Keep Bailing

The Professional Bail Agents of the United States (PBUS) association’s annual midyear meeting is approaching. This four day event will be held at the Millennium Park Hotel in Chicago July 21- 24. This will be their last meeting before they celebrate the 30th year anniversary in February, 2011. Bail professionals from all over the US meet here and are given the opportunity to network, attend and participate in lectures as well as attend association meetings.

According to PBUS President, Linda Braswell, there was some controversy on the location of the event. Apparently there were some PBUS members that were not in favor of this location because Illinois happens to be a no-bail state. Braswell stated that having the meeting in Chicago would allow them an opportunity to get them to support the bail system.

Braswell said, “They’re (Illinois) a 10-percent state, but if you don’t continue to spread the good word and be positive and do positive things, positive things will not happen. We need to go there and let people know bail is alive and well in other parts of the country; let them know there are other, better options than the sorry system that’s in place. The positive part is that Illinois Senator Mike Jacobs will be joining us, who is very much interested in hearing our story and what we have to offer.”

A few of the events scheduled for the meeting are as follows:

• Hot Topics Breakout Session: Bail agents will be able to discuss any topic relating to the bail industry in an open-mic session.
• For Women Only Luncheon: Linda Roche will direct this session for female bail professionals in which they can meet and get to know one another. Some of the past activities have included fortune tellers, breast cancer specialists, and scrap-bookers. At one time this meeting was formed for the women while their husbands attended classes or meetings. Now this is a must attend event for all female bond professionals.
• Lieutenant Michael Kline, Berrien County Sheriff’s Department: This event will have the real weapons that were used in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. This particular massacre is one reason our country started an independent crime laboratory.

For some bondsmen attending this event, it also gives them a chance to gain continuing education credits through classes, while at the same time they will be given the opportunity to learn more ways to make their business better.  However, all the events held at the meeting won’t be just business and schooling; there will also be fishing, golfing, and an architectural tour cruise on the 21st of July.

Source: Collateral Magazine