I. Continuing Legal Education. High quality continuing legal education programs continued to be a signature of the Technology Law Section in 2009-2010. The Section sponsored its annual flagship event, the daylong Technology Law Institute, on October 15, 2009. The event attracted approximately 100 paid attendees. The faculty consisted of contributors from premiere corporations such as Home Depot, Equifax and Invesco. Participating law firms included Alston & Bird, Troutman Sanders, Hunton Williams, The GigaLaw Firm and FSB Legal. In addition to the Technology Law Institute, the Section continued to offer smaller luncheon programs with CLE credit. On June 10, 2009, Section Members Stephen Combs and Jim Harvey presented a survey of social networking legal issues entitled, “Digging the Del.icio.us Facebook Twitter.” The winter program focused on the legal issues of bringing a startup venture from idea to commercial success. The presentation was made by Emory Law School Professor Anne Rector and Georgia Tech Professor Margi Berbari both from the TI:GER program. The spring program took place on March 30, 2010. Todd McClelland of Alston & Bird presented a program on the legal issues associated with Cloud Computing.

II. New Participation by Section Members. This year the Section put serious effort towards increasing participation in the Section. On May 11, 2009, the Section hosted a networking event at Turner Field which turned out to be one of the longest and most exciting games of the year. Many members that had never participated in the past came for the reception, game watching and networking. Building upon the success of the Braves event, the Section also hosted a Section Happy Hour at Gordon Biersch on October 8, 2009. Not only were current members invited, but also many new associates who had not yet joined the section.

III. New Initiatives. During 2009-2010, the Executive Committee of the Technology Law Section continued to look for new ways to increase membership and benefits to Section members. The Section completed the following initiatives in 2009-2010:

Added a “Law School Liaison” position to the Executive Committee. This member is a law student who publicizes Section events to the Georgia law schools in an effort to generate future membership in the Section.
Upgradedthe Section website to handle “push notifications” to members of upcoming events. When an event is posted on the website, members who subscribe will be alerted not only of the date, but the details of the event. From there, users are only a mouse-click away from secure on-line registration for the event. The site also provides links to iTunes where many Section events have been recorded as podcasts

IV. Community Involvement. During 2009-2010, the Technology Law Section continued to actively support important community development efforts. As in past years, the Section continued to make a donation from the proceeds of the Technology Law Institute to Computers for Youth. Computers for Youth (formerly, Tech Corps Georgia) has been a long-time beneficiary of the Technology Law Section’s financial support. Computers for Youth is dedicated to increasing the availability of information technology to lower income households by providing donated computers to these families. This fiscal year, the Section went beyond financial support. On November 14, 2009, Section members volunteered their day at the Computers For Youth Family Workshop. Section members spent the day setting up and instructing families on how to use a personal computer. At the conclusion of the training, deserving families got to leave with the computer that they trained on.

Respectfully Submitted,

W. Charles “Chuck” Ross Section Chair Technology Law Section