WHAT AN EVENT!
157 of us came together, ‘shoulder to shoulder’, screen to screen, to celebrate the diversity and unity of the Mackrell International global family.
Unusual for sure – the biggest gathering ever, but one where the only handshake, hug, or kiss on the cheeks was virtual. And where many of us had to remain silent for a large part of the AGM (tough any day for a group of sparky lawyers and more so for a group of friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long while)…
But – when we unmuted all at once to say hello to one another across the world - what an unleashing of energy, a vibrant wall of noise and greeting and connection. It’s testament to the deep roots of friendship, trust and mutual appreciation that connect us, that we could link arms, ‘Auld Lang Syne’ style from early morning in the West Coast of Canada and the USA to late night in some of our furthest reaches of Asia Pacific.
And we had business to attend to too.
We witnessed the passing of the sceptre from outgoing Chair, Nigel Rowley, to new Chair, David Ettinger – and across the network we showed our recognition and respect for the effort and dedication Nigel has shown to MI over his years in the hot seat. And we wished David well as he settles into that self-same seat.
We did the necessary and highlighted the Minutes of last year’s AGM in Bangalore and the 2019 audit and Budget – and prefaced the ‘Closing Ceremony’ on 25th June 2020 (2pm UK BST), where we will vote on the 2021 Budget.
And we opened a Mackrell International first – the ‘Virtual AGM’ a treasure trove of virtual ‘rooms’ like the Houses of Parliament, Galactic Cabin and International Suite, containing insight, information and legal input from many sectors and many corners of the network, plus reflections from the leadership team.
In the virtual rooms, we reminded ourselves of previous AGMs, of how amazing London is (to inspire us for revisiting for the London 2021 AGM) and the fact that as a network, we’ve #gotitcovered.
We also looked ahead at the building of our MI ecosystem with the strengthening of our Next Generation network, the launch of a Female Lawyer network and welcoming our flurry of new family members, four in the USA, 2 in Asia Pacific, 7 in Europe and 5 in Africa, including our recently joined member from Kenya.
On Thursday 25th June, we’ll officially ‘close’ the 2020 AGM and there will be a chance to come together one more time – we may even have a contender for Best Coronavirus Hair (currently it’s a close run thing between Roeland and Nikolaus…) and Best Lockdown view (contrary to rumour, the prize will not be a David Ettinger mask…).
Remember to complete the poll situated in the M.I. Arena – this will help us support you as we all accelerate out of the bend.
Keith Heddle Managing Director mackrell.hq@mackrell.net