The Massachusetts Court Reporters Association (MCRA) has shared an open letter directed to Stenograph with respect to its suggested townhall (below). As a recap, steno users petitioned for a townhall with Stenograph, and Stenograph has officially set a date for May 31, 2023, at 3:00 PM Pacific. (Attendees are limited to 3,000 and can preregister here. Questions are to be provided in advance to townhall23@stenograph.com.)
On behalf of our steno community, Mr. Dutta, we are very appreciative that you are accepting our townhall invitation and feel this is a step in the right direction, but what we cannot accept is Stenograph completely running the townhall without terms in and conditions stipulated to from our steno community countrywide that overwhelmingly signed our petition and made their voices heard.
Having Stenograph run the townhall exclusively feels very one-sided and we are already seeing negative posts on social media about this.
First, we would request to first have an open conversation between Stenograph and our extraordinary steno community about the terms and conditions so there’s fairness. You can name the time/place for that.
To start off some ideas for the townhall, we are seeking to have our own moderator hosting the townhall. We certainly are interested in sending in questions to you but we would also like having a live question/answer session.
We think that creates transparency and builds trust.
The timing requested for the townhall will simply not work for most of our stenos, especially our incredible West Coast stenos, who will be on the record at important proceedings at that time and we do not want to leave anyone out of this event, especially those who took the time and effort to read/sign and comment on our petition.
Stenos countrywide should have full access to a time that’s convenient for them and have inclusivity on issues that are so important to them.
We do not want to appear to be impolite. It’s past actions that have brought this townhall to the forefront and we are looking for transparency and truth and clearing a path towards mutual respect and understanding so that we can all make informed decisions and move forward in positive/productive ways.
Sincerely,
Jill Kourafas, CSR #149308, RPR
President of the Massachusetts Court Reporters Association
