Earlier in the month I attended the National Court Reporters’ Association conference, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was my first time attending a NCRA event.

As a student, I was able to attend the student seminars, the punctuation workshop, and peruse the vendor displays.

The punctuation workshop was facilitated by Margie Wells, author of, “Bad Grammar, Good Punctuation.” The mix of students and working reporters in the audience reviewed and debated the rules of grammar and punctuation. For me, this workshop was like a refresher course for my English for court reporters class. Ms. Wells was super-personable, and a great instructor. Due to the length of the punctuation workshop, I was unable to attend the student seminars held on that day. However, the next day I was able to attend the seminars specifically set up for students.

I attended a seminar about test-taking and nerves. Speed champions spoke about their competition experiences. They also gave tips on how to focus and practice.

On that same day, I attended a seminar about dictionary-building. The seminar was facilitated by the creator of Dictionary Jumpstart. She was engaging and knowledgeable. She spoke about close-captioning (her area of expertise), and dictionary-organizing.

Lastly, I attended a conference about NCRA certification. I learned how the certification tests will now be administered via the internet. I was glad to get this information because this was something I hadn’t heard before.

Visiting the vendor area allowed me to test various machines, and learn about a few different versions of CAT software.

Overall, it was a great couple of days in Philly. I look forward to attending the conference as a professional.