Hello, VALL members! I hope you all had a wonderful summer. My favorite time of the year is finally arriving, and there is much going on with VALL that I’d like to share with you.
VALL at AALL
There was a good contingent of VALL members who attended the AALL Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas last July. We held our summer lunch meeting at Paesano’s on the Riverwalk.
Also during the conference, we had a VALL chapter table on display at the Exhibit Hall.
Thanks to our Public Relations Committee for having created special VALL 30th Anniversary buttons made to give to the exhibit hall visitors.
Overall it was a great showing of VALL at AALL this year (Thanks to Stephanie Miller for the pictures)!
Memory Book
There is still time to share your memories with the 30th Anniversary Committee for inclusion in the VALL Memory Book. As an incentive, all members who submit a memory for the book will automatically be placed in a drawing to win a $25 gift card from Barnes & Noble. You can send your VALL memories to Jane Harrison (jharrison@hunton.com) or Sally Wambold (swambold@richmond.edu).
Strategic Planning & Communications Committees
There are two projects of note that are currently ongoing. The first is the work of VALL’s Strategic Planning Committee. A mission statement has already been implemented, with a proposed strategic plan to be discussed by the Executive Board. There will be more news to follow. Thanks to the planning committee, under Chair Andrew Winston, for its hard work in creating an essential strategic plan for VALL.
The other project involves the Communications Committee, which is currently working to strengthen its communication to its members. As you may have already seen, the association blog, VALLTalk, has already gone through some revisions, with more to come. The plan is to improve the blog and possibly combine it with the VALL Wiki to create one integrated association blog and website. Communications Committee Chair Evelyn Campbell has been working hard with a focus group to identify those areas of communication improvement. The committee would appreciate any feedback by VALL members on the changes.
Fall/Annual Meeting
I am very excited about our upcoming Fall Meeting, to be held at Hunton and Williams LLP in Richmond on Friday, October 10. We will be hosting a special visitor and speaker: AALL Vice President Keith Ann Stiverson. She will talk about the work that the AALL Executive Board has been doing this year.
In addition to Keith Ann, we will have two interesting talks. Sherwin Siy, from Public Knowledge (https://www.publicknowledge.org/), will discuss net neutrality and the implications for first sale and copy ownership in the digital environment. Sally Wiant, from the Washington & Lee University School of Law, will speak about 3D printing and the intellectual property issues that arise from this new medium.
Finally, we have two special events planned right after the meeting. First, interested attendees will tour the Virginia State Law Library (which is where I happen to work), located in the Supreme Court of Virginia, and just a short walk from Hunton & Williams. Afterward, we will have a reception for Keith Ann at The Tobacco Company, also located near Hunton & Williams. The reception will be a great opportunity to meet Keith Ann in a more social setting. If you plan to attend the meeting, I do hope that you will be able to stay after and join us at one or both of these special events.
The meeting program and registration form can be found here, where you can print and fill out the form. Please note that you have until Friday, October 3 to register. You can send your completed registration form (or questions about the meeting) to Programs Committee Chair Stephanie Miller (millersc@wlu.edu).
Well, I think that is all for now. I hope to see you all at our Annual Meeting next month. Have a great fall season!
