Summer is finally here, and you know what that means! Yes, working on pages while on vacation (kidding, of course)! I hope you’ve all had a great summer so far. While the members of the VCRA Board have all been enjoying summertime with their friends and family, we have also been working for the benefit of all reporters in the Commonwealth.
I have a bit of personal joy to share before we get down to business. On the morning of July 25th, my wife and I welcomed our first child, Isaac. There are a couple photos of our handsome boy later in the newsletter. It has been a simultaneously joyous and hectic time for me, getting the hang of fatherhood while also working and fulfilling my duties as President of VCRA. There are far too many friends in the court reporting field to thank individually, but truly thank you all for the encouragement and support and for coming together to celebrate the arrival of Isaac!
One of the goals I set out for my presidency was expanding our numbers. As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers, so having a robust membership is key to VCRA’s continued success. Reviewing our current member rolls shows an obvious area for improvement: voice writers. VCRA loves our voice writers, but we have struggled to convince them to join us. To that end, the VCRA Board voted in June to create the Voice Writers Committee. This committee, headed by Linda Kia and Monica Anderson, our two voice writer board members, will help bring a voice for voice writers within the VCRA (pardon the pun). The Voice Writers Committee will help advocate for voice writers in the Commonwealth of Virginia and also encourage them to join our ranks.
Another significant step occurred in June when Board Member Kristina Tan attended the NASA (National Alliance of State Associations) Leadership Training during the 2022 NVRA Convention in Memphis, Tennessee. For those unfamiliar, NVRA’s NASA is similar to NCRA’s NCSA, giving the states a voice within the national association. You can read more about Kristina’s experience in her article in this newsletter; it sounds like it was a wonderfully welcoming event and hopefully the start of VCRA playing a bigger role in the NVRA. Kristina, along with Monica Anderson, will serve as NASA rep for the next year.
NCRA’s annual convention was held recently in Orlando, Florida, and Virginia was well-represented. Tasiana Basdekis, who was recently appointed as one of Virginia’s two NCSA representatives, attended the NCSA meeting, and you can learn more about her experience in her article in this newsletter. Our own Carol Naughton, former President of the VCRA, has served as NCSA Chair for the past year and will serve for one more year. NCSA has done amazing work this year – most notably convincing NCRA to modify their test retention policy. Tasiana and Vice President Cynthia Bragg will serve as Virginia’s NCSA reps for the next year.
As has already been announced on Facebook and via email, VCRA Board Member Michele Eddy’s five-week challenge begins August 15th. She is challenging us all to exercise our body and mind. Find more details in her article below. We all know how hard it is to focus on our health in our unpredictable and demanding profession, so hopefully this challenge can bring some balance to our lives. I will be participating because, with a newborn, I need all the balance I can get!
VCRA continues to be your advocate in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I thank you so much for your continued support. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your summer. Let’s hope for modest temperatures and low humidity… and some free time to enjoy it!
Christopher D. Reho, RPR, CCR
VCRA President
