President's Message
Dear Fellow Members:
I am very proud and honored to be chosen to serve as president of your association. My involvement with the association goes back many years and I have had the opportunity to work closely with previous OLTA presidents. When I recall the leadership and guidance shown by these dedicated members, it is very humbling to be chosen to follow in their footsteps.
We have set several goals for the coming year and we will do our best to achieve each goal. In order to have a strong association we need your involvement and support. I encourage you to communicate with your officers and board members. Please consider serving on a committee. The committees are the backbone of the association and one of our goals is to encourage more people to be involved in committee work.
We believe that it is very important to continue our efforts to improve communication with the membership. We are proud to continue the initiatives Bev Jones set in motion last year. Accordingly, we plan to continue publication of the TitleGram, thanks to the generosity of those companies who have purchased advertising. Please contact Jan Loftis for details on advertising or to submit any information you would like to have included in an issue of the TitleGram.
We plan to initiate a membership drive soon, targeting all of those abstract/title companies who are not currently members of the association, however, it is equally important to retain current members. My personal goal is to have all abstract companies in Oklahoma as members of the association. If you know of a company that is not currently a member, please encourage them to join. We also plan to increase the number of associate members. The membership committee has worked very hard on this project and recently completed preparation of a "New" Member Packet, which includes a revised application and a brochure that tells the OLTA story and the advantages of OLTA membership.
We have made significant improvements to the OLTA website and have initiated a program to track CE hours for title insurance credit for members of the association. We have approval from the Insurance Department to produce a "transcript" of these hours, which will serve as proof of compliance with Insurance Department requirements for title insurance continuing education. This effort should prove to be an important benefit to the members of the association as well as an incentive for "new" members to join.
As you know, our legislative efforts depend on your support of "Okie-TiPAC". I encourage each of you to support Okie-TiPAC with your contributions. We recently conducted the most successful "Okie-TiPAC Silent Auction" ever at the annual convention in Tulsa. We raised a significant amount of money for the PAC, however, we cannot stop there. We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to raise money for the PAC. I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of your involvement. We need you if we are going to be able to continue our legislative efforts. We have initiated a golf tournament/fund raiser for "Okie-TiPAC", which will be an annual event each Fall. Your participation and support is appreciated. A goal for Okie-TiPAC is to have each OLTA member join the PAC. Please join and contribute generously.
As part of our efforts to increase communication with the membership the board plans to revive the "Regional Meetings." You will hear more about this as we formulate plans and ask for your involvement. The officers and directors are very excited about the opportunity to serve the Oklahoma Land Title Association. We have some very difficult issues facing us during the next year, however, you can take comfort in the knowledge that you have chosen a very experienced, dedicated group of your fellow members to serve as officers and directors. We are confident that we can meet the challenge, but we cannot do it without your support and assistance. So, I urge you to be involved.
It's an honor to serve OLTA.
Sincerely, G. Barry Schmulbach
OLTA President
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