Court Reporters Compete for Guinness Book of World Records on August 8

VIENNA, Va. - Aug. 7, 2013 - PRLog -- For more than 100 years, the National Court Reporters Association has held the National Speed Contest to find the fastest stenographers in the country.  This year, the organization will also hold the competition for the Guinness Book of World Records and will try to beat the record that was set in 2004 by NCRA member Mark Kislingbury of Houston, Texas.   In 2004, Kislingbury set the Guinness record with a speed of 360 words per minute and an accuracy surpassing 97 percent.  All of the typing is done in steno, which is a type of shorthand for court reporters and captioners and they can have different uses, and meanings, for different keys.

Kislingbury will be one of six individuals competing to beat the 2004 record.  NCRA, the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters and captioners, will hold the “Guinness World Record” contest on August 8 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn. at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center (2800 Opryland Dr., Nashville, Tenn. 37214) in the Presidential Ballroom, Salon B (located in the Convention Center).  

Other competitors include Deanna C. Boenau of Sarasota, Fla.; Kathy A. Cortopassi of Dyer, Ind.; Diane K. Kraynak of Midland, Mich.; Stanley H. Sakai of Seattle, Wash.; and Kathryn A. Thomas of Effingham, Ill.   Contestants will take down and transcribe 8 one-minute takes in an attempt to beat the world record.

In addition to the Guinness Book of World Records competition, the NCRA Speed Contest will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 7 from 9 to 10 a.m.  The winner of this contest is determined by the person who has the highest accuracy during three typing competitions.  The goal is to score 95 percent or higher on accuracy.  After typing, competitors are allotted  time to transcribe what they’ve typed into a real document and turn that in for grading.  

Another competition also taking place at the NCRA annual meeting is the Realtime competition where competitors type as quickly as they can, produce a real document, and then walk away, as quickly as possible.  Unlike the Speed Contest, where competitors can spend time correcting, reviewing and finalizing their work, the realtime competitors  have to be fast and accurate.  The Realtime Contest takes place on Thursday, Aug. 8 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.  The highest speed recorded to date for this contest is 280 words per minute.   

The winners for the Speed and Reatime competitions will not be identified until Saturday, Aug. 10, because it takes time to score the documents and go through any disputes.  The winner of the Guinness World Record competition will be announced immediately following the competition.

For additional information on NCRA, please visit www.NCRA.org


About NCRA

The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) is internationally recognized for promoting excellence among those who capture and convert the spoken word to text for more than 100 years. NCRA is committed to supporting its more than 19,000 members in achieving the highest level of professional expertise with educational opportunities and industry-recognized court reporting, educator and videographer certification programs. NCRA impacts legislative issues and the global marketplace through its actively involved membership. Forbes has named court reporting as one of the best career options that do not require a four-year degree and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the court reporting field is expected to grow more than 5 percent in the coming years. For more information, visit www.NCRA.org.