Dave Wenhold’s Company Sabotaged NYSCRA. What Happened Next Will Shock You…

Sorry for the clickbait.

For those that don’t know, Dave Wenhold is the current executive director of the National Court Reporters Association and his management company manages or has managed many state associations. This post is going to dive into why I believe this consolidation of power is likely very bad for the profession as a whole. Though I may have mentioned this on this blog at some point, I can’t quite remember, and it’s time for me to be very explicit about it, because everyone in power has failed this profession.

Understand that I’m sharing what I’m sharing because a lot of the people in power are old guard. They don’t have to deal with the consequences of their decisions. They’re selling their agencies to the big boxes and heading out ✌️. I am in a very different position. I have to deal with the consequences of their decisions for possibly three more decades. The students I mentor for much longer.

I’d also like to point out that when the women of this field say the things like what I am about to write, they’re met with silencing words like “defamation”, “libel”, “slander.” Nobody threatens me. Why? Because their threats get blasted to hundreds or thousands of court reporters and I show the world what paper tigers they are just like I did to Naegeli. This behavior is so prevalent that when mentioning Keith Lemon’s name and making factual statements at yesterday’s business meeting, the word defamation was used. How disgustingly sexist this field is, that a man could run the field’s largest blog, systematically outing fraudsters and cheats, and then when a woman dares to raise her voice to “authority”, she be met with silencing language.

Excerpt from the business meeting:

While making factual statements about incoming NCRA President Keith Lemons during the 2024 NCRA annual business meeting, a member was accused of defamation and personal attacks by outgoing NCRA President Kristin Anderson.

Also stated at the meeting was “shut your mouths, people in the cyber world.” But no, I don’t think I will.

Until our voices are heard they will grow into a deafening cacophony. And now:

When I was a New York State Court Reporters Association board member, it came to light that when Dave Wenhold’s company, which I believe to be the Kautter Wenhold Management Group (KWM or KWMG), had mismanaged our records. We were told by Tim Bower, the new management company, that we had no records from the time of Dave’s management. This is particularly egregious because NYSCRA is an organization older than the National Court Reporters Association. But to be frank, it is a shell of whatever it once was. No records, a stagnant or shedding membership, and no money to effect change in New York State. In my view, New York State’s last hope is my current union, ASSCR. It is, as best as I can tell, the most financially stable organization dedicated exclusively to court reporters, and its current leadership under Eric Allen makes it indomitable.

It is also a fact that I’ve had others from other states tell me they have similar feelings about Dave, his company, and mismanagement of their state association. They are scared into the silence of whisper networks. I write for all of them today. Though thanks to my disability, I cannot remember everyone individually.

As you can imagine, I did not keep this information to myself. I shared it with then-NCRA President Jason Meadors. I have come to suspect and believe that Dave is influenced by outside interests. Or, in the alternative, simply manages too many organizations to be an effective leader. Jason, as best I can tell, swept this information under the rug, or, in the aftermath of my mental health crisis, chose to discriminate against me for my health issues and discard what I had told him as just crazy Chris. Certainly he did nothing of import. Perhaps I cannot fault him. There was a time I doubted my own beliefs. But those beliefs have grown stronger with the passing of time to the point where I can no longer ignore them. I believe the looting I’m writing about has been going on a long time across multiple executives’ “administration.” I reflect on all I know about the organization’s history. It sold the land it once owned so that it could rent, a move that holding companies used to bankrupt (loot) Red Lobster. Much news media would have you believe it was the free shrimp. The point is that it is not uncommon for organizations to be subverted and used to benefit organizations with competing interests. And our board of directors let it happen to NCRA.

In the end, we must look at results. We have an organization that couldn’t compete with the Speech-to-Text Institute on media and government attention. We have a falling NCRA membership and participation. We have our STRONGest volunteers turning on the organization. We have increasing division, and though it is blamed on people like me, it is undoubtedly the fault of those in leadership that claim to hear us and then discard our every concern. It is the fault of Dave Wenhold. It is the fault of inaction king Jason Meadors. It is the fault of likely sellout Christine Phipps. It is the fault of chief dismantler Keith Lemons. We watch presidents cycle in, do their damage, cycle out, and cry “we’re only volunteers.” The National Court Reporters Association and its prestige is being openly looted. Whether my fellow colleagues and contemporaries continue to allow that following this post is no longer something I will lose sleep over, as I lost more than enough sleep deciding whether to write this.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. NCRA’s net assets dwarf everyone else in the field. It’s beat out only by the for-profit interests that can afford to bribe people. For-profit interests that seem to have a propensity towards wrongdoing. For-profit interests that literally created a nonprofit dedicated to fooling consumers and jobseekers. There is no reason the organization should be so cash starved beyond mismanagement, be it intentional or due to incompetence. As a comparison, the National Verbatim Reporters Association has a $200 membership fee, and they’ll actually give you a discount on that under certain circumstances. Just ask their President Patrick Stephens about it. When was the last time you heard the NCRA was handing out membership discounts?

But I digress. Some time ago, I made an entire post about how easy it would be to bribe court reporter leadership. The median bribe in this country is something like $60,000, hundreds of millions of dollars flow through organizations like Veritext, billions of dollars run through Veritext holding company Leonard Green (loots hospitals for poor people), and we live in an environment where such corruption would likely go undetected, and even if detected, unaddressed by people just like Jason Meadors. My life experience tells me that this is not some conspiracy theory. This stuff really happens. I was once a minutes reporter for a nonprofit that helps underprivileged children here in New York City. As best I can tell, though I was not privy to the details, the executive director and chief financial officer worked together to embezzle funds right out from under the nose of the board of directors, a board that included ostensibly powerful people from finance and even a lawyer from a big-name firm. The organization was put into financial peril because of their actions coupled with the funding cycle of nonprofits in New York City. If those people can be tricked, surely we court reporters, who often have no financial training, can be taken for a long, long ride. And even if I’m wrong about all that, it’s happened elsewhere.

Now it is plain to see why I have such rage, such vitriol, and why I am willing to use the dirtbag left performative media style to get my point across. We are in an environment where our century-old institutions are being destroyed by sellouts, spineless cowards, and mismanagement. I am in an environment where the well-being and financial future of my growing family is dependent on the actions of people who do not have to suffer the consequences of their action or inaction — and in fact in some cases benefit from the obfuscation of truth and the mismanagement of our institutions. In my view, this is “emblematic” of the issues facing America itself. Our American leaders, so enthralled by outside interests and empowered to use their office for self-enrichment, fail in their duty to achieve the aims of their office. There is no longer a doubt in my mind that people are human, and that these human tendencies to bend circumstances toward self-interest have leaked into “robotic” court reporting. Our ethics culture is a facade. The foxes are guarding the henhouse.

I’ll end with this:

If you see what I see,

the forest and its trees,

please share this missive,

until it reaches the dismissive.

I am not a man known to pray.

God, help us all.

Addendum:

Following this post a Stenonymous source gave me a list of some of the companies Dave Wenhold leads or is a part of.

Source writes:

Miller Wenhold Association Management https://www.mwassociation.com/our-people

Miller Wenhold Capitol Strategies https://www.mwcapitol.com/capitol-pursuits

Dave Wenhold, Dave Wenhold – Contact Us | Dave Wenhold CAE PLC, Dave Wenhold, CEO

Kautter Wenhold Management Group, https://kmgnet.com/who-we-are/dave-wenhold/, Dave
Wenhold, CEO

California Society for Respiratory Care, https://www.csrc.org/board-of-directors, Dave Wenhold
Executive Director and the new lobbyist he hired for NCRA, Wil Kreiger (Farragut Partners), is
listed as “executive staff.”

NCRA, Dave Wenhold, Executive Director https://www.thejcr.com/2024/06/17/ncra-governmentrelations-update-regarding-ongoing-federal-lobbying-efforts/ Farragut Partners, a Washington,
D.C.-based lobbying firm, as well as Executive Director Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC, NCRA’s
Government Relations … In collaboration with the National Court Reporters Association’s
contracted lobbyist Will Krieger, junior partner at Farragut Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based
lobbying firm, as well as Executive Director Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC, NCRA’s Government
Relations Department is pleased to offer the following update regarding proposed legislation

Missouri Academy of Physician Assistants, Missouri Academy of Physician Assistants – Board &
Committees (moapa.org), Dave Wenhold, Executive Director

Federation of Manufactured Homes of America, Management Team Kautter Wenhold
https://www.fmo.org/assets/docs/FMO_MAGAZINE_YEAR_END_2022.pdf, Dave Wenhold,
Management Team

Illinois Court Reporters Association, https://www.ilcra.org/executive-board. Dave
Wenhold, Executive Director

Spill Control Association of America, https://www.scaa-spill.org/contact-us, Dave Wenhold,
SCAA Staff

Association of Teleservices International, https://atsi.org/page/capitol-hill, Dave Wenhold,
Washington Legislative Counsel

Genesis Hockey Club, https://www.genesishockeyclub.com/bod, Dave Wenhold, Director

This list is only partial as the true number of other associations Dave is directly or indirectly acting as an executive director for is unknown

Bulletin: National Court Reporters Association Disbanding NCRA Strong…

The headline is more or less the post. It’s come to my attention that the National Court Reporters Association will be discontinuing the NCRA Strong task force, later known as the NCRA Strong committee.

NCRA Strong was working on a great many things including gathering information about digital and AI failures. And from my own time there, I can honestly say that we were hamstrung every single step of the way by NCRA’s administration and organization. There were always excuses as to why things couldn’t, wouldn’t, or shouldn’t be done. They mothballed our white paper up until I published that they had mothballed the white paper and then quietly discontinued the committee within a year or so after. What an outrageous thing to do.

This marks a turning point in NCRA’s ethos. We should leave it in the dust bin where it belongs and form a new national association. If you haven’t dropped your membership yet, here’s your sign.

Always remember that the association was able to address the lies promoted by the Speech-to-Text Institute. It instead let independent publishers and activists like myself hang in the wind. The Speech-to-Text Institute, after being accused of fraud, quietly shut down its website in 2023.

And what a coincidence that NCRA Strong members validated some of my work indirectly and they’re now being disbanded. Some will blame Keith Lemons. Some will blame Dave Wenhold. Whatever the case, the National Court Reporters Association has indelibly proven itself to be an entity that does more harm than good by giving volunteers the feeling that they are doing good while quietly snuffing out anything that actually does good. It’s a political play that I can see a mile away, and I’m hopeful my fellow court reporters do too. We are being sabotaged and the knives have finally come out.

There’s some rumor of a new replacement committee. What does that accomplish? Pushing the people that have been doing this for years out of the seat for people that can be coached and directed easier.

I have a message from someone close to my heart. Go rogue. Get shit done.

NCRA Town Hall: A to Z, Public & Government Relations

I attended the National Court Reporters Association Town Hall today with President Jason Meadors, and boy, am I glad I did. It gave me confidence that the association and its leaders are pushing hard to represent the interests of members. The entire session was almost exactly an hour, so there’s a lot to unpack.

Present at the meeting were, as stated, NCRA President Jason Meadors, Executive Director Dave Wenhold, Max Curry, a Past President and Chair of the A to Z committee, Annemarie Roketenetz, Director of Communications & PR, and Jocelynn Moore, Director of Government Relations. The meeting started off with a lengthy discussion from Max Curry about the A to Z program, and he took the time to explain where the program started and how it was completely revamped. According to Mr. Curry, A to Z began with about 50 boots-on-the-ground programs in the states. That fell away when the pandemic happened, and most programs closed. Programs in Texas, Tennessee, Minnesota, and California all went remote, which showed that the program could be done remotely. A new vision has come into place where the program can be done remotely and all of the resources can be centralized behind the program, with fewer boots-on-the-ground programs. Eight programs will be done a year, four asynchronous and four live. This is to capture the different kinds of learners — ones that can learn on their own AND people that need interactivity to succeed.

One of the truly exciting plans was for a landing page that can be centralized that brings people back to A to Z. NCRA is planning to reach out to organizations and associations to have them host a button or link to the landing page, creating a spiderweb or net that helps catch all the people that might be interested in this wonderful career and bring them back to the NCRA’s A to Z to give steno a try. They may ask firms to donate $5 to $10 of their Search Engine Optimization budget to help bring people to the landing page. NCRA President-Elect Kristin Anderson’s Houston President’s Party will act as a fundraiser for SEO dollars to ramp up advertising about court reporting and captioning as careers.

Lisa Dennison also spoke and informed us that 15 A to Z scholarships were given out at $750 per award. NCRA interacted with ASCA, the American School Counselor Association, getting school counselors’ contact information, adding them to a contact list, and getting them information about court reporting. It was mentioned that the communications team has been working on Instagram, QR Codes, and other ways to spread the message. Reliance donated money for student memberships for previous A to Z graduates, which helped grow association membership as well.

It was mentioned that NCRA continues to work with vendors such as Advantage, ProCAT, and Stenograph. The StenoCAT iPad app, iStenoPad, was also described as a way to simplify the logistics of getting stenotypes to participants.

It was explained that last year 295 students were picked up by A to Z. Max Curry clarified that some local programs do not coordinate with headquarters, so numbers from those programs are unavailable. Ms. Dennison asked that participant lists be sent to the NCRA so that better data can be compiled.

A quote by Brianna Coppola was shared. “I have never seen or heard of another ‘career test drive’ course. It really spotlights the encouragement within the community of reporters and their love for their jobs and dedication to the field.”

Dineen Squillante asked about the possibility of reaching out to departments of labor in each state. Lisa Dennison responded that it was something that could be looked into.

2022 Program Leaders and Speakers were thanked. It’s an extensive list, and I feel they deserve the recognition.

Ms. Dennison made it clear that the door was open to anyone that wanted to reach out on A to Z.

Annemarie Roketenetz talked a little bit about plants for Court Reporting & Captioning week, and a lot about the many endeavors of NCRA. She also mentioned that a number of press releases would be made, leading up to a larger press release that will link back to all the smaller ones. This is in line with dispatching our news and events regularly, and a very smart move on NCRA’s part. Several events were mentioned. Review the Town Hall recording at the Learning Center for more, I cannot do it justice in print. Our PR and communications are in good hands.

Mr. Meadors noted that Legislative Bootcamp has been called a “money grab.” He stated NCRA does not make money on bootcamp and reiterated what an important program it really is.

Jocelynn Moore expounded on bootcamp, explaining that it is extremely immersive training on how to be effective grassroots lobbyists. She stated that the training is “going to give you all of the tools necessary to go in front of a legislator, oppose legislation that doesn’t agree with the profession, or advocate for a bill coming through. Some of the topics covered will be “politics 101,” how associations work, and how you can mobilize with other members in your state to move forward on a particular issue.

The Training for Realtime Writers Act was mentioned. It was also mentioned that it will be difficult to reintroduce this under a Congress attempting to cut spending. More information will be provided on that at bootcamp, but also more on the situation from Indiana. Participants will learn how to advocate in front of different parties and teach members to speak to legislators, because legislators do not always have all of the information we have about our field.

Ms. Moore continued on to talk about the Indiana issue. The proposed prohibition of stenographers from Indiana courts was revealed. We learned that NCRA began a grassroots campaign to find out what happened and why the proposed change was introduced. The organization has found difficulty getting information about the change, but finds the language to be discriminatory and mandatory, robbing judges of their discretion and forcing them not to use a stenographer.

It was a packed hour. My only criticism of the event would be that they ran out of time for questions. But you know what? It happens. President Meadors directed that efforts should be made to record questions asked and that efforts would be made to have them answered. Everything wrapped up with Dave Wenhold thanking the participants for coming out on a Saturday. He said that if you get any information on Indiana, you can pass it to him or Ms. Moore. President Meadors noted that just showing up and asking questions meant participants were dedicated to the profession. The meeting subsequently came to a close.

Refinement of the programs we have is going to seize the day here. Leadership is doing something very impressive. My opinion may not count for much, but I’d thank each of them for the hard work that they do and continuing to fight for this profession. It’s inspiring, and I hope reading a little about it has inspired all of you.

The Learning Center can be used to locate and view past Town Halls.

Correcting the Record on Dave Wenhold and NCRA

Some months ago, I was writing about a plot in our industry. In its loosest sense, this deals with Veritext, US Legal, and my documenting that the companies tend to spend a lot of energy building digital court reporting at the expense of stenography. In my view, both companies and the Speech-to-Text Institute appear to be crafting a narrative rather than responding to legitimate shortage concerns. “We cannot recruit enough stenographers from the 40 to 80 stenography schools nationwide, but we can somehow fill demand with digital reporters and Blueledge.” It’s not a believable position. To this day, I’m making efforts to determine whether there is actual cooperation among competitors, a sort of tacit parallelism where major players in our industry all suddenly and “independently” decided that digital reporting was the future, or something else. The motivation would be money. By making our market out to be an emerging market that investors can be first in on and omitting the fact that there’s a well-established profession, more low-information investors can be drawn in and more capital can be raised. My work is largely about restructuring the discussion from “the stenographer shortage is irreversible” to “we beat it.”

In the course of my writing and documentation in December 2021, I began experiencing psychosis symptoms. This culminated in a nasty bout of paranoid thinking where I made some crazy claims. Specifically, claims attaching Dave Wenhold and the National Court Reporters Association to the plot claims. I do want to clear this up for my readers: Dave Wenhold and NCRA have done nothing wrong. On all the available evidence I have today, Dave’s been a leader and friend to stenographers for many, many years. I’ve written before that I generally admire Dave Wenhold. I think he’s brilliant. My more negative thoughts about him and the NCRA were a side effect of the distorted thinking I was experiencing during my medical situation in December and some months afterwards.

I’m deeply sorry for some of what came out of Camp Christopher Day. I have no problem being a “bad guy” if it’s justified. But I stand firmly against misinformation. To the extent that I gave my readers misinformation that caused them to believe NCRA or Dave Wenhold are not working for stenographers, it’s a problem I need to address. The claims I made about them were largely motivated by a broken mind coupled with some bad information. I should not have written things I did in December.

There are a lot of promising things coming out of Camp NCRA that members can get behind. The organization is calling for volunteers and has launched an advocacy center. The advocacy center’s first move seems to be focusing on the Training for Realtime Writers Act. If successful, we can expect an expansion of stenographic education, as more dollars will flow to schools. If that’s something you’re interested in supporting, head over to the advocacy center page and send a message of support to your elected representative. NCRA’s made it easy for you, just fill in your address and it will assist you in contacting your rep.

It’s an exciting time to be in this industry. We are finding our footing in a data economy. It may be worthwhile for NCRA to continue to collect and publish statistics on our field, but especially rate data. For over a decade, a myth has pervaded our field that associations can never discuss rates. I surveyed nearly 100 court reporters last year. Over 72% reported that they did not have a good grasp on antitrust law. Over 86% had heard that associations can never discuss rates.

Stenonymous Project Phoenix survey results.

Despite the ubiquity of the rumor, it is untrue that associations can never discuss rates. In fact, the FTC itself states that many trade associations share aggregated data with members. I’ve clipped out the relevant text from the FTC site for my audience.

This is important for a number of reasons. My survey results showed a dire need for antitrust education that NCRA or a private vendor could jump on to increase revenue. Aggregated rate data on our field would help attract investors, new blood, and entrepreneurs to our field. The data collection could be featured in the JCR and increase the value of membership and the publication. Imagine, in the not-so-distant future, mentors being able to concretely tell mentees average rates and earnings. It would be a monumental project for NCRA alone, but perhaps the National Congress of State Associations can be mobilized to train and organize the state associations to provide state data, which could then be fed up the pipeline to NCRA every quarter.

I pledge to do my part, remain in treatment, and continue to platform people and support this profession. If any of my readers need clarification on my work, please comment below or reach out to me at contact@stenonymous.com.