CMO INSIGHTS

The wise Bruce Marcus  checks in to offer  a link to his speech at our recent CMO Conference. Marcus offers great advice and has an amazing amount of common sense, which is very refreshing to encounter from professional marketers. Some are fabulous, but too many, in my experience, too often succumb to brain-numbing Firm Speak and the latest management fads.)

For example, says Marcus, describing his 1983 book, Competing for Clients: "The theme of that book is so revolutionary that people tended to not take it seriously. It was that in today’s environment, the practice of law and accounting are – or should be – guided by the clients, not by the needs of the practice." Sounds obvious, doesn't it. But it's surprising and a bit frustrating that in 2008 he still needs to trumpet that message.

I, too, was at the podium, honored to moderate a panel on "Technology Your Clients Want You to Have," with long-time LTN edit board member, Michael Kraft, of Kraft Kennedy, a NY-based consultancy. IMHO, he is one of the most knowledgeable people around on the topic of technology systems and integration for legal organizations.

We were joined by Suzanne Hawkins -- who has what I think is one of the worst titles in the profession (Chief of Practice Excellence) at the about-to-be-dissolved Heller. It was the first time I had shared the stage with Hawkins, who previously worked for GE, and she offered both firm and corporate insights during the discussion, which ranged from extranets to basic infrastructure to marketing tools.

It was a fast-paced, slightly-rowdy program, my favorite kind! With three very strong egos, it got a bit wild as we all tried to grab mike time, but it was jam-packed with great info and we certainly kept the audience awake. We didn't always agree with each others (Hawkins and I argued about the value of social networking tools), but it sure was interesting!

Thanks to everybody, especially such a great audience (and kudos to co-chairs Larry Bodine and Iris Jones (chief business development and mktg officer of Chadbourne & Parke, as well as Incisive Media's Karen Abrams and her team).