Hot off the Presses - What's new in mediation!

Our first Inns of Mediation is scheduled for September 18, 2023 at Hoyt Sherman Place at 5pm. Put this event on your calendars because you don't want to miss out! The first portion of the programming will include our Annual Business Meeting and the second portion will be a great panel featuring Elizabeth Kellner-Nelson talking about Hot Trends in Mediation. Dinners are included with your paid annual membership, so join today!

What's new at the Inns of Mediation you may ask? Let us count the ways...

1. New organizational focus and structure. We want to add value to our membership, and that is by offering practical information and a variety of ways to learn. Our mission is to advance the use of mediation, and alternate dispute resolution, within the legal professional and beyond. We welcome lawyers, mediators, non-lawyer mediators, community, educational and civic mediators, students and students of mediation. Whether you practice in one style or type of mediation over another, whether you are a mediator, facilitator, advocate or participant... you are welcome. True to the foundation of mediation, we create our form of learning and we want to foster creative, and broad, utilization of the practice of mediation to resolve disputes.

2. We have a restructured leadership and board. We have streamlined our officer roles and added project-focused chairs. Don't have time to be a board member or don't know if you want to commit to the responsibility, but you want to be involved or have a great skill set? If you have experience in communications (publicity) or you like to build networks or plan educational programs or connect with sponsors, or want to be a student liaison to the board... we've got something for you. From planning webinars to podcasts or social media, or building a funding pipeline or sponsorships to building your network by connecting with other mediation advocates, to joining the board to help steer the Inn intp new areas, we have room for you at our table, and would love to hear from you.

3. We have streamlined our membership fee structure. Previously, we modelled our membership structure to mimic the Inns of Court, and that works. However, we have leveled the playing field since we are all on the same side in mediation. Annual membership is now only $150 for the academic year (September to September). This is a savings to many of our membership, but we are not discounting our worth. No siree! We actually think this will bring in more members from various sectors and we can provide more programs. The annual membership includes the 4 dinner meetings, each of which will have at least 1 hour of CLE credit and will include an ethics credit in the spring dinner. Our first meeting is next month, so get your membership now! Members receive a discount code which applies to any event as part of your membership. In addition to the dinners, we plan to hold a variety of events. You will see us experiment with webinars, coffee breaks and after work networking. There will also be opportunities to feature members on-line, as speakers, or through sponsorships.

4. We are expanding our social media presence. Check us out on LinkedIn and follow us on Facebook. We are looking for someone who has an interest in broadening our horizons, but we are making an effort to get outside our own comfort zones.

5. We are expanding our membership and fundraising goals. We will be offering sponsorships for our events and dinners. Want to put your name or practice out there, we can help with that. That said, we would like to give a very heartfelt thank you to the Greenberg Law Firm in Des Moines for sponsoring our September dinner meeting. Elena Greenberg is a long-time Inns member, and is an attorney, Certified Life Coach, Mediator, and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (phew!). Elena has practiced in private law firms, non profit organizations, and for the state as an Assistant Attorney General in the Child Support Recovery Unit. Elena started Greenberg Law in 2011. Greenberg Law will be featured in our event promotional material and social media. We have sponsorship opportunities available for other dinners and events.

6. Finally, we have been coming up with relevant and interesting educational ideas that include traditional mediation topics and we look to push the envelop a bit by connecting with our schools, our institutions, and agencies on mediation. We want to talk about building skills, tackling challenges in mediation, impediments to mediating, and how it can be used outside of the legal landscape. Watch for features and speakers from non-traditional places where mediation and its techniques thrive.

We sincerely hope you are as excited about this coming year as we are. Please check us out, and please contact us with ideas, interest in more participation, or ideas for programs. We look forward to seeing you soon!