President’s Update – March 2022

Happy spring, my fellow Florida Collaborative professionals. I hope that you and your families have been, and continue to be, healthy.

I am overjoyed to see how many of our colleagues are spending time and energy to create programs for our members to ensure that FACP and the Collaborative Process thrive in Florida. Not to sound like an old man, I am excited to see that many of those who are now devoting time and energy to FACP and the Collaborative Process are “younger” professionals, which bodes well for Florida’s families and the Collaborative Process in Florida.

FACP has created a brochure that you will be able to soon download and personalize to distribute to your clients, potential clients and anyone else you choose. The brochure is very informative and will be a free benefit to all of our members. The brochure will soon be available for you to download from the FACP website. You will then be able to personalize the brochure by adding your name, physical and website addresses, and your e-mail address. Please look for an e-mail from us advising you when and how you can access the brochure.

Speaking of the FACP website, I am also pleased to inform you that we now have a complete calendar for everything Collaborative. You can find it by going to our website at www.collaborativepracticeflorida.com. From there, log into your account and then go to Calendar/Trainings and Events. The calendar is listed under FACP Calendar. I urge all Practice Group Presidents to add your regular meetings, trainings and special events to the calendar. This will be a very helpful tool for all of us and I urge you to visit the calendar regularly.

We are beginning the process of electing new Board members. I hope you will submit a Nomination Form that can be for you or someone else you feel would be an excellent Board member. Please go to https://www.collaborativepracticeflorida.com/facp-board-and-committees to access the Board Member Expectations and Nomination Form. The deadline for submitting a Nomination Form is April 25, 2022. Do not be shy about applying. There are no requirements for an applicant other than being a member of FACP. I hope to see a diverse group of people apply to the Board.

FACP will be one of the most active participants in the United Nations’ World Creativity and Innovation Week, which will be April 15-21. Here is the link to the WCIW website: https://wciw.org. A number of our Practice Groups will be holding events during that week, and it is not too late for you to hold an event in your community. If you have any questions or suggestions of how we can celebrate Collaboration, please communicate with Sheila Furr and Karen Sachs, who have worked very hard to chair this committee. I am honored to have been asked to participate in an official UN panel discussion on collaboration that will take place on April 21st at noon. It will include a government official from the Basque region of Spain and Professor Jim Freidman, who chairs the UN WCIW efforts. The link to the worldwide broadcast will be sent to all of you when it becomes available to us.

Our Conference Committee has been working for many months to plan our 10th annual Conference, which will be held June 9-11, 2022 at the J.W. Marriott Tampa Water Street. Our keynote speaker will be the innovative and great Collaborative attorney, Ron Ousky, who was one of Stu Webb’s colleagues who originally created the Collaborative Process in 1990. You can find information about the conference at https://www.collaborativepracticeflorida.com/facps-10th-annual-conference, where you can also register for the conference. We will learn together, and it will be a great opportunity for you to meet, socialize and share ideas with dedicated Collaborative professionals from throughout Florida. Hundreds of Collaborative professionals will be there. You won’t want to miss it!

Finally, I hope that you will join me and many other FACP members at the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals’ annual Forum October 27-30, 2022 at the Gaylord Palms Conference Center in Kissimmee. The Forum is a unique chance to network with Collaborative professionals from around the world and to learn about Collaborative Process from the best trainers in the world. This will be the first time that the IACP has ever held its Forum in Florida. I look forward to seeing all of my Florida Collaborative friends there.

As I have previously told you, feel free to contact me with your ideas, suggestions, questions or just to talk. You can call me at 305-448-1555 or e-mail me at rmerlin@merlinlaw.com to discuss anything on your mind – Collaborative or otherwise.

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