President’s Letter – January 2020

Made your New Year’s resolutions yet? Or are they already broken?  My yoga teacher says this is the year of the “F” word – focus, family, feeling, fortitude, (good) fortune.
The new film The Marriage Story is getting lots of buzz.  If only she had stayed in mediation I thought as I watched the horrors wrought by Hollywood divorce lawyers.  
Did you know that January is Divorce Month?  
Your FACP Board and committees are working hard to spread the word of Collaborative.  
Access to Collaborative programs are growing around the state.  Providing Collaborative process in flat fee, “low bono” and “pro bono” programs creates positive benefits for families, for the growth of consumer awareness and for professional learning opportunities.  The Access Committee is doing great work sharing knowledge of how to build the best programs around the state. Join them: contact Pam Masters at Pam@MastersCDC.com. 
Thanks to everyone who has taken a moment to input data about your Collaborative cases on our Data Survey. (Eric—put in the link and picture)  Our revised survey is quick and painless and gives us so much valuable information!  We had 78 responses from August to now. We’re setting a new goal for 2020 – 200 cases!  It’s especially important to report our Pro Bono and Low Bono cases. We need to show the world that Collaborative Process is for all families.
Buzz Drivers:
Joryn Jenkins, member of Next Generation Divorce, Tampa Bay, appeared on ABC7 TV News, Sarasota to talk about January as divorce month and Collaborative divorce: https://www.mysuncoast.com/video/2020/01/08/abc-news-roundtable-discussion-january/
I asked Joryn how she got the gig, and she told me she sends out a press release weekly to local media outlets and gets invited to appear.  Joryn says that we have to send out press releases and brag about ourselves as though someone who loves us is telling how wonderful we are. Each of us can do this in our local communities. Thank you Joryn!
Save the Date:
Join us in Orlando May 21 – 23, 2020 (Memorial Day Weekend) for the 8th Annual Conference.  We have

Look for FACP’s table at Cert Review January. Volunteer to help staff the table.  Contact our Jennifer Frank at: Jennifer@FrankFamilyLaw.com
Have a cookbook recipe you want to share with the FACP?