Recap of COCRA’s 2009 Fall Conference

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COCRA celebrated its ten-year anniversary this year in conjunction with COCRA’S Fall Conference, which took place at San Francisco State University’s downtown campus in the chic Westfield San Francisco Centre on Saturday, September 12, 2009.

The day commenced with the CCRR realtime test being given to those steadfast reporters courageous enough to battle their jittery nerves at 8:00 on a Saturday morning. We’re Officials! We’re not used to our fingers flying on the machine until 9:00! Good luck from COCRA to those waiting to hear the results!

Candis Bradshaw of Pennsylvania next presented her Technogadgets and Sites Galore seminar. Her bubbly enthusiasm and savvy technosense were contagious. Official Reporters pride themselves staying up with latest and greatest technology, and Candis didn’t disappoint introducing us, among other things, to “Dropbox” and sharing her knowledge of the best laptop specs.

Before lunch, Kitty Costello, M.A. MFT taught us to manage our stress with breathing and relaxation practices. Her demeanor was very, very calm, and her pitch was soothing and melodious. Can you imagine if every judge, litigant and witness conducted themselves in such a fashion? Our jobs would be so much easier. As reporters, we tend to take on the stress of the courtroom. Did you know that when a stressful trigger occurs, you have six to ten seconds to redirect your nervous system from the fight or flight response? Kitty gave us the tools, in effect, to save ourselves from ourselves! We left for lunch with our shoulders down and our “Zen” on!

After lunch we got down to business with our Sacramento Watch. Tami Brown, Lyn Yard and Suzanne Lauzon filled us in on the latest goings-on around the State regarding labor issues, court closures and the harrowing budget details.

Stacy Gaskill (San Mateo), Debbie Neville (San Francisco), Adrienne Peretti (Alameda), Retta Parsons (Santa Cruz), and Suzanne McKennon (Fresno) were our Town Hall panelists. You could hear a pin drop as each Reporter gave us the details of the happenings in their respective counties.

The last seminar of the day is always the hardest for our presenters. The audience begins to look cross-eyed and delirious by this time of the day. Thank goodness for Rhonda Aguilina’s briefs workshop!! You’re probably saying briefs? Not too exciting, but Rhonda was hilarious and totally entertained us with her flippant, off-the-cuff humor. It’s official! COCRA’s Rhonda Aguilina is DRA’s Mary Bardellini. We loved it. What a great way to end the day!

Please check our website for COCRA’s next event, which will be in April of 2010. Thank you to Gordon Aiavao and the Conference Committee for all the hard work!

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