The session shared with attendees tips on handling the follies and pitfalls of remote depositions.
“I would like to give a shout-out to the members of the CLVS Council for their seminar I Am Not a Cat that I attended during the Spring Fling session,” said NCRA member Jo Ann Betler, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CPE, CLVS, a firm owner from Huntington, W.Va. “I appreciate the informative manner in which the presenters addressed several technical issues that may arise during Zoom depositions. I appreciated the humor and their song! The whole thing made me smile. All the more reason to use a CLVS on our depos,” she added.
NCRA members Phyllis Craver Lykken, RPR, CCR, a freelance court reporter from Seattle, Wash., and Sue A. Terry, FAPR, RPR, CRR, CRC, a freelance court reporter and captioner from Springfield, Ohio, who is also an NCRA past president, offered valuable insights into how to be effectively proactive when educating clients, judges, and/or captioning companies about the benefits of using stenographic court reporters or captioners vs. the perils of digital, artificial intelligence, or automatic speech recognition technology in their session called Ready. Set. EDUCATE!
“Ready. Set. EDUCATE! will prepare you for that two-minute elevator pitch to advocate for and protect your profession when you are dumbstruck by a remark that a lawyer or even a witness will make about digital court reporters and/or automated speech recognition,” said NCRA member Viola Zborowski, FAPR, RMR, CRR, CRC, an official court reporter from Sandy Springs, Ga. “If you don’t know about fake certificates, multiple transcriptionists, or security concerns sending transcripts overseas, this session is a must-watch.”
Advanced Captioning, led by NCRA member Kathy Cortopassi, RDR, CRR, CRC, an official court reporter and captioner from Chester, S.C., provides step-by-step instructions for the four most popular platforms (Adobe Connect, iCap, Webex, and Zoom with API) for captioners. It received positive reviews from attendees, including Karla M. Martin, RPR, a captioner from Phoenix, Ariz.
“What I specifically liked about this session is that Kathy incorporated screenshots from the various programs so we could see what it was going to look like when we would be online working in the various platforms,” she said. “She gave step-by-step instructions, answered our questions, and gave some best practice/troubleshooting advice for screen layout issues.”
Another popular session was A Deep Dive into Windows 10 and Popular Microsoft Technology with Kenya Herring.
“With more than 200 people attending the Deep Dive into Windows session, Kenya did an awesome job,” said Cynthia Bruce Andrews, M.S.Ed., NCRA Senior Director, Education and Certification. “She was able to share the information in a simple way. The comments by participants indicate that more sessions like this are wanted and needed, and I am working with Kenya to conduct more sessions within the next two months.”
Other sessions available for purchase from NCRA’s 2021 Spring Fling include:
- Retirement Planning for Business Owners with Paula Pass, CFP, ChFEBC, founder and CEO of Arkagos Advisors + Asset Management, Inc., Alexandria, Va.
- State of the Union: What’s Going on in State Legislatures and in Washington, D.C., since the Pandemic and How You Can Make a Difference with Jocelynn A. Moore, NCRA Director of State Government Relations, and Dave Wenhold, CAE, NCRA Executive Director
- Keeping Students Engaged in Today’s Online Learning Environment with Allison Hall, RDR, CRR, an official court reporter from Tulsa, Okla.
To purchase one or more of the Spring Fling sessions or to see what other offerings NCRA has in its library, visit the NCRA Continuing Education page or email continuinged@ncra.org for more information.
