NCRA has announced the nominees for the first JCR Awards. The stories of the finalists will be published as featured articles in the March JCR.
The awards were conceived as a way to recognize and highlight the exemplary professionalism, community service, and business practices of NCRA members. Nominations overall were reviewed for components that included compelling stories that bring to life innovative, successful business strategies used to help overcome obstacles that have hindered professional growth. Awards will be given in the following categories: marketing and consumer service; leadership and team-building; use of technology; community outreach; and service in a nonlegal setting. Both individuals and organizations could be nominated. In addition to nominations for categories listed above, a firm or an individual who has displayed excellence in more than one category will be honored with an overall “best of the year” award.
Nominees for the first JCR Awards are as follows:
Marketing and customer service:
- Christine Phipps, RPR, North Palm Beach, Fla.
- Des Moines Area Community College, Des Moines, Iowa
- Judy Stevens, RPR, CMRS, CPE, Lakewood, Colo.
- Midwest Litigation, St. Louis, Mo.
This category covers a new marketing, customer retention, or customer service program that shows exemplary professionalism and creates a positive image for the profession. Examples for this category would include a highly visible publicity program that promotes a court reporting, captioning, or videography company, or customer feedback on completion of a long-standing project.
Leadership and team-building:
- Christine Phipps, RPR, North Palm Beach, Fla.
- Des Moines Area Community College, Des Moines, Iowa
- Judy Stevens, RPR, CMRS, CPE, Lakewood, Colo.
- Kelly Moranz, CRI, Cleveland, Ohio
- The Varallo Group, Worcester, Mass.
This category focuses on those who have created programs that encouraged others to build skills or work together to complete a project. Providing a TRAIN program for employees to better place a firm as a realtime leader or a court reporting program that aids students in creating connections within a broader court reporting and captioning community would be two examples.
Use of technology:
- Christine Phipps, RPR, North Palm Beach, Fla.
- Cuyahoga Community College Captioning and Court Reporting Program, Parma, Ohio
- Des Moines Area Community College, Des Moines, Iowa
- The Varallo Group, Worcester, Mass.
This category highlights innovative thinking by members who use technology to better market their skills or were able to effectively and efficiently use technology to create a better product for a client. For instance, an effective public relations plan using social media or the effective use of technology in the courthouse would fit this category.
Community outreach:
- Christine Phipps, RPR, North Palm Beach, Fla.
- Des Moines Area Community College, Des Moines, Iowa
- Midwest Litigation, St. Louis, Mo.
- Paradigm Reporting & Captioning, Minneapolis, Minn.
This category offers members the chance to show their philanthropic work. Two examples include organizing a Veterans History Project Day or raising money for a charity.
Service in a nonlegal setting:
- Caption First, Monument, Colo.
- Des Moines Area Community College, Des Moines, Iowa
- White Coat Captioning, Saint Albans, Vt.
- The Varallo Group, Worcester, Mass.
This category offers NCRA members the chance to offer best practices for a nonlegal setting, including remote CART, captioning, or another new initiative.
NCRA wishes each of the nominees the best of luck and thanks them or their nominators for their participation in the first JCR Awards.
Read more about the JCR Awards.
