Greetings from Dave McNabb and Michael Mills, Chair and Past Chair of the ACR Ombuds section.  We are delighted to have you join us.  Membership in the ACR Ombuds Section provides Ombuds practitioners from all sectors with the opportunity to meet and learn together in the good company of ACR Conflict Resolution practitioners and researchers. 

We want to hear from you about what you think the ACR Ombudsman Section can be and might focus on in 2008 and beyond.  Ideas and thoughts from our section meeting at the 2007 ACR annual conference include;

• the ACR Ombuds section is an umbrella group, a focal point for all sectors of practice. 
• ACR Ombuds section activities complement activities of other Ombuds associations. 
• We would like to see "Ombudsing" become a verb. 
• We learn together
• Provide a forum for Ombuds mentors and mentees to connect.  Use storytelling as technique to pass on Ombuds wisdom.
• The ACR Ombuds section keeps Ombuds engaged and challenged and opens bridges to the larger ADR community.  
• Create more systematic connections to the rest of ACR.  
• Suggest other ACR panel opportunities for Ombuds practitioners  
• Focus on common issues in the Ombuds field.  
• Ombuds practitioners participate in other ACR panels  

Please contact us if you want to have an active role in the leadership of the section.  We invite you to be a part of this interesting work, by contacting us at david.mcnabb@sympatico.caand mpmills@ci.portland.or.us.  

Please keep in touch with us with your ideas as we go through the year.  The Ombudsman Section is unique in the conflict resolution field in that it is a home where members of our profession can connect and learn from members of all Ombudsman sectors and ADR fields.  It is an exciting venue for new ideas in new times.

Being an ACR member enhances not only your own practice but also the entire field of conflict resolution. We encourage you to participate in the many of the programs ACR has to offer, including our “Member-Get-a-Member” recruitment program. For each friend or colleague that you refer who joins ACR you receive $10 towards your next year’s dues.  To learn more please visit  http://www.acrnet.org/membership/mgm.htm.

We look forward to hearing from you and to a good year together.
 
Sincerely,

Dave McNabb, Chair and Michael Mills, Past Chair