It was one year ago, right before the country hunkered down and people retreated to their homes, that I wrote about the many wonderful features of membership, emphasizing the value of the interpersonal connections we make at our in-person meetings. When we suddenly and rather dramatically shifted to a virtual world, I worried that those benefits could be lost. Although some were surely (if only temporarily) diminished, others were strengthened. And as we start to emerge from the pandemic, I feel confident that we are poised to deliver even greater value to our members in the years to come.
Social Media
The shift to virtual forced us to step up our social media game and find other ways to stay connected. We’ve begun marketing our activities through LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, and using these sites to advertise events and job opportunities and to extend our reach even further. Likewise, people are getting more adept at posting and sharing information on our community Connect page. If you haven’t done so already, we encourage you to engage with us on any of these platforms.
Publications
Another way to get noticed, build your resume, and engage with your peers is by submitting articles to Business Law Today, The Business Lawyer, and this newsletter—outlets with varying content requirements and substantial audiences. And thanks to the unwavering commitment and contributions of dozens of our members, we finally, and quite proudly, published the definitive treatise on consumer finance law just last month. Every new and veteran CFS lawyer should have their very own copy of this detailed resource, which you can purchase by clicking here. We’re also planning on converting some of the content to podcasts—stay tuned!
Distance Learning
With the help of the Business Law Section, we converted all of our meetings to a “distance” format this past year. Our subcommittee leaders organized some of the most popular CLE programs at the 2020 spring and annual meetings and we hosted a one-day virtual standalone meeting in January with hundreds in attendance. In addition, we put on periodic webinars discussing cutting edge developments in payment processing, mortgage servicing, privacy, debt collection, and more. The success of this experience has created new opportunities to develop hybrid programming enabling even greater participation and attendance by members around the world. Although the upcoming spring meeting will be held virtually April 19-23rd (and, once again, is free to members), the annual meeting will be held virtually and in person in beautiful San Diego September 9-11th. And note that our 2022 winter meeting will be held in New Orleans. As always, if you have an idea for a program or webinar, please contact us.
Leadership
Of course, none of this would be possible without the dedicated volunteers who serve in our leadership. The CFSC is comprised of more than 20 substantive and administrative subcommittees responsible for developing and promoting activities for nearly 1500 members. We have a rotating roster with YLL and vice-chair positions opening each year. If you’re interested in getting involved in a leadership capacity, and don’t know where to begin, start by getting involved in other ways, like writing articles, proposing or hosting webinars, suggesting topics and speakers, attending our meetings, participating in our pro bono activities, and interacting with your peers on social media. Nothing demonstrates leadership better than effort, enthusiasm, and engagement.