Join us for the 2007 Annual Convention in Chicago!

The ALTA Annual Convention returns to the location of our first convention in 1907. It's the place to be to celebrate the centennial! Join your industry peers at the Chicago Hilton, October 10-13, 2007, where meeting highlights will include Keynote Speakers Colin Powell and Arte Johnson. Attendees will also have an opportunity to help build ALTA's Habitat House in Chicago. Learn more about these and other convention events and make your plans to attend!

Conventions have changed over the years, but many things stay the same.

• See what they talked about at conventions in the early days.
• ALTA President and Chicago native Greg Kosin extends his personal invitation to you
• Learn "Tips on How to Be a Good Conventioneer" from ALTA's 1955 Annual Convention.

ALTA®'s First Annual Meeting was held in Chicago in 1907. The Proceedings from this meeting are missing from ALTA's archives. If any ALTA member still has a family copy, please contact the Communications Department, at communications@alta.org. We'd love to include it in our archives.

The Second Annual Meeting was held August 19-20, 1908, in Des Moines, Iowa. Here's a look at attendee details and some of the interesting topics on the agenda:

• Fifty-six men representing 17 different states attended
• Seven state associations were approved for membership
• Attendees discussed the paper "Legitimate vs. Illegitimate Competition"**
• A Constitution and Bylaws were adopted
• Speeches were given on the following subjects:
  • Use of Printer's Ink in the Abstract Business
  • Need for Uniform Laws for Transfer of Real Property
  • State Supervision of Abstracters
  • The Los Angeles Way

**It's interesting to note this statement from the 1908 convention, which is still true today: "There is a very prevalent idea abroad that the profits in the title business are exorbitant."

Reprinted from ALTA's 1955 Annual Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, and still useful today:

• Start planning your own convention participation from the moment you decide to attend.
• Avoid disappointment. Make your reservations far in advance; state plainly the type of hotel room you would like and the price you are willing to pay. If necessary you can cancel your reservations without obligation.
• Write or telephone men at distant places - men you hope to sit down with during the convention off hours - and arrange to get together.
• Check personalities appearing at the program. Is there anyone qualified to give you a steer in the right direction? Make their sessions a must, and perhaps see them afterwards.
• Jot down problems you now face in your business. Be alert for people who may know the answers.
• Scan registration lists early; don't miss a chance to visit with friends and customers from other cities.
• Use meal times fully by arranging to eat with different groups of business friends.
• See, and be seen, by all of your competitors. Swap a story or experience; let them realize you're a cooperative competitor.
• Save some time for old-fashioned bull sessions. Many a tip, more valuable than any in the best planned program, grows out of informal talk.
• Know your limitations. Overabundance of food and drink with underabundance of sleep makes Jack - or anyone else - a dull boy.
• Speaking of Jack, the old adage has it that all work and no play has a similar effect. Wherever your convention is held, there are things of interest to see and do. Find out about them as soon as you reach your hotel-plan to spell your hard work with some good old-fashioned play.