Live from Legal IT 3.0: Ross Kodner of MicroLaw
We'll be checking in with some speakers and attendees from Legal IT 3.0 to get their take on the conference and the conversation there. First up is Wisconsin-based legal technology consultant Ross Kodner, founder of the legal technology consulting company MicroLaw.
Ross is a panelist at Legal IT 3.0 this year, speaking at several sessions on topics that include, "The 'Free' Law Firm", "Achieving the Paperless Office" and "90 Tips in 90 minutes." He's also been Twittering updates from the conference (@rkodner).
We reached out to Ross to give his impressions from Montreal of the conference, the biligual aspect, and the pros and cons of using Twitter from a legal conference.
Read more after the jump:
Lisa Kennelly: What are your overall impressions of the conference?
Ross Kodner: This is my first time at Legal IT as both a speaker and attendee. I’m very impressed with the degree of organization – very efficiently run. I was on both the TECHSHOW and LegalTech boards for five years and have started several conferences so I’m pretty good at noticing the little behind-the-scenes details that can be indicative of disorganization or a lack of attention to detail. I saw no such thing here – all very professional – Dominic Jaar and his volunteer team have refined their approach in a very short three-year period and are to be commended.
For an American, primarily English-speaking presenter, the bilingual element of the conference adds a fascinating twist – as a Canadaphile/Francophile with a long-ago French minor as an undergrad, I got to try a little of my rusty French on the audiences – who actually seemed to appreciate it. So a delightfully different experience from the presenter’s perspective v. my typical American presentations.
In terms of programming, I was impressed with the variation in sessions – a strong e-discovery slate, Web 2.0/social media as well as mainstream Microsoft Office, paper management, tips and similar “see it, then go use it” topics. One notable omission – not a single session addressing practice management systems EXCEPT for a program about the SaaS angle on these products.
In my opinion, this program offers enough depth of content and a faculty impressive enough to warrant traveling to from literally anywhere in the world. Certainly part of the attraction would be an opportunity to spend time in Montreal (and perhaps a side-trip to Quebec City) – one of the world’s great metropolises.
Lisa Kennelly: What session or panel have you found most interesting or compelling?
Ross Kodner: At the risk of sounding self-serving, I think the version of my Paper LESS Office program co-presented with Sam Coppola was the best version of that particular program I’ve experienced. After my usual exposition of the Paper LESS Office process, Sam then talked about how he’s become Paper LESS inside of a Paper MORE very large Canadian law firm. The counterpoint of the “in practice” version that I do with his “here’s what I actually do in my own office, even though the rest of the firm doesn’t” seemed to really strike a chord with the audience.
And of course, Craig Ball’s “Power Persuasion for PowerPoint” was as always, highly entertaining while being incredibly practical and insightful. I feel inspired every time I’ve seen this program (and I think I’ve seen it at least a dozen times) – there’s NO CLE presenter anywhere who can hold an audience’s attention the way Craig can – it shows how devastatingly effective he must have been in front of juries in his trial practice days.
Lisa Kennelly: What kind of response have you received, if any, from attendees at your presentations yesterday?
Ross Kodner: I’ve been stopped by several attendees who said they came specifically to see my programs live – I can’t imagine have been any more flattered – it was amazingly kind of them to say. Several attendees also complimented me on my attempts to speak French (I know they were just being polite parce que mon francais est vraiment terrible!) The audience seemed to enjoy the fact that I so thoroughly enjoy their city – I had wonderful conversations with several people here about my love and exaltation of Schwartz’s Deli and St. Viateur Bagels!
Lisa Kennelly: What do you like about twittering from conferences? What value do you feel it provides to your followers?
Ross Kodner: I think that Twittering from or about a conference brings the experience to those who can’t attend in a way that gives them the flavor of attendance with a time and attention commitment. Frankly, I can’t imagine a better way to attract future attendees than to “Twitter Tease” them with the experience they could have had. So I see it as a strong marketing vehicle for future attendance and current conference brand extension. For me personally, I hate it – it takes my attention away from the live experience – I SHOULD be participating in “the moment” instead of projecting it so OTHERS can experience their own “moment.” So I’m torn about Twittering at conferences – I see both sides – positive value for the Twitterees, loss of some of the experience for the Twitterer.
