Austin ALA Chapter Holiday Party at Houlihan’s

December 17, 2007 
Photos of our event

The Austin-Central Texas Chapter held their Annual Holiday Party on Monday, December 17, 2007 at the Stephen F’s Bar located in the Intercontinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel. The party was well-attended and a good time was had by all.

The party started out with delicious appetizers provided by the hotel. We then held a “White Elephant” gift exchange. This gift exchange replaced the CD Exchange that we have done the past few years. The limit on gifts was $10, but with our group of creative members, it was fun and interesting. Some of the most coveted gifts included: a stuffed, animated dog who flopped his ears and danced to Christmas music; a pair of fuzzy socks that changed hands a couple of times but eventually ended up with Edna Diaz; a pair of clip-on earrings that, while modeled by Bill, ended up with Chrissie Eastin who did some “outside trading” with Pamela Smith for a framed picture of Brett Favre’s butt; a pair of Barack Obama playing cards and a “smoking donkey” that dispensed cigarettes. But when all the dust settled, there didn’t seem to be too many hard feelings

To cap off the party, the Membership Committee gave out Membership Awards to recognize those members who have gone above and beyond to support the goals of the Chapter and its committees over the past year. They presented awards for Outstanding New Member and Outstanding Member at Large. At the January Chapter luncheon they will present the Outstanding Committee Member Award since the recipient of that award was not in attendance

The Outstanding New Member Award went to Laura Angle from The State Bar of Texas. Laura joined the Chapter in early 2007 and right from the start she has played an active role in the Chapter. She joined the Membership Committee right from the start and recently volunteered to serve on the 2008 Region 4/6 Conference Committee. She attended the Region 4 Conference in Oklahoma City where she proudly wore her “Keep Austin Weird” t-shirt and volunteered time in the hospitality booth. She was instrumental in obtaining the Platinum sponsorship for our 2007 Legal Expo as well as a Bronze sponsorship for the 2007 Diversity Symposium (both purchased by her employer, The State Bar of Texas). Laura regularly attends Chapter meetings and participates in Chapter events. She is warm and welcoming and a great new member for our chapter. Laura – We TOOT YOUR HORN.

The Outstanding Member at Large Award was presented to Joshua De Koning from Lloyd Gosselink Blevins Rochelle & Townsend PC. Since Joining ALA, Joshua has regularly attended Chapter meetings, conferences and special programs. He encouraged membership in and advertised the chapter by adding a new member, his firm’s Human Resources Manager, Karen Sue Doughty. He presented information on performing a successful telephone system integration and will be speaking at an upcoming CLM Study Group session on Technology and Automation Management. He is friendly and is always available to help fellow Chapter Members who need advice on topics relating to IT and firm policies and procedures. He actively participates in discussions on the list serve. He even stepped up to the plate when a fellow administrator needed binder tabs for an ASAP filing! Josh – We TOOT YOUR HORN.