[RPPTL LandTen] The Breakers Registration for Committee Members is Now Open

Mon Jul 6 13:00:33 PDT 2020

[Get a room with an ocean view at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach ...]

Dear Committee Members:

I trust and hope that this email finds you safe and healthy during these crazy times.  I am pleased to report that Mary Ann and I have been working closely with the Breakers staff and, while we continue to monitor the situation, our plans for the Legislative and Case Law Update Seminar as well as our Executive Council meetings remain a go at this time...

Before I go into any details, I want to start by asking for your indulgence.  Our mantra for this meeting and perhaps much of the year will be--- flexibility.  We do not know what will be happening tomorrow much less in 8 weeks.  We will be ready to adjust our plans as the circumstances dictate.  That may even include cancellation and a switch to a complete online program.  To that end, we ask for your patience.   Second, I want to make it absolutely --- 100% clear--- that no one is obligated to attend any of these meetings in person or the seminar in person.  The seminar will be simulcast live over the internet.  We will be making arrangements to permit committee meetings to proceed in a hybrid in-person and Zoom format.  No one will be punished or shamed in any way if they do not want to attend.  I don't want anyone taking risks that they feel are unnecessary or unwarranted because they don't want to be left out.  If you are in a high risk category, I would encourage you to stay home for this meeting and join us for our next set of meetings when COVID-19 is behind us (hopefully soon!).

You can expect that this meeting will be a little different.  We will be working with The Breakers to comply with the most current recommendations and guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and the Florida and Palm Beach County Departments of Health.  The Breakers most current list of Health & Safety Precautions can be found on their website at the top of their page under COVID-19 Updates or you can go directly to thebreakers.com/updates/<http://thebreakers.com/updates/>.  We will be capping attendance numbers for the Legislative and Case Law Update and committee meetings so that we can appropriately plan for the use of space based upon current parameters provided to us by the Breakers.  The Breakers will be running at reduced occupancy to allow for social distancing.  We are also reducing our room block significantly from prior years.  It is expected that our group will have most of the hotel.  We will be requesting that all attendees at any events affirm on the day of attendance that they meet and agree to the conditions set forth in the Attendee Health Attestation which is included with the registration information and brochure and which will be updated, if necessary, as the meeting approaches.  If you cannot affirm and attest to the information on the Attendee Health Attestation on the day of the event, you will not be permitted to attend the in-person event.  Finally, we will be updating our own COVID-19 guidelines on the RPPTL Website to address matters such as social distancing and facial coverings as the meeting approaches.

As part of that flexibility that I have mentioned above, we will be modifying our refund policies for this meeting.  The first deadline will be July 20, 2020.  This is date by which you need to let us know if you would like to cancel your hotel room.   The second date is August 6, 2020.  This is the regular cancellation date for a refund for the seminar and the events for the weekend.  I would suggest that on each of those dates that you reassess the current circumstances and make a decision as to whether you are willing to attend a meeting in person.  If you would like to cancel, and you do so by these dates, you will receive a full refund.  We realize that circumstances are currently evolving.  The RPPTL Section will be issuing full refunds for registration fees through the date of the event to any attendee who is suffering from any potential COVID-19 symptoms.  If you are sick, have come in contact with an individual infected with COVID-19, or traveled internationally or to an area with a high infection rate as outlined by the Florida Department of Health, we want you to stay home and will fully refund your registration fees. Period.   The Breakers current policies would likewise prohibit you from entering their property.  The bottom line is that we are going to try to be as flexible as possible in addressing your concerns regarding COVID-19.  If you register and later have second thoughts, we need you to let us know.  If you let us know at the last minute, the Section may face penalties associated with the cancellations that we would like to avoid (but would be glad to pay, if necessary, to protect you and our attendees).

Now, on to the details of the registration and happy thoughts... Nothing like the prospect of a trip to a world class/posh hotel on the beach to wash away the lonely blues of self-isolation!

  1.  Attached is an Brochure for our weekend of events at the Breakers.  Cathy, Mary Ann, and I have put together a fun weekend of events for you.  On Thursday evening, we plan to have our traditional reception in the Venetian Ballroom overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  On Friday, Cathy and the spouses will be taking a walking tour of Worth Avenue where they will hear stories of the colorful characters of Palm Beach and its unique history.  On Friday evening, after Legislative Update, we will have our annual awards banquet and dinner.  It will be our chance to celebrate the Great Octavius Romero Benedictus and thank him for his leadership during an incredibly tough year.  As a special treat, our Section's own Burt Bruton and the Roadkill Band will provide music and entertainment to cap off a great night.  On Saturday evening, we are tee'd up (bad pun intended) for an evening at Drive Shack.  Drive Shack is a family friendly venue offering three levels of interactive golf and arcade games suitable for all ages.  Our hospitality suite each night will be an indoor/outdoor event at the Beach Club.  God willing, all of this will go off as planned.... But remember, no grousing---- flexibility is key.
  2.  The Legislative and Case Law Update is scheduled for Friday.  Please remember that registration for the Legislative Update is separate and apart from registering for the Executive Council meeting events - you can register for the Legislative Update at https://40thlegupdate.eventbrite.com <https://40thlegupdate.eventbrite.com> .  Please get your registration in early as we plan to cap attendance at the live seminar at 250 for purposes of maintaining adequate social distancing.
  3.   As part of the meeting registration, you will be asked to register your attendance for committee meetings.  This is important because we will have space limitations for each committee meeting.  We need to make sure that we have appropriate space and may therefore be capping the number of people who can attend certain meetings in person.  I don't expect that we will have a problem accommodating everyone for the committee meetings based upon current projections.

4.       After you have completed your registration for the Breakers Executive Council meeting events, you will receive an email from the Bar confirming your registration.  You will then receive a second email with the link to the Breakers website for your hotel reservation.

  1.  PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THESE TWO EMAILS MAY TAKE SOME TIME TO COME THROUGH - THEY WILL NOT BE INSTANTANEOUS!  WITH REGARD TO THE SECOND EMAIL, BECAUSE THE EMAILS COME OUT THROUGH THE BAR QUEUEING SYSTEM, IT MAY TAKE SEVERAL HOURS, OR EVEN UNTIL THE NEXT DAY AFTER YOU HAVE REGISTERED.  PLEASE BE PATIENT, AND PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT THE EMAILS WITH THE LINK TO THE BREAKERS WEBSITE WILL BE SENT OUT IN THE ORDER OF COMPLETION OF THE REGISTRATIONS FOR THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING EVENTS.
  2.  Please remember that you can only reserve 1 hotel room under the room block - if you desire a second room, you will need to contact the Breakers directly and book under their standard rate.  If somehow an error is made by the Breakers that provides you with a second room within the room block, please be aware that we will be canceling your second room (as we monitor the room block) - again, we have a limited number of rooms and need to provide access to as many Executive Council members as possible.
  3.  If the room block is full by the time you try to make your hotel reservation, DON'T PANIC - put your name on the waitlist, which is being monitored throughout the entire process. The plan is that we should be able to get the vast majority, if not all, of those who are on the waitlist into a room at the Breakers.
  4.  Now that you have read the above, here is the link to the Bar website for registration - https://member.floridabar.org/s/lt-event?id=a1R1R000006xWaxUAE#/Overview IT WILL WORK FASTER AND BETTER IF YOU HAVE FIRST LOGGED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT ON THE BAR WEBSITE.
  5.  If you have any questions, or have issues with registering on the Bar website or with hotel reservations, you can either (1) pound your keyboard and scream at the computer, (2) email Mary Ann at mobos at floridabar.org<mailto:mobos at floridabar.org> and she will get back to you as soon as she can, or (3) call or email me.
  6.  Finally, please...please....PLEASE remember--- flexibility.  Mary Ann and I will do our best to accommodate everyone.

Regards,

Bill

[http://gunsternet/myBizCardSignature/images/PWSGunster.jpg]
                     William T. Hennessey | Shareholder
                     Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
                     777 South Flagler Drive, Suite 500 East
                     West Palm Beach, FL 33401
                     Direct (561) 650-0663 Cell (561) 329-7281
                     gunster.com<http://www.gunster.com/>   |   View my bio<http://gunster.com/staff/attorneys/william-t-hennessey/>
                     Email me: whennessey at gunster.com<mailto:whennessey at gunster.com>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/landten/attachments/20200706/cf09d394/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 23140 bytes
Desc: image003.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/landten/attachments/20200706/cf09d394/image003-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 13890 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/landten/attachments/20200706/cf09d394/image002-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Breakers 2020 Final.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 2676548 bytes
Desc: Breakers 2020 Final.pdf
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/landten/attachments/20200706/cf09d394/Breakers2020Final-0001.pdf>