After three decades of depositions and cross-examinations, Islip-based Suzanne Hand & Associates remains one of New York’s most trusted court-reporting agencies. And through the teeth of the worst economic crisis since breadlines and Hoovervilles, President Suzanne Hand continues to parlay that strong reputation into successful spin-off ventures. Her latest is global videoconferencing hub Video Connect, with more on the way.

How many businesses do you own now?
Just two, the court reporting business and the videoconferencing business. But I’ve started four in my career and I’m about to launch my fifth: It’s another court-reporting business, tailored to a different clientele – this one will cater primarily to the insurance industry.

You’ve been in business for yourself since 1980?
I started my first court reporting service in 1980; that was Suzanne Hand & Associates Inc. Next I began a transcription company, Suzanne Hand Typing and Transcription Service Inc., around 1990. In the mid-1990s, I went into a tent-rental business with two of my brothers because I wanted to see if I could succeed at something other than legal work. Videoconferencing came next: I launched Long Island Video Conferencing Centers about five years ago, and retuned that into Video Connect over the last year. Now I’m working on my fifth, the new court reporting agency.

You do know there was this big recession, right?
Well, you have to be creative in trying times. One of the things I’m focused on now in my court-reporting businesses is creating more value-added services for my clients. For example, I’m about to launch an online repository – not a separate business, but a new service available to my clients, who will get a password and be able to access all of their transcripts online.

Court reporting lends itself to many parallel pursuits … how do you choose the new businesses you start?
I look for a new opportunity, or I stumble across one, and I evaluate whether it seems viable. I do this fairly regularly, and I regularly decide things are not viable. The process of figuring out whether something can work is very interesting to me. When something is viable, I pursue it. It keeps me fresh and interested in what I’m doing. You can’t do the same thing for 30 years and not get a little bored.

Does your core business benefit from your new ventures?
I always think it’s important to offer more to clients, so I look for opportunities to serve both new and existing clients. For instance, videoconferencing was originally offered as a service to attorneys, but when I launched an actual videoconferencing company, attorneys didn’t turn out to be my primary market. The real market is human resources – recruiting and job interviews, in all industries. So that was a case where I went into it thinking I was going to primarily service my attorney clients but tapped into an entirely different market.

Do you sink a lot into marketing your new ventures or rely more on reputation and word of mouth?
Until very recently, I relied primarily on word of mouth and reputation. But in this economy, things have changed, and I’m learning to be more aggressive in my marketing pursuits. I think what I’ve done so far is important. I don’t know yet if there’s a good return on it, but I think it’s always important to stay current. There’s a logical progression to the various enterprises you pursue – except tent rentals. That was originally my brother Tim’s business, and then me and my brother Tom went in with him. It was a second business for all of us. I wanted to see if I could apply what I’d learned in another business and succeed. I ran the business side of things, and it went really well. In the first year, we tripled sales. It was challenging and fun … but after a year I’d had enough. The phone never stopped ringing on weekends!

What have you learned from your numerous startup experiences?
Well, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning how to launch and grow businesses effectively. I’ve learned accounting and budgeting and human resources and creating systems and standards, and I’ve loved that, too. Today’s economy is a real challenge, and I’ve learned how to thrive in these economic conditions. But above all else, I’ve learned that it’s important to keep growing – or you go the other way.

The evolution of court reporting can best be traced through technology. Always there’s been the need for official documenting legal matters; always there’s been the documentarian’s quest for efficiency and accuracy. What’s changed over time is the tools reporters use to track and transcribe.

This is true in all industries and pursuits, what we humans proudly call “progress.” But with litigation support and most especially live reporting, technological advancements are a mixed blessing, solving old problems while creating new ones for the reporters who must master them.

As law and commerce became more involved throughout the 19th century, the need for precise record-keeping grew exponentially. There always was (and always will be) reporters who track such things with pen and paper, but faster, neater typing machines were soon in demand. Various contraptions were patented by European and American inventors throughout the 1800s, and many were promising – but most were slower and more cumbersome than handwriting.

In 1870, Danish inventor Rasmus Malling-Hansen invented first practical typewriter: the Hansen Writing Ball, a half-globe of three-inch keys aligned so the fastest typing fingers hit the most common letters.

The ball was a hit. Various innovations followed, including the invention of the first QWERTY keyboard in 1873 by famed New York sewing machine maker Remington and Sons. Suddenly, 100 words per minute (and more) was commonplace.

In 1879, inventor Miles Bartholomew patented the first American shorthand machine – a chorded keyboard that looked more like a miniature piano than a typewriter. In the hands of a properly trained operator, the machine allowed super-accurate real-time recording of more than 200 wpm (the official record for American English, according to the California Official Court Reporters Association, stands at 375 wpm).

This strip shows a shorthand specimen printed using the Stenograph, 1899

Shorthand machines evolved into stenotype machines, the industry standard for decades – until, in the latter half of the 20th century, the technology gods intervened again.

Suzanne Hand remembers clearly when electricity recharged her industry. When she started reporting in the 1980s, reporters still used “manual writers,” she says, and “dictated into reel-to-reel tapes. I had a typist who would retype everything with carbon paper for copies and White-Out for corrections.”

This all changed during the 1980s, when the electric stenography machine debuted, followed soon by electric models with small screens. “They showed about 20 words,” Suzanne recalls, “so you could read back the last question and such.”

While computers were not new in the 1980s, their everyday use as a business tool was still a ways off. However, riding that technological wave, court reporters were soon blessed with the invention of Computer Aided Transcription: Once electric stenography machines plugged into computers, “everything changed,” according to Suzanne.

“Transcribing was faster and you weren’t at the mercy of typists,” she says. “And thank goodness, you didn’t have to dictate anymore … dictating was so tedious, I thought I’d shoot myself.”

The CAT language preceded the arrival of the portable computer, and when stenography machines could plug into CAT-loaded laptops right there on site, “it was the dawn of real-time reporting,” Suzanne says. “We could supply real-time rough drafts. They weren’t all English – a lot of steno characters – but they were still extremely useful.”

From there, the evolutionary curve took a more subtle turn – for instance, saving CAT documents in whatever format attorneys want, from WordPerfect to PDFs, and sharing electronic transcripts over the Internet. “Today, everything is easier, faster and less costly for the attorneys,” Suzanne notes.

However, while easier, the business has also become more challenging. It’s harder to train new reporters now – ironically, because of the very features that have so dramatically improved speed and accuracy.

“When I was reporting manually, I’d write ‘there,’ ‘they’re’ and ‘their’ the same way, because I was transcribing it and knew what it was supposed to say,” Suzanne says. “I would write ‘nor-ol-gy,’ but today reporters have to make sure their customized dictionary includes ‘neurology.’ Computers can’t think for you.”

That’s why Suzanne Hand & Associates operates the most detail-oriented court-reporter-training program around, to ensure today’s reporters understand every weapon in their technological arsenal. Even her “seasoned” reporters, Suzanne notes, are continuously schooled on the latest and greatest advancements.

“If you understand the technology, you’re a much better reporter than you were years ago,” she says. “It was simpler back when we used manual writers, but it’s much more efficient now – faster and much more interactive.”

The next wave will be wireless, according to Suzanne, allowing greater interconnectivity in courtrooms and deposition suites and more opportunities to share transcripts and daily copy via Blackberries, Ipads and other mobile devices. Beyond that … well, technology tends to redefine itself. But whatever follows, Suzanne will embrace it fully.

“I like technology,” she says. “It was exciting when we hooked up our first printers. It was exciting when we started emailing things. I’m always looking to get an edge from the next thing.”

Jamie Ree has something to show you.

If you’re an apprentice court reporter, you know your associate’s degree requires 40 hours of intern-level observation and practice. You should therefore know Jamie, who presides over the finest court reporter-training program in the land.

In short: She’ll show you how it’s done

For more than a decade, Jamie has trained select court reporting students in the finer points of their craft. As continuing education coordinator for Suzanne Hand & Associates (one of many hats Jamie wears at the agency), it’s both her duty and her passion.

“There’s really nowhere else for these students to go,” Jamie notes. “They can sit in at other agencies, but that’s not really training them for what they want to do. We have an extensive training program that nobody else offers – the students themselves come to us and tell us, ‘Nobody else does this.’”

Far from a cattle call for the masses, the Suzanne Hand training program has churned out just a few dozen professional-grade reporters over the last ten years. That sounds low, until you understand why only two students are selected to participate every six months.

This is no shut-up-and-watch field trip or two-dimensional lesson from a vacant-eyed lecturer. Selecting its students mostly from the Long Island Business Institute, Jamie’s program features the kind of personalized instruction and individual attention budding professionals can’t get elsewhere – natural extensions of the accuracy and professionalism that define Suzanne Hand & Associates.

“We have high standards,” notes President Suzanne Hand, “and we want to train new reporters to meet our standards.”

The effort is a win-win for the agency, though not entirely self-serving. Over the years, only about 80 percent of Suzanne Hand-trained reporters have gone on to work for the agency; the rest take their heightened skills to other firms, even competitors. Suzanne sees this as good karma: bettering her agency and its reputation by bettering the industry as a whole.

“Whether they work for us or someone else,” she says, “we know we’re preparing them to do well.”

Not only preparing them to do well, but to do well at all facets of their chosen profession. Students taken under Jamie’s wing sit in on actual depositions, EBTs, EUOs, medical depositions, hearings and arbitrations, eventually preparing “practice transcripts” that are checked against official transcripts. When their mock records are deemed strong enough – “Only when we think they’re ready,” Jamie notes – trainees are given what their tutor calls an “easy” assignment.

“They don’t get a second one until we’re completely satisfied with the first,” she says. “If it’s not good enough, they go back into training.

“I’m very hands-on,” Jamie adds, “and I make absolutely sure our trainees get it right. It’s the only way to correctly teach them to perform an important job that’s as difficult as it is rewarding.”

After six months of informative, no-BS weekly lessons, the end result is new ace reporter – one worthy of working for the most highly respected court-reporting business in the metropolitan area, or bringing some of Suzanne Hand & Associates’ patented professionalism out into the world.

“Bottom line: They’re going to be well-trained,” Suzanne says. “We’re not sending reporters out there until they know what they’re doing.”

Suzanne Hand is on a roll. And in keeping    with the finest traditions of her long-trusted court reporting business, that’s the literal truth.

The president of Suzanne Hand & Associates recently directed the evolution of a new, cutting-edge enterprise that lengthens her business’ fantastic services. And to celebrate, she geared up and hit the road for May 2’s Five-Boro Bike Tour, one of 32,000 cyclists wheeling their way through the Big Apple.

Attracting riders from around the world, the Five-Boro was a Bike New York event sponsored by TD Bank. The Bike New York organization promotes cycling and bicycle safety through education and events, and the Five-Boro is its crown jewel. “It’s more than just a cycling experience, it’s a cultural festival,” says Bike New York President Ken Podziba, gushing about the tour on YouTube.

Designed as a leisurely 42-mile roll through New York City (“doable for cyclists of all levels,” according to the Bike New York website, the trek was actually closer to 50 miles, Suzanne notes. “They had us park about five miles away,” she says, adding this was her first-ever bike tour and easily the longest ride of her life.

Starting in downtown Battery Park under summer-like conditions, riders headed north through Manhattan’s concrete canyons and a full-bloom Central Park. They crossed the Harlem River into the Bronx and then back over into Harlem, then steamrolled the FDR Drive and crossed the 59th Street Bridge into Queens. Moving north to Astoria Park and south through several industrial neighborhoods, the procession crossed the Pulaski Bridge into Williamsburg and took an extended tour of Brooklyn, ultimately arriving at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – a last, daunting challenge.

Some raring, some weary, riders finally coasted into Staten Island’s Fort Wadsworth, where a celebratory lunch and ferry ride back to Manhattan awaited. Suzanne, a self-described amateur cyclist who conquered the challenge with her friend and trainer Debbie, counts herself among the latter finishers – the weary. “By the end of the ride,” she says, “my shoulders were killing me.”

But “nothing hurt the next day,” Suzanne adds, and while it was a taxing physical challenge, the overall experience of the Five-Boro was “totally worth it and fantastic.”

“There were a lot of wonderful people from all over, and I saw a lot of great bike gadgets,” she says. “A few people had GPS devices designed specifically for bicycles. One guy had an iPod speaker attached to his bike frame that looked like a water bottle – he was just rolling through Brooklyn, listening to jazz.”

The ride also helped keep Suzanne sharp – no small consideration, with two thriving businesses to run, including the new state-of-the-art video-conferencing service Video Connect.

“It takes a lot of energy to run these businesses,” Suzanne says. “I have to stay in shape.”

In fact, she definitely plans to enter next spring’s Five-Boro and is already looking for like-minded riders to share the experience. “If you want to come along,” Suzanne says, “just email me!”

Wow, the more things change, huh?

Welcome to the very first post of Short Hand Notes, the official blog of Suzanne Hand & Associates. Our professional, interactive blog debuts alongside our shiny new website and is, obviously, the most important court-reporting innovation since Miles Bartholomew patented the American shorthand machine in 1879.

OK, not quite that momentous – but notable nonetheless.

Over the last three decades, Suzanne Hand & Associates has grown into one of the New York metropolitan area’s most recognized and respected names in court reporting. Award-winning reporting, exceptional ancillary services (including transcribing and litigation support) and recent forays into critical parallel services (including video depositions and video conferencing) have propelled us to the top of our field, and frankly, we like it up here.

Our rise to prominence has always been fueled by the latest and greatest technologies. There’s always something new to learn, and by ensuring that our specialized staff is up to speed on the latest equipment and techniques, we ensure our clients get our very best, every time, no matter what service we’re entrusted to provide.

That’s the thinking behind our digital makeover, too. By remaking our website and launching this blog, we’re hoping to expand our audience, increase our influence and, ultimately, become an indispensable industrial resource – not only a “commercial” for our fantastic services, but a hub where professionals of all stripes can connect, interact and learn all sorts of cool and important things.

Suzanne Hand & Associates also invites our friends and followers to keep up with our latest developments via Hand Written Notes, our exclusive e-newsletter. You can sign up for our regular reports, full of developments and insights from our firm and across the court-reporting industry, by visiting our new website here.

Keep an eye on coming posts to learn about the people and programs that make Suzanne Hand & Associates the region’s preeminent court-reporting agency. And make sure to chime in when you can with thoughts, questions and comments … Short Hand Notes is your blog, too!