In early 2016, founder of Notary Symposium, Laura Biewer, started wondering how to reach those California notaries who were not able to attend the National Notary Association’s annual conference (or other large organizations). Laura has a successful notary business based in Modesto, and is also a state-certified instructor for providing the 6 hours of required training before notary applicants take the state exam, plus she is a frequent workshop facilitator at the annual NNA conference. Laura feels the NNA conference is a perfect environment for networking and learning from the many workshops the conference provides. However, not everyone can afford to go (it changes locations every year), or they have life situations (children, day-jobs, etc) that make it difficult to attend. So Laura thought, let’s bring the education and networking to the notaries in California. Notary Symposium was born. The first Symposium was in November 2016 – chosen for proximity to honor National Notary Day (which is November 7). In 2019, a second date/location was added to the traditional Northern California location; in Southern California (Orange County area).
After 4 years putting on in-person event, 2020 began our virtual odyssey.
We went virtual starting in 2020 due to Covid. After four years of helping California notaries, going Virtual-Live meant being able to help notaries across the USA. For both 2020 and 2021, notaries from over 35 states were being represented.
Every year, the Symposium gets better. It’s a day filled with 4 to 6 presentations from experts in their field (usually notaries who also do other things). Besides the knowledge gained, there are prizes, swag bags, networking, collaboration, and having made new friends!
The Team
Here’s the Team that organizes the annual one-day event known as Notary Symposium, and their tasks.
Laura Biewer, Notary Symposium Founder, NNA Instructor, Owner of At Your Service Mobile Notary and CoachMeLaura.com, home of the Laura Biewer Presents Library.
Contact: (209) 606-4938 Biewer@sbcglobal.net
Tasks: find speakers, help design speaker presentations, venue selection and contract, facebook posts, facebook ads, Volunteer Coordination, order swag bags and coordinating the contents (most are donated), talk people into donating door prizes, managing printing of collateral items (event program, all labels, folders, flyers, postcards, drawing tickets) and probably a whole lot more.
Kerri Marvel, Notary Symposium Co-Founder, Owner of Kerri Marvel Services, Website Designer, Notary Signing Agent, LegalShield Associate.
Contact: (925) 858-6220 Kerri@KerriMarvelServices.com
Tasks: Anything that goes on the Notary Symposium website, email blasts via Mailchimp, design and coordination of attendee payment system (and any refunds), caterer selection/contract/place the lunch order, forms design (any internal documents we use, registration form on website, sponsor packet, Volunteer Agreement), tech support, graphic design, design of event program, labels, etc., sponsor coordination., and probably a whole lot more.
Valerie Barrett, Owner of Notary Docs, Notary Signing Agent.
Contact: (949) 302-2944 Valerie@Notary-Docs.com
Tasks: Most details for the Southern California event, including getting Sponsors, Prizes, caterer selection-contract/placing the lunch order, finding nearby lodging, local Volunteer coordination, and probably a whole lot more.