Progress Report
By Joan Stone

I am happy to report that SCBA is off to a flying start in 2004. Membership statements are pouring in, and we have received a large number of responses to the membership survey. I expect to be able to share some of the results of the survey and our plans to address the issues that emerge in my next column.

In this year of the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, SCBA is joining with many other community organizations in two major events.

On April 22, there will be a second world premiere of the movie Separate But Equal starring Burt Lancaster and Sidney Poitier. The movie will be screened as an educational event for local students, along with their parents and teachers. Many community leaders, including SCBA members, are being asked to participate. The movie's producer, George Stevens, has agreed to attend.

On May 17, Sacramento will host a statewide symposium and lunch organized under the auspices of the judicial council. SCBA and the State Bar will host an evening reception after the event. Look out for more information on both events.

This brings me to one of my major goals for this year - better communication with members. In this technological age, we rely increasingly on the Internet and email to communicate with each other. This makes financial sense since it costs SCBA virtually nothing to send a "blast" email instead of the thousands of dollars of membership dues that it takes to send out a newsletter or mailer.

Since this wonderful publication is now published only every two months, it is frequently no longer a useful tool to inform members of upcoming events or breaking news. Hence we resort to emails, faxes and our website.

I know some of you do not like receiving mass emails because you have let me know that. I also know that many of you probably delete the emails without reading them with the result that you do not learn about our upcoming events. This is a catch-22 situation for us because then we receive complaints about members having missed events.

We try to keep to a minimum the number of emails we send. At the moment the new website, www.sacbar.org, is a work in progress. Ultimately we will be able to send specific information to target audiences and use the website for all sorts of membership activities and benefits. Please bear with us through the transition. In the meantime, please be aware that the emails are sent as a way to keep you informed. Visit the website when you have time. Stay in touch!