NAPP has renewed its contract with Capitol Hill Management Services
NAPP originally contracted with Capitol Hill for financial and infrastructure management services in 2015, and has renewed that contract for another year. "Cap Hill is a key part of NAPP's future growth and success", says NAPP President Dan Krueger. "Without them, we wouldn't have access to the experienced and efficient personnel and infrastructure that we need. I'm glad that we can continue the relationship."

NAPP's new Executive Director 
As part of the contract, Capitol Hill provides NAPP with an Executive Director to take charge of the day-to-day operations of the organization. In the new contract year, the Executive Director role will be filled by Brandi Gerew, who brings fresh energy and excitement to the organization along with her years of experience and impressive credentials. NAPP appreciates the efforts of our outgoing ED, John Meidl, and looks forward to a smooth transition of the job responsibilities.

NAPP in the News
Community outreach is an important component of NAPP’s mission to continue growing as the premier organization for patent professionals. We are happy to respond to media inquiries about patent-related issues. Toni Feder of Physics Today recently contacted us in connection with an article about the patent prosecution profession, with a focus on its suitability for physicists. That article is now published and can be found here: http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.3725 

2018 Annual Meeting & Conference
The CLE approvals for AMC 2017 have all been applied for, and planning is now well underway for NAPP's 2018 Annual Meeting & Conference in Alexandria! Alex Pokot is heading up the AMC planning subcommittee and is collecting member input and feedback on past conferences to make AMC 2018 better than ever. Please watch for member surveys and other opportunities share your insights with Alex. The meeting dates will be announced soon, and we hope to publish a tentative agenda before the end of 2017.

Simplified Application Process for Professional Liability Insurance
We've received feedback from multiple members that the inquiry and application process for our new insurance program is too cumbersome. Efforts are underway to simplify the application process, including making the application forms readily available for members to download from the website. We're also working to simplify the NAPP membership application and renewal questionnaires this month. Please know that your feedback is important to us and we are eager to improve the membership experience for everybody.

Committee Consolidation
NAPP President Dan Krueger (that's me!) has recently pushed for a consolidation of the Marketing, Social Media, and Member Engagement Committees into a single "Public Relations" Committee responsible for enhancing NAPP's image internally and externally, promoting member's professional relationships with each other and the community, and growing our membership. The board has appointed Mike Carey as chair of the new PR committee, which has a conference call at 4pm Eastern on the 1st Tuesday of each month. Among other things, the committee is actively organizing regional NAPP meetups. Houston, Santa Clara, Boulder, Atlanta, Chicago,… the list keeps growing each month. Please contact Mike Carey if you're interested in being involved.

NAPP Networking with the Rocky Mountain Regional Office
The PTO's Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Denver has reached out to NAPP, expressing interest in partnering with our members for conducting IP-related events. Mike Carey is our contact point with them, and is planning to organize an informal networking event next year for our members to tour the facilities and meet with RMRO's senior officials. There's no better way to understand the internal workings of the PTO than to meet with the people who work there and ask them! Note that RMRO hosts regular IP-related events for practitioners and the public, and has meeting room facilities available for hosting your own IP related events free of charge during business hours or for a nominal fee outside of regular business hours.

Galveston IP Conference Sponsorship
NAPP has sponsored a Diversity Breakfast and vendor table at the Houston IP Law Association (HIPLA) Annual IP Institute in Galveston. This sponsorship is part of our effort to increase NAPP's brand recognition among patent practitioners. Our new members mostly find us through word of mouth, which is great but which also means most patent practitioners still haven’t heard of us. With this sponsorship, we'll be introducing ourselves to most of the attendees (and recipients of HIPLA's promotional brochures) for the first time, and the cost will be covered if we can recruit just five or six new members.

NAPP Strategy Meeting
NAPP’s Board of Directors is planning a two-day retreat in mid-October to plan for NAPP’s future development and to scope out sites for the 2019 Annual Meeting & Conference. This is our way of getting the leadership all rowing in the same direction to achieve the best results we can for our members. I look forward to publishing our new vision for next year and beyond.

Budget Cycle
Every year, the 4th quarter means the same thing for all the NAPP directors and committee members: It’s Budget Planning Time!! Time to think about the anticipated expenses so the money can be set aside to fund next year’s activities. Everybody put on your thinking caps about what activities you’d like to see next year and reach out to your friends on the committees or to one of the board members to share your ideas now.

Financial Status
On a related note, NAPP's financial status remains secure, but the financial trends in 2017 are unfavorable. We experienced much higher catering costs than expected in San Jose for AMC 2017, and this together with our recent decline in membership dues revenue has led to an expected loss for the year. The board is pursuing ways to increase the membership numbers and exploring potential sources of non-dues revenue. As the AMC is returning to a familiar venue in Alexandria, our expectation is that the AMC costs will remain within budget for 2018.

Law School Clinic Certification Program
The PTO is running a Law School Clinic Certification program, providing temporary registrations to patent law students and expedited examination of any patent applications they take on a supervised pro bono basis. NAPP has offered free 1 year academic memberships to participants of this program in the hope that they will gain familiarity with NAPP and the benefits it offers, especially mentorship opportunities and access to the forums. Thus far, the following students have signed up with NAPP: Sam White, Teodosio Sanchez, Eric Yocam, Judd Patton, and Mariko Kageyama. Please watch for them on the forums and welcome them to the organization!

Welcome to NAPP
The following new members joined NAPP in September: Graham Pechenik (San Francisco), Victoria Curtin (Scottsdale), William Markov (Scottsdale), James Busch (Scottsdale), and Bryant Lee (DC). Please make them all feel welcome!!