New beginnings, new year.

• Author: Gravit, Aleisha
• Position: President's Podium - Column

I am honored and delighted to be leading our great association in 2013. To quote Sir Isaac Newton, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

The new year is a time for reflection and a time for looking forward. I would like to begin my year by expressing my sincere gratitude to each of the former leaders of LMA, with a special thanks to Alycia Sutor for her leadership in 2012 and for her help in preparing me to assume my role in 2013, and to Betsi Roach for her tireless commitment and dedication to us all.

In the spirit of reflection, I would like to recap a few of 2012's accomplishments. Last year, we:

* Completed our first year with the new group rate--one-third of our members are now in this program;

* Initiated a member recruitment effort to spread the word about our community with excellent results--LMA is now more than 3,200 members strong;

* Introduced Legal Intelligence Briefings for members, powered by a partnership with ShiftCentral; and

* Launched a new website with improved navigation and other capabilities to keep LMA at the forefront of online technology.

Further, the 2012 LMA Board of Directors dedicated significant time to reassessing the strategic goals of the association in order to provide direction on meeting the needs of our membership as we move into 2013 and 2014.

LMA's strategic plan comprises four overarching goals: 1) Leverage and nurture the cohesive global legal marketing community for member...