Project Steno Can Help Round Out Your Seminar Agenda

Our board members and advisory council are experienced seminar presenters.  Except where a named presenter is indicated, any member of our team is available to present.  We’ll give one or both Project Steno Seminars, plus one additional seminar of your choosing.
Fee:  Travel/lodging expenses, hotel, vendor tabletop, and packet insert if applicable.  Send request to Info@ProjectSteno.org.

PROJECT STENO CAN MANAGE THE ENTIRE SCHEDULE AND REGISTRATIONS!
Would you like someone to plan and deliver your entire seminar agenda?  Handle the registrations and payment? Apply for the CEUs?
Project Steno can do it all for you. We’re here to support you and your volunteers.
We’ll give both Project Steno seminars plus as many additional seminars as you need to fill your agenda.
We’ll process registrations, payment, CEUs, and bring some relief to your planning committee.
Fee: Travel/lodging expenses, vendor tabletop, packet insert, plus a donation to Project Steno (amount to be determined).

Seminar offerings and speaker bios here:  Project Steno Seminar Offerings – with bios – June 2021

PROJECT STENO SEMINARS:    

Rebuilding Our Profession – Together (1.5 hours)
In this motivational and upbeat presentation, we will discuss the need for all of us to work – together – to bring young people into court reporting and captioning and how we’re going to do it. Reaching high school students before they head off to college is the key. Project Steno has delivered successful high school programs in Texas and Massachusetts. In this session, you’ll learn how we did it and discover just how easy it is to bring a steno program to your local high school. We’ll share the steps you can take for this important grassroots initiative so that each of us can lend a hand to help rebuild our profession. We will start by bringing awareness to high schools of “The best profession you never heard of.”

Bringing Steno to YOUR High School (1.0 hours)
(This session builds upon the above presentation and should appear in the schedule after the above session.)
This workshop-style session will bring you together with other members of your association, courthouse, or agency.  Together, you will develop a how-to plan to bring awareness of the court reporting and captioning professions to a high school near you. Learn how to get that first meeting. Project Steno has all the tools you’ll need – intro letters, handouts, and a powerful recruiting video. If you set up the presentation, Project Steno will be there to present it to the administrators. Together we can convince them that their high school should start a court reporting program.

ADDITIONAL SEMINARS:

Watson Today, Quantum Computing Tomorrow.  Can Stenotype Reporting Survive the Advance in Computing? (1.5 or 2.0 hours)
This session addresses the advances in computing power and the threat it presents to stenotype reporters. From the advent of the tape recorder, stenographic reporters have constantly faced threats from different advancing technologies. IBM’s Watson is today focusing on Speech to Text. With billions of research dollars pouring in, quantum computing is the next major advance being worked on by Microsoft, Google, IBM, and others. In the face of these threats, will there still be a place for us? You’ll get the facts you need to answer this critical question.
(Presenters: Jim DeCrescenzo or Nancy Varallo. This session must be given first in order before the Project Steno seminars.)

Trends in Court Reporting (1.0 hours)
Maybe Scarlett O’Hara had a point when she said, “Oh, I just can’t think about that today. I’ll just go crazy if I do. I’ll think about it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.” But don’t bet on it. There’s always change afoot in our marketplace and we need to keep pace today! How better to stay abreast of market trends than mingling with Project Steno’s leaders as they discuss with us the changes/trends impacting today’s court reporting professionals.

Goal Setting and Accountability: Developing a Personal Strategic Plan (1.0 hours)
Businesses and individuals all make annual or “New Year” resolutions. How did you do with last year’s goals? Do you have great ideas to move your career or business forward but need a plan to accomplish your goals? How will you make your ideas a reality? Learn techniques to plan strategically for your personal future. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Be ready today.

Stenographer Operations at Guantanamo Bay (1.0 hours)
Hear about the detailed process required to assemble and qualify the elite team of court reporters providing stenographic services at GTMO – testing, obtaining top-secret clearances, selecting technology and equipment, arranging travel and housing, and wading through seemingly endless government documentation. The StenOps team is currently at work reporting the hearings of those accused of the terrorism of 9/11 that changed the world.
(Presenters: Nancy Varallo, Bill Weber, or Jim DeCrescenzo)

The Business of Customer Service (1.0 hours)
When you’re down in the weeds, taking down rapid-fire Q & A, editing transcripts, or scheduling your book, it’s easy to forget we are first and foremost in the business of customer service. This session puts into a service perspective the overlapping relationships that converge in courts, in agencies, with employees and customers. Who’s the client in your relationship(s)? How do you satisfy everyone’s expectations? Gain insight into doing just that.

“I’m Glad You Asked!” (1.0 hours)
What did you say the last time you were asked, “Why don’t they just use tape recorders?” or “Won’t you be replaced soon?” This timely seminar will help you craft the perfect rejoinder. Project Steno leaders will join your state leaders, forming an experienced panel that have experience with these questions – and other thorny ones as well. We’ll bring the questions we’ve heard, you bring yours, and together we’ll fashion some spot-on answers. We’ll keep it light, we’ll keep it witty (we hope). Next time you’re asked, you’ll be able to smile and confidently reply, “I’m glad you asked!”

Business 101 – It’s Always Good to Have a Plan! (1.0 or 1.5 hours)
Freelancers, officials, captioners, and firm owners can all benefit from thinking about the business side of our profession. Many of us polish up our writing skills or buff up our figures on a daily basis. What business skills will help make you shine in your job? Promoting yourself through proven sales techniques, establishing your brand, marketing, client retention, implementing an equipment replacement timeline, succession planning? There’s something in this session for everyone. Let’s spend time sharpening our business acumen.

FOR STUDENTS AND NEW PROFESSIONALS:

The Business of Court Reporting (1.0 hours)
(This session is designed for new professionals and/or high-speed students.)
Attention new professionals and students! We’ll explore what it takes to be in business for yourself. Do you have an EIN? Are you organized for bookkeeping, accounting, and taxes? Do you have insurance? Are you complying with identity fraud protection laws? Bring your questions!