This is an open goodbye letter to the members of HMPA, the association I have grown to love so much! By the time you are reading this my term will have ended and you will have welcomed your new President, Valerie Rucker. Her term as President officially begins on April 1, 2008, and I am absolutely confident I could not leave the business of the association in more capable hands than hers.  Valerie, like me, is a long time veteran of HMPA and has held various board positions such  as CLE Luncheons Chair, Treasurer, Community Services Chair, Ethics Chair, Education Liaison Co-Chair and was awarded Paralegal of the Year in 2003! She has dedicated many years to this profession and to HMPA and we all owe her a gratitude of thanks.  I will still be on the scene as an interim Chair for the time being, and I do look forward to visiting with you at the upcoming CLE Luncheons and Seminars. 

 The Association has had a phenomenal year. Not only has the membership base grown a great deal, we have been able to contribute more scholarships than any time in the last decade!  In fact, we gave away three times as many as the last term alone. We held many successful ethics seminars (free of charge, including lunch) and community service outreach initiatives. The Career Symposium at South Texas College of Law was one of the most well-attended events of the year. Our staple event, the CLE Monthly Luncheon series, continued to break previous attendance records at The Houston Club each month, due in large part to a wonderful selection of speakers. The HMPA Job Bank also had another stellar year. We had more job postings from private employers than even last year, which to date had been our most successful for postings. The introduction of the weekly EBlast has proven to be an effective communication tool for our members, not only for upcoming HMPA events, but also for other related legal events and area news. Our Full Day CLE Seminar, “Successful Trial Strategies!” held in February at The Crowne Plaza Hotel, was attended by over 85 local paralegals. It was a fantastic day of substantive topics, great speakers, a free masseuse, fabulous eats and treats and over 20 door prize give-a-ways!

 The list of HMPA accomplishments could go on and on, but I would be remiss if I did not bring up this year’s GALA, “MYSTIQUE” at Rouge in October. The masquerade ball theme, with magic show and caricature artists was extremely well received! We’ve had so many compliments from the members who attended (over 100 of them) that we are going to be really hard pressed this next term to come up with an equally exciting theme and venue.

Let me say once again, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time as President this past term.  We assembled a very talented, dedicated Board of Directors this past term to whom I am very grateful.  The business of the Association is constant. Their dedication is to be commended – service on the Board is completely a volunteer effort, and appreciation is not shown as much as it should be. That being said, knowing you have given of yourself to help others improve their livelihood for themselves and their families, in my opinion, is a great reward. Next time the opportunity presents itself, please be sure to give them a note of thanks for all they have done for our Association.

 Again, thank you so much for the honor of serving HMPA this past term!  I wish you a happy, healthy, wonderful year to come!

 Mel Glina, Immediate Past President