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40 agencies supporting geographic listings of the JCR Court Reporter Listings
Here are the names of the reporting firms that in the past have supported my efforts to have the JCR Court Reporter Listings listed in geographic order.
Here's the list in absolutely no order.
1. Professional Reporting Services, Walnut Creek, California
2. Kathleen Hunter of Dokich Court Reporters, Irvine, California
3. Cindy Vail of Vail, Christians & Associates, San Diego, California
4. Elaine Cropper of Cropper & Associates, Limited, Phoenix, Arizona
5. Larry Wexler of Alliance Reporting Service, Mineola, New York
6. David B. Miller, Esquire Deposition Services, Atlanta, Georgia
7. Elisa Dreier of Elisa Dreier Reporting Corporation, New York, New York
8. Warren Lee of Richard Lee Reporting of Tampa, Florida
9. Wallie Womack of Womack Reporting Service of Houston, Texas
10. Jonnell Agnew of Jonnell Agnew & Associates of Pasadena, California
11. Barbara Rogers of Spectrum Reporting, Columbus, Ohio
12. Linda Sturm, principal/owner of Professional Reporters, Inc.
13. Ken Owen of Austin, Texas
14. Donald Holcombe of Holcombe Reporting & Video Service
15. Jay Deitz of Jay Deitz & Associates, LTD.
16. Art Miller, President of Art Miller & Associates, Inc.
17. Patricia Young of County Reporters
18. John D-Andrea of M & M Reporting, Inc. of Illinois
19. Ellen Grauer of Ellen Grauer Court Reporting Company
20. Karen Klein of Ludwig Klein Reporters & Video, Inc. of California
21. Toby Feldman of Toby Feldman, Incorporated, New York City
22. Joseph A. DeSouza of DeSouza & Associates, San Mateo, California
23. Susan T. DeMichelle of Fairfield, California
24. Melania Streski of Srtreski Reporting & Video, Wheeling, West Virginia
25. Jill Stephenson of Clark Reporting in Berkeley, California
26. Mary Hillabrand of Mary Hillibrand, Inc., San Francisco, California
27. Rosalie Kramm of Kramm & Associates in San Diego, California
28. Marie Fuller of Fuller & Associates of Dallas, Texas
29. Donald Puryear of Word for Word Reporting, Houston, TX
30. Angie Portune of Merit Litigation Support, Cincinatti, Ohio
31. Pamela J. Christiansen, Central Valley Reporters, Fresno, California
32. Paula S. Behmke of Behmke Reporting and Video Services, San Francisco, California
33. Barbara Como of Barbara Como Reporting, Sacramento, California.
34. Associated Reporters, Inc. of Albany, New York
35. Cathy Bamford of Bamford Reporters, Arizona
36. Leonor Villarreal, Certified Reporting & Video, Corpus Christi, Texas
37. Linda Sturm, Professional Reporters, Inc. Tampa, Florida
38. Rene Richter of Florida Realtime
39. Kerns and Gradillas of Beverly Hills, California
40. Dan Stunkard of Stanley Rice & Associates, Dallas, Texas.
My count is that 14 California agencies were against Seniority Listing and for Geographic Listing of the ads. And California had 38 advertisers when those 14 California advertisers expressed their displeasure with the seniority listing of their ads.
Several years ago I stopped supplying paper copies of the above information to the NCRA board of directors because it was a waste of effort when previous NCRA boards and the staffers refused to rectify the concerns of the member advertisers.
All of the above-named people affixed their names and signatures to surveys or letters supporting Geographic Listing of the JCR Court Reporting Listings.
Below are the comments of actual present or past users of the JCR Court Reporter Listing ad section whose interests I represent as well as the interests of the average hard working NCRA members.
They are not comments just uttered off the top of someone's head in a conversation.
These are worthy opinions of those with direct experience with your JCR Court Reporter Listings.
NCRA Board members shouldn't read the following opinions and then try to quickly come up with an opposing viewpoint just to challenge the opinions for the sake of challenging the opinions.
What good leadership does not want is people saying whatever comes into their minds and their accepting such whims as the reasoning for setting policies. That is senseless reasoning.
I think one comment submitted is worthy of highlighting and being set apart from the other 17 comments:
"Hi, Bill. This is exactly why I've never advertised with JCR/NCRA in 25 years. I think seniority of advertising is wrong."
The comments of leading court reporters in the United States are as follows:
"I was shocked that this is the advertising policy of NCRA -- it is neither equitable, nor justified.
"All advertisers pay equal prices, yet are treated disparately.
"Thank you.
_____________________________________________________________
"Dear Mr. Parsons,
Thanks so much for your efforts on behalf of the 'silent majority.'"
_____________________________________________________________
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
First, please allow me to commend you in your continuing quest to pressure NCRA into organizing the ads alphabetically and geographically.
"I couldn't agree with you more that the advertisements are currently chaotic.
"Thank you for taking the time over the years to try to rectify what is at best a hodgepodge."
_____________________________________________________________
"GREAT IDEA!"
_____________________________________________________________
"Although this does not affect me presently as far as position of my ad in my state, it is true that in most publications price is determined by location of your ad.
"Also, NCRA may have more advertisers if everyone was listed alphabetically instead of being put at the end of the list."
_____________________________________________________________
"Thank you for devoting time to the unfair policy. I am a new advertiser and now have second thoughts about renewing."
_____________________________________________________________
"I'm e-mailing privately so as not to open the can of worms involving buyouts, mergers, etc., etc.
"I'm all for the alphabetizing the JCR ads.
"While a firm may have seniority from their initial advertising bought many years ago, when that firm goes through a merger, buyout, name change, etc., and the ad copy is changed, does the JCR staff at present consider their seniority lost?
"Is it still the same firm that gained seniority years ago?
"Too much subjectivity here. We live in an alphabetized world; alphabetize the ads.
"Thanks for the time you devote to this, Bill. BTW, I was not referring to any advertiser at all in my comments regarding merger, buyout, etc., just a general comment."
_____________________________________________________________
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
"While I agree that as a matter of equal treatment ads should be placed alphabetically by city and firm, especially in large states such as California, it seems to me that it is logical to place ads this way for the equally important reason that it is just plain easier for the USER of these ads to find what they're looking for.
_____________________________________________________________
"Hi, Bill.
This is exactly why I've never advertised with JCR/NCRA in 25 years. I think seniority of advertising is wrong.
"I think the ads should be listed by counties or cities. I've contacted people over the years about advertising hoping they would change the way they do business.
"*******************."
_____________________________________________________________
"Bill, I agree with your layout. It would be more user friendly.
"Thanks for the examples.
"***************."
_____________________________________________________________
"We just got in there within the last year or so and am a small business, growing.
"I want all to be fair. What else can I do besides cancel? Glad to listen, and I did receive your letter as well. Thanks.
"********************** Reporting."
_____________________________________________________________
Yes. It is a violation of the NCRA bylaws equal treatment of all members provision to give the front ad spots by seniority.
Comments: "It should be.
Thank you for giving your time to this matter. I for one appreciate it. ******************** & Associates."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Bill: I definitely concur with your efforts. I know that you have been the 'gadfly" vis a vis the NCRA for many years, and I hope that some of your efforts have borne fruit.
"We definitely should be accorded equal treatment as our incomes depend certainly partially on referrals.
"It is quite normal that a court reporting service or secretary to a law firm will pick the first one on the list if they do not know the firm personally, and being last on the list is no great shakes.
"Let me know if there is anything else that I can do.
"Sincerely,*********************** & Associates, Inc."
_____________________________________________________________
"If someone wants the front ad spot, let them pay for it. Every other magazine and paper charges by location.
"********************************."
_____________________________________________________________
Survey Responseto question No. 1: "I don't want to upset the present old advertisers listed in the front of the list by seniority." Comment: "Meaning 'I don't care.'
"12-11-97.
Dear Mr. Parsons,
Thank you for all your efforts to right a wrong. I NEVER understood the advertising 'policy' of the JCR, and until changes are made -- as suggested by you - I 'never will!
**************************************, Certified Shorthand Reporters, San Francisco, CA."
_____________________________________________________________
"I use the Journal for referrals all of the time. I find it very confusing with all of the mixing of firms with no indexing by city or in any way. I'd appreciate a change in the way the journal handles their advertising.
"Thank you for your consideration.!
"**********************& Associates."
_____________________________________________________________
"Alphabetical listings by city and firm would be much easier when you're trying to refer a job to another city and state." Anonymous Responder.
_____________________________________________________________
"What NCRA should do is sell location listings. If someone wants to be in the front, let thempay for it or move to the back of the line.
"I guarantee you this would eliminate the concerns.
"******************** & Associates."
_____________________________________________________________
"If NCRA is going to offer premium spot placement in ads, they should do what EVERY magazine and association I know of does. Charge a premium for preferential placement.
"Alphabetic listing at least makes fiknding a name you're looking for methodical. Seniority based listing just creates an egg hunt -- no rhyme or reason to anyone searching for a company by name.
"********************************************, CSR, certified shorthand reporter, ***********************, Houston, Texas."
_____________________________________________________________
"Mr. Parsons:
Since I'm the last on the list of advertisers in Texas, of course, I agree with you that it is certainly unfair the way the listing is being done now.
"Even if I happened not to be last on the list, I'd agree with you.
"Thanks for your initiative and hard work.
*********, Austin, Texas."
Four freelance agency owners believed so much in my efforts to improve the JCR Court Reporter Listings that they took the time to write me letters.
I am going to type in the four letters from leading freelance agency owners who want the seniority listing of ads changed to a geographic listing of ads by city.
I hope you find the typed in information helpful and valuable in describing ways in which new advertisers may receive fair, equal and excellent service versus all new advertiser ads being added to the end of the list of ads by seniority.
Please be sure to read Letter #4 which also suggests that the ads be listed geographically and their sequence rotated each month so everyone gets fair, equal and excellent service with favoritism towards none.
_____________________________________________________________
LETTER #1
Letter from ************ Reporting to William Parsons dated February 6, 1997.
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
I am excited about the prospect of organizing the court reporter listings in the Journal.
I have long wondered how our potential clients would locate California court reporters for a specific locale.
It would be my desire to eliminate both the "first-come-first-serve" status (as I shall never be a first-comer) and to provide a listing by location.
As others have so rightly pointed out, we all pay the same amount for advertising -- let's have equal exposure.
Looking forward to hearing you have instituted the new system.
Sincerely, ***************
_____________________________________________________________
LETTER #2
Letter from ************************ to William Parsons dated January 23, 1997.
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
Thank you for your letter.
We definitely agree that all reporting firms advertising in the Journal of Court Reporting should be treated equally.
After all, we are all paying the same amount in fees.
You would think that the Journal would want to accommodate their readers by making the ad listings as convenient as possible. Listing the reporting firms alphabetically by state and city, as you suggest, would seem the most efficient and fair way to accomplish this.
We appreciate your efforts in trying to resolve this unfair practice.
Sincerely, ************************ CSR, RPR
_____________________________________________________________
LETTER #3
Letter from ************ to William Parsons, dated November 21, 1996.
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
Thank you for taking the laboring oar on this problem, as I see it, of an organized court reporter listing.
As you pointed out, it becomes burdensome for the readers to locate a particular reporting firm by location in a state.
As California is one of the best examples, it would be easier for the reader to locate the listing by state locale. Even if it is broken down by Southern and Northern California, it would surely make a big difference in ease of reference.
I concur with you that all NCRA members should be treated equally in their listings.
A first-come first-served basis might do well at a department store sale, but with a national publication and growing number of members yearly, it only seems fair we be treated with equal status as those members who came before us.
After all, since we are all paying the same membership dues and the same listing price, should we not be treated equally throughout?
Thank you again for your interest.
Sincerely, **************** CSR, RPR
_____________________________________________________________
LETTER #4
Letter from ********** to William Parsons dated November 4, 1999.
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
Enclosed is our response to your survey. Thank you for taking the time to inform NCRA's membership of this inequitable policy on advertising.
Our firm recently purchased an ad, and we hope NCRA reviews this policy and acts in the best interests of all its members, which I am sure they will.
We would support geographic listings by territory that are rotated on a per-issue basis among all advertisers fairly.
Thanks again for bringing our attention to this important issue.
Very truly yours, *************, CSR, RDR
_____________________________________________________________[
The following is an e-mail I recently received from one of the reporters who had previously sent me a letter strongly supporting my proposal to replace the JCR Court Reporter Listings Seniority Listings with Geographic Listing of ads which is the standard in the directory business.
"Sorry, Bill – I dropped my NCRA membership – this is ****** – they do
NOTHING for us in California , IMHO.
*******"
Who wins when the NCRA board instantly challenges good ideas for greatly improved service because the board is incompetent?
The members don't win when the board refuses to serve the needs of the members and the members cancel their memberships.
Board members can attack me and mock me all they want, but remember when you attack and mock me you are attacking and mocking the concerns of members of NCRA who have in the past and who may in the future just cancel their NCRA membership when faced with such a response to their concerns.
Those members who have canceled their memberships and present members may just cancel their memberships and say, "Cancel my subscription. I don't need your issues."
If the old-line board members and the board's apologists can't be concerned and respectful of the concerns of members dissatisfied with incompetent leadership, then NCRA members always have the option to cancel their memberships.
The attackers and mockers might want to keep that in mind as they let loose on those they wish to attack and destroy.
Professionals study statistics and business gains and losses in the proper running of a business, i.e. profit and loss, gains and losses.
NCRA member advertisers have protested for 17 years the NCRA board of directors’ Seniority Listing of the ads.
The way the NCRA member advertisers could protest was by canceling their ads, i.e. boycotting the ad section.
To this date we have a seen a total net loss of 83 domestic advertisers per issue.
Explanation:
Number of domestic ads in December 1992 ----------- 260 ads
Number of domestic ads in November 2008 ----------- 177 ads
Total lost ads per issue:--------------- 83 ads.
The number of cancelled ads does not reflect the actual number of lost advertisers.
For example, from 1992 until 2000 there were 117 new advertisers in the JCR Court reporter listings.
During that same period 155 advertisers cancelled their ads.
So in the year 2000 in order for there to have been a loss of 38 advertisers in 2000, it took the cancellation of 155 ads to end up with a net loss of 38 advertisers in 2000.
I knew the NCRA boards of directors from 2000 to 2008 would ignore the gross number of lost advertisers if I were to compile that figure. So I stopped updating the gross loss of advertisers after 2003.
The total number of JCR/CRL ads in the November/December 2008 issue was 177 domestic ads.
That number of 177 advertisers represents the lowest number of JCR CRL advertisers in 16 years.
The downward spiral of advertisers continues as the members protest the NCRA board of directors’ insistence on Seniority Listing of ads.
Charts and backup statistics of the lost advertisers are available by request.
NOTE: During the above era when the JCR Court Reporter Listings experienced a continuous yearly 16 year loss of advertisers, the NCRA Source Book ads for the very same type of ads increased 5-fold to 1,114 ads in 2003.
Just food for thought. If there had been a competent NCRA board of directors, would not that board have sent exit surveys to the 155 lost advertisers that were lost from 1996 through 2003?
It would have cost $50 to send such a survey to 155 lost advertisers in 2003.
No way was an incompetent board going to risk sending surveys which would prove their policies wrong and against the best interests of the members.
I challenged the NCRA board of directors to survey the lost 155 advertisers in 2003.
As I say, in no way were the boards of directors back then going to order surveys sent to the lost advertisers when the surveys would have provided concrete evidence the actions of the NCRA board in insisting on Seniority Listings had caused a great percentage of those lost advertisers.
I call the refusal of the NCRA board to conduct exit surveys of lost advertisers incompetence on the part of previous NCRA boards.
Submitted by Bill Parsons
Here's the list in absolutely no order.
1. Professional Reporting Services, Walnut Creek, California
2. Kathleen Hunter of Dokich Court Reporters, Irvine, California
3. Cindy Vail of Vail, Christians & Associates, San Diego, California
4. Elaine Cropper of Cropper & Associates, Limited, Phoenix, Arizona
5. Larry Wexler of Alliance Reporting Service, Mineola, New York
6. David B. Miller, Esquire Deposition Services, Atlanta, Georgia
7. Elisa Dreier of Elisa Dreier Reporting Corporation, New York, New York
8. Warren Lee of Richard Lee Reporting of Tampa, Florida
9. Wallie Womack of Womack Reporting Service of Houston, Texas
10. Jonnell Agnew of Jonnell Agnew & Associates of Pasadena, California
11. Barbara Rogers of Spectrum Reporting, Columbus, Ohio
12. Linda Sturm, principal/owner of Professional Reporters, Inc.
13. Ken Owen of Austin, Texas
14. Donald Holcombe of Holcombe Reporting & Video Service
15. Jay Deitz of Jay Deitz & Associates, LTD.
16. Art Miller, President of Art Miller & Associates, Inc.
17. Patricia Young of County Reporters
18. John D-Andrea of M & M Reporting, Inc. of Illinois
19. Ellen Grauer of Ellen Grauer Court Reporting Company
20. Karen Klein of Ludwig Klein Reporters & Video, Inc. of California
21. Toby Feldman of Toby Feldman, Incorporated, New York City
22. Joseph A. DeSouza of DeSouza & Associates, San Mateo, California
23. Susan T. DeMichelle of Fairfield, California
24. Melania Streski of Srtreski Reporting & Video, Wheeling, West Virginia
25. Jill Stephenson of Clark Reporting in Berkeley, California
26. Mary Hillabrand of Mary Hillibrand, Inc., San Francisco, California
27. Rosalie Kramm of Kramm & Associates in San Diego, California
28. Marie Fuller of Fuller & Associates of Dallas, Texas
29. Donald Puryear of Word for Word Reporting, Houston, TX
30. Angie Portune of Merit Litigation Support, Cincinatti, Ohio
31. Pamela J. Christiansen, Central Valley Reporters, Fresno, California
32. Paula S. Behmke of Behmke Reporting and Video Services, San Francisco, California
33. Barbara Como of Barbara Como Reporting, Sacramento, California.
34. Associated Reporters, Inc. of Albany, New York
35. Cathy Bamford of Bamford Reporters, Arizona
36. Leonor Villarreal, Certified Reporting & Video, Corpus Christi, Texas
37. Linda Sturm, Professional Reporters, Inc. Tampa, Florida
38. Rene Richter of Florida Realtime
39. Kerns and Gradillas of Beverly Hills, California
40. Dan Stunkard of Stanley Rice & Associates, Dallas, Texas.
My count is that 14 California agencies were against Seniority Listing and for Geographic Listing of the ads. And California had 38 advertisers when those 14 California advertisers expressed their displeasure with the seniority listing of their ads.
Several years ago I stopped supplying paper copies of the above information to the NCRA board of directors because it was a waste of effort when previous NCRA boards and the staffers refused to rectify the concerns of the member advertisers.
All of the above-named people affixed their names and signatures to surveys or letters supporting Geographic Listing of the JCR Court Reporting Listings.
Below are the comments of actual present or past users of the JCR Court Reporter Listing ad section whose interests I represent as well as the interests of the average hard working NCRA members.
They are not comments just uttered off the top of someone's head in a conversation.
These are worthy opinions of those with direct experience with your JCR Court Reporter Listings.
NCRA Board members shouldn't read the following opinions and then try to quickly come up with an opposing viewpoint just to challenge the opinions for the sake of challenging the opinions.
What good leadership does not want is people saying whatever comes into their minds and their accepting such whims as the reasoning for setting policies. That is senseless reasoning.
I think one comment submitted is worthy of highlighting and being set apart from the other 17 comments:
"Hi, Bill. This is exactly why I've never advertised with JCR/NCRA in 25 years. I think seniority of advertising is wrong."
The comments of leading court reporters in the United States are as follows:
"I was shocked that this is the advertising policy of NCRA -- it is neither equitable, nor justified.
"All advertisers pay equal prices, yet are treated disparately.
"Thank you.
_____________________________________________________________
"Dear Mr. Parsons,
Thanks so much for your efforts on behalf of the 'silent majority.'"
_____________________________________________________________
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
First, please allow me to commend you in your continuing quest to pressure NCRA into organizing the ads alphabetically and geographically.
"I couldn't agree with you more that the advertisements are currently chaotic.
"Thank you for taking the time over the years to try to rectify what is at best a hodgepodge."
_____________________________________________________________
"GREAT IDEA!"
_____________________________________________________________
"Although this does not affect me presently as far as position of my ad in my state, it is true that in most publications price is determined by location of your ad.
"Also, NCRA may have more advertisers if everyone was listed alphabetically instead of being put at the end of the list."
_____________________________________________________________
"Thank you for devoting time to the unfair policy. I am a new advertiser and now have second thoughts about renewing."
_____________________________________________________________
"I'm e-mailing privately so as not to open the can of worms involving buyouts, mergers, etc., etc.
"I'm all for the alphabetizing the JCR ads.
"While a firm may have seniority from their initial advertising bought many years ago, when that firm goes through a merger, buyout, name change, etc., and the ad copy is changed, does the JCR staff at present consider their seniority lost?
"Is it still the same firm that gained seniority years ago?
"Too much subjectivity here. We live in an alphabetized world; alphabetize the ads.
"Thanks for the time you devote to this, Bill. BTW, I was not referring to any advertiser at all in my comments regarding merger, buyout, etc., just a general comment."
_____________________________________________________________
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
"While I agree that as a matter of equal treatment ads should be placed alphabetically by city and firm, especially in large states such as California, it seems to me that it is logical to place ads this way for the equally important reason that it is just plain easier for the USER of these ads to find what they're looking for.
_____________________________________________________________
"Hi, Bill.
This is exactly why I've never advertised with JCR/NCRA in 25 years. I think seniority of advertising is wrong.
"I think the ads should be listed by counties or cities. I've contacted people over the years about advertising hoping they would change the way they do business.
"*******************."
_____________________________________________________________
"Bill, I agree with your layout. It would be more user friendly.
"Thanks for the examples.
"***************."
_____________________________________________________________
"We just got in there within the last year or so and am a small business, growing.
"I want all to be fair. What else can I do besides cancel? Glad to listen, and I did receive your letter as well. Thanks.
"********************** Reporting."
_____________________________________________________________
Yes. It is a violation of the NCRA bylaws equal treatment of all members provision to give the front ad spots by seniority.
Comments: "It should be.
Thank you for giving your time to this matter. I for one appreciate it. ******************** & Associates."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Bill: I definitely concur with your efforts. I know that you have been the 'gadfly" vis a vis the NCRA for many years, and I hope that some of your efforts have borne fruit.
"We definitely should be accorded equal treatment as our incomes depend certainly partially on referrals.
"It is quite normal that a court reporting service or secretary to a law firm will pick the first one on the list if they do not know the firm personally, and being last on the list is no great shakes.
"Let me know if there is anything else that I can do.
"Sincerely,*********************** & Associates, Inc."
_____________________________________________________________
"If someone wants the front ad spot, let them pay for it. Every other magazine and paper charges by location.
"********************************."
_____________________________________________________________
Survey Responseto question No. 1: "I don't want to upset the present old advertisers listed in the front of the list by seniority." Comment: "Meaning 'I don't care.'
"12-11-97.
Dear Mr. Parsons,
Thank you for all your efforts to right a wrong. I NEVER understood the advertising 'policy' of the JCR, and until changes are made -- as suggested by you - I 'never will!
**************************************, Certified Shorthand Reporters, San Francisco, CA."
_____________________________________________________________
"I use the Journal for referrals all of the time. I find it very confusing with all of the mixing of firms with no indexing by city or in any way. I'd appreciate a change in the way the journal handles their advertising.
"Thank you for your consideration.!
"**********************& Associates."
_____________________________________________________________
"Alphabetical listings by city and firm would be much easier when you're trying to refer a job to another city and state." Anonymous Responder.
_____________________________________________________________
"What NCRA should do is sell location listings. If someone wants to be in the front, let thempay for it or move to the back of the line.
"I guarantee you this would eliminate the concerns.
"******************** & Associates."
_____________________________________________________________
"If NCRA is going to offer premium spot placement in ads, they should do what EVERY magazine and association I know of does. Charge a premium for preferential placement.
"Alphabetic listing at least makes fiknding a name you're looking for methodical. Seniority based listing just creates an egg hunt -- no rhyme or reason to anyone searching for a company by name.
"********************************************, CSR, certified shorthand reporter, ***********************, Houston, Texas."
_____________________________________________________________
"Mr. Parsons:
Since I'm the last on the list of advertisers in Texas, of course, I agree with you that it is certainly unfair the way the listing is being done now.
"Even if I happened not to be last on the list, I'd agree with you.
"Thanks for your initiative and hard work.
*********, Austin, Texas."
Four freelance agency owners believed so much in my efforts to improve the JCR Court Reporter Listings that they took the time to write me letters.
I am going to type in the four letters from leading freelance agency owners who want the seniority listing of ads changed to a geographic listing of ads by city.
I hope you find the typed in information helpful and valuable in describing ways in which new advertisers may receive fair, equal and excellent service versus all new advertiser ads being added to the end of the list of ads by seniority.
Please be sure to read Letter #4 which also suggests that the ads be listed geographically and their sequence rotated each month so everyone gets fair, equal and excellent service with favoritism towards none.
_____________________________________________________________
LETTER #1
Letter from ************ Reporting to William Parsons dated February 6, 1997.
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
I am excited about the prospect of organizing the court reporter listings in the Journal.
I have long wondered how our potential clients would locate California court reporters for a specific locale.
It would be my desire to eliminate both the "first-come-first-serve" status (as I shall never be a first-comer) and to provide a listing by location.
As others have so rightly pointed out, we all pay the same amount for advertising -- let's have equal exposure.
Looking forward to hearing you have instituted the new system.
Sincerely, ***************
_____________________________________________________________
LETTER #2
Letter from ************************ to William Parsons dated January 23, 1997.
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
Thank you for your letter.
We definitely agree that all reporting firms advertising in the Journal of Court Reporting should be treated equally.
After all, we are all paying the same amount in fees.
You would think that the Journal would want to accommodate their readers by making the ad listings as convenient as possible. Listing the reporting firms alphabetically by state and city, as you suggest, would seem the most efficient and fair way to accomplish this.
We appreciate your efforts in trying to resolve this unfair practice.
Sincerely, ************************ CSR, RPR
_____________________________________________________________
LETTER #3
Letter from ************ to William Parsons, dated November 21, 1996.
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
Thank you for taking the laboring oar on this problem, as I see it, of an organized court reporter listing.
As you pointed out, it becomes burdensome for the readers to locate a particular reporting firm by location in a state.
As California is one of the best examples, it would be easier for the reader to locate the listing by state locale. Even if it is broken down by Southern and Northern California, it would surely make a big difference in ease of reference.
I concur with you that all NCRA members should be treated equally in their listings.
A first-come first-served basis might do well at a department store sale, but with a national publication and growing number of members yearly, it only seems fair we be treated with equal status as those members who came before us.
After all, since we are all paying the same membership dues and the same listing price, should we not be treated equally throughout?
Thank you again for your interest.
Sincerely, **************** CSR, RPR
_____________________________________________________________
LETTER #4
Letter from ********** to William Parsons dated November 4, 1999.
"Dear Mr. Parsons:
Enclosed is our response to your survey. Thank you for taking the time to inform NCRA's membership of this inequitable policy on advertising.
Our firm recently purchased an ad, and we hope NCRA reviews this policy and acts in the best interests of all its members, which I am sure they will.
We would support geographic listings by territory that are rotated on a per-issue basis among all advertisers fairly.
Thanks again for bringing our attention to this important issue.
Very truly yours, *************, CSR, RDR
_____________________________________________________________[
The following is an e-mail I recently received from one of the reporters who had previously sent me a letter strongly supporting my proposal to replace the JCR Court Reporter Listings Seniority Listings with Geographic Listing of ads which is the standard in the directory business.
"Sorry, Bill – I dropped my NCRA membership – this is ****** – they do
NOTHING for us in California , IMHO.
*******"
Who wins when the NCRA board instantly challenges good ideas for greatly improved service because the board is incompetent?
The members don't win when the board refuses to serve the needs of the members and the members cancel their memberships.
Board members can attack me and mock me all they want, but remember when you attack and mock me you are attacking and mocking the concerns of members of NCRA who have in the past and who may in the future just cancel their NCRA membership when faced with such a response to their concerns.
Those members who have canceled their memberships and present members may just cancel their memberships and say, "Cancel my subscription. I don't need your issues."
If the old-line board members and the board's apologists can't be concerned and respectful of the concerns of members dissatisfied with incompetent leadership, then NCRA members always have the option to cancel their memberships.
The attackers and mockers might want to keep that in mind as they let loose on those they wish to attack and destroy.
Professionals study statistics and business gains and losses in the proper running of a business, i.e. profit and loss, gains and losses.
NCRA member advertisers have protested for 17 years the NCRA board of directors’ Seniority Listing of the ads.
The way the NCRA member advertisers could protest was by canceling their ads, i.e. boycotting the ad section.
To this date we have a seen a total net loss of 83 domestic advertisers per issue.
Explanation:
Number of domestic ads in December 1992 ----------- 260 ads
Number of domestic ads in November 2008 ----------- 177 ads
Total lost ads per issue:--------------- 83 ads.
The number of cancelled ads does not reflect the actual number of lost advertisers.
For example, from 1992 until 2000 there were 117 new advertisers in the JCR Court reporter listings.
During that same period 155 advertisers cancelled their ads.
So in the year 2000 in order for there to have been a loss of 38 advertisers in 2000, it took the cancellation of 155 ads to end up with a net loss of 38 advertisers in 2000.
I knew the NCRA boards of directors from 2000 to 2008 would ignore the gross number of lost advertisers if I were to compile that figure. So I stopped updating the gross loss of advertisers after 2003.
The total number of JCR/CRL ads in the November/December 2008 issue was 177 domestic ads.
That number of 177 advertisers represents the lowest number of JCR CRL advertisers in 16 years.
The downward spiral of advertisers continues as the members protest the NCRA board of directors’ insistence on Seniority Listing of ads.
Charts and backup statistics of the lost advertisers are available by request.
NOTE: During the above era when the JCR Court Reporter Listings experienced a continuous yearly 16 year loss of advertisers, the NCRA Source Book ads for the very same type of ads increased 5-fold to 1,114 ads in 2003.
Just food for thought. If there had been a competent NCRA board of directors, would not that board have sent exit surveys to the 155 lost advertisers that were lost from 1996 through 2003?
It would have cost $50 to send such a survey to 155 lost advertisers in 2003.
No way was an incompetent board going to risk sending surveys which would prove their policies wrong and against the best interests of the members.
I challenged the NCRA board of directors to survey the lost 155 advertisers in 2003.
As I say, in no way were the boards of directors back then going to order surveys sent to the lost advertisers when the surveys would have provided concrete evidence the actions of the NCRA board in insisting on Seniority Listings had caused a great percentage of those lost advertisers.
I call the refusal of the NCRA board to conduct exit surveys of lost advertisers incompetence on the part of previous NCRA boards.
Submitted by Bill Parsons
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