ARMA-GEDDON FOR MY COMPUTER?

Priority Process: My computer died Friday while I was at ARMA (the long-established records management group holding its annual meeting in Orlando) -- and I had to rely on old-fashioned journalism to file my Friday Law Technology News Daily Alert -- I phoned it into the "copydesk" (a.k.a. my wonderful San Francisco colleague Sean Doherty) in order to make my deadline.

The subject of my alert was a terrific late Thursday panel, that was offered as part of the ARMA/ILTA "Lit Con" Legal Information Technology Conference at the World Center Marriott. The experience reminded me of how important process is to accomplish business objectives when exceptional events occur.

And that was the theme of "Processing Departing Attorneys," which featured Thomas Paradise, general counsel of Fox Rothschild, and Mary Pat Poteet, (left) director of litigation support for DLA Piper U.S., and moderator Charlene Wacenske, manager of firmwide records for Morrison & Foerster.

For two hours the panel discussed the challenges managers face when attorneys leave the firm -- whether amicably or unexpectedly — and especially when departees demand to take records with them. In these events, the panel agreed, process is a priority to maintain a consistent and compliant response.

A key goal is to create protocols that help all involved provide an orderly transition of client files, whether they are going with the lawyer to a new firm, or not. It also helps to have established procedures so that everyone knows how voicemail, e-mail and snail mail will be handled, the panelists said. 

Another tip: create a checklist, and in so doing, to solicit ideas from all affected corners of the firm. Designate one person to maintain the list, they suggested. Select a method to insure that all affected personnel receive timely notice of depending departures, and create a SWAT team for sudden disability, deaths, or immediate departures, the panelists advised.

Wacenske said that MoFo has created a Sharepoint site to help the workflow, and Paradise reminded everyone to "make sure your checklist mirrors your other policies." The checklist, they noted, can also help the organization when dealing with litigation holds.  

Later Friday, after filing the alert, I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Ray Davis and Steve Fulmer, of "Inside the Records Room," and you can listen to the podcast here. We discussed a wide range of topics, from e-discovery to social media. (Huge thanks to the ARMA marketing team, especially Jeff Randolph and Ashley Flynn.)

I also had a chance to talk with a few of the vendors at ARMA, including EMC, Autonomy, and DocuLex. It was a quick visit, but very educational. 

And there was good news, when I limped back to the office -- inspired, but exhausted -- and of course, nursing a Disney-land cold (I do not like traveling in economy on planes full of small children with runny noses). I fried my logic board but not my hard drive! 

So my MacBookPro is off to the Apple hospital but should Lazarus AOK. (Why do these things ALWAYS happen at deadline?) Thanks to my IT team for scurrying up a spare laptop for me to limp with until my not-really-beloved MBP arrives home OK. (From now on, I'm never goin' nowhere w/o my Dell). But ya never know how much you like your computer until it crashes. 

COLORADO EDD SUMMIT

Jeffrey Staal, litigation support manager of Denver's Davis Graham & Stubbs, checks in to let you know that the Colorado Association of Litigation Support Professionals will host its third annual E-Discovery Summit on October 30 at the Grand Hyatt Denver.

The event will feature Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck, (right) who is featured in Law Technology News' October "Up Close" will address the creation of a search protocol. 

Other speakers include Beth Niepokuj of Plunkett Cooney, Marcy Heronimus of Sherman & Howard, David Garrett of Stroz Friedberg, Elleanor Chin of Davis, Wright & Tremaine, and Timothy Gordon of Holland & Hart. A cocktail reception ends the day. For more information, contact Staal.

REWARDS TRUMP RISKS

The theme of Monday's ALM program, "Social Media: Risks & Rewards" -- geared at corporate counsel -- was the question of whether the rewards of using new social networking technologies are greater than the risks of using these new tools.

Actually, there's a second layer of risk analysis: Are the hazards of not using social networking so great that you simply must dive in?

Based on conversations during the event, the over-riding consensus of the panelists and attendees at the day-long event, held at New York City's Harvard Club, was that the risks are indeed very real, and that savvy companies must not only protect their intellectual property, and brands — but that there are opportunities to use these same tools to proactively promote their companies.

I moderated the first panel, which featured speakers from MasterCard Worldwide; CNN Worldwide; NBC Universal (are we noting a theme here re: global) and an of-counsel lawyer to a small firm.

MasterCard's Cheryl Givner kicked off the discussion with a funny but spot-on example of how very, very risky it can be ignore criticisms aired on social media, such as YouTube or Twitter. Canadian musician Dave Carroll (www.davecarroll.com), frustrated when United Airlines did not respond to his requests for reimbursement for damage to his Taylor guitar, took his complaint to YouTube -- not once, but twice. 

His musical protest went, in web parlance, "viral" within 48 hours (think Susan Boyle). Carroll's first song got about 350,000 hits within two days, and to date, has more than 5.5 million hits. It even spawned several ancillary spoofs and a serious response from Taylor Guitars (with helpful information about TSA rules, and also an opportunistic pitch that the company could fix just about any guitar). The matter apparently was close to  resolution shortly thereafter. (And United, btw, actively uses Twitter now, with contests and updates, @unitedairlines.)

During the panel, we also fired up the still-famous YouTube video that pokes fun at what happened when Nixon Peabody "lawyered up" to try to squash a viral YouTube feed of its um, er, really perky cheerleader-esque victory song distributed internally after the firm won an award. In one of those you-hadda-be-there-moments, the replay triggered an hilarious spontaneous disclaimer from an attending Nixon Peabody attorney -- that was almost as funny as the YouTube post.

"YouTube video demonstrates the power and reach of social media," observes Givner. "The conference helped to solidify the view that social media is a channel not to be ingored, and has been used successful not only by consumers, but in the corporate and media worlds, as well as in the political arena," she says.

Which segues us perfectly to Andy Mitchell's presentation about how CNN exploited social media -- including an experiment with Facebook -- during the Obama election. His PowerPoint (Download Andy Mitchell - CNN Incisive Media) illustrates some of the ways the two companies integrated their online content, and then even came up with clever ways to brand, market,and promote the tandem (e.g., "build it yourself T-shirts) --even addressing the risk that consumers might get a bit, um, er, cheeky.

Michele Mitchell of NBC Universal, and Nicole Black, of  counsel to Rochester, N.Y.'s Fiandach & Fiandach, rounded out the panel, with excellent advice as to best practices.

Black stayed the entire day, and "live-tweeted" the conference (#lsmc) on Twitter (@nikiblack). She noted how the day's panelists covered a wide range of topics, and considered SocMedia impact "from a marketing and damage control perspective," rather than "the perspective of how lawyers are using it."

One panelist addressed the legal issues raised when companies launch sweepstakes or contests via social media. Noted Black: "It never occurred to me that when marketing runs sweepstakes, what lawyers have to deal with," referring to a discussion of what regulatory requirements can be triggered.  "It's a minefield for the lawyers to make sure that everyone else knows the right procedures and guidelines."

The panels covered a broad range of topics, including how to develop corporate policies for social media (which addresses HR issues, as well as protecting IP, employee free speech, and more, and is a topic we will soon be addressing in Law Technology News). Other speakers addressed how to protect your company's identity and intellectual property. I found particularly interesting Lesley Rosenthal's take on social media for not-for-profits, which raised a panoply of issues not faced by many corporations -- particularly about being careful that all art used in promotions is properly credited and paid for. (She's vice president, GC and secty of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.)

American Express' Mark Bisard cautioned attendees that it's critical to authenticate employees and usernames used for social media; many suggested that companies set up an area on their websites where they list their "official" handles/voices so consumers can be assured they are verified. (Twitter is now offering "verified" status to celebrities such as the Yankees' Nick Swisher (@nickswisher), who are often subject to fakes (just search for Derek Jeter to see a zillion phony handles).

Bisard urges corporate counsel to create numerous policies, for everything from privacy, vendors, internet use, and social media. "Make sure your policies are consistent," says Bisard, "and that your leaders follow your policies." And, he advises, be sure you have a "rapid response plan for when somebody flames you."

These are just a few of the highlights of the event, which we are looking into offering again this year, on the west coast. (Watch the 'Scold for updates, or check www.almevents.com).

Wells Fargo's Paul Mussell -- senior counsel, intellectual property group -- told the GC audience that they "need to where your customers are. If they're on Twitter, be there. Participate -- or others will do so on your behalf," he warned. "Instead of just monitoring social media, interact with the customers. Engage in the conversation; fill in the vacuum."

"Ed Post," the anonymous lawyer/blogger who runs BlawgReview, and Tweets at @blawgreview sums it up: The event, he says, "brought together in-house counsel and corporate lawyers with real experience using social media. Those relatively new to social media learned from others -- such as Mussell -- that the risks are manageable. Sooner than later, all legal counsel will be expected to be adept at advising their corporate clients how to manage those risks."

Said attendee Peter Markman, who is associate general counsel of Progress Software: Social media is "clearly not a fad, because it's just the current extention of communication — which is as old as people themselves. ...The consistent theme was the speed at which things happen, and the need to be prepared and monitor process and respond to things that happen at a pace much faster than anything that would have happened in the past." 

"Ed Post" channels Thomas Paine: "The choices for corporate counsel seem clear: lead, follow, or get out of the way."

LTN associate editor Theodora Blanchfield contributed to this report. 

Updates: Cheryl Givner forwarded this link to a compilation of social media and blogging policies.

Conference chair Bob Ambrogi's post  from Legal Blog Watch. 

Here's Amy Miller's account, from Corporate Counsel , of the Mussell/Bisard panel.

#LSMC SOCIAL MEDIA: RISKS & REWARDS

LTN's associate editor Theodora Blanchfield and I are at the Social Media: Risks & Rewards day-long program at NYC's Harvard Club.

Chaired by LTN's Web Watch columnist (and Law.com Legal Blog Network co-author) Bob Ambrogi, right (@bobambrogi) it's been a fascinating day!

Check out  live tweets from  @lawtechnews (Blanchfield's posts) or @commonscold (moi) @blawgreview ("Ed Post"), @nikiblack (Niki Black), @karasmamedia (Kara Smith)  among others -- or do a twitter search for #LSMC.

Congrats to ALM's Judy Kelly & Henry Dicker for a terrific event.

P.S. Here is the promised link to the 2004 Red Sox MasterCard "advertisement"

SOCIAL MEDIA: RISKS & REWARDS

It's hard to believe that September is finally here!  But yup, it's time to go back to school! (Well, for a day!) I hope you will join Bob Ambrogi and me at the terrific "Social Networking: Risks & Rewards" program at the Harvard Club in New York City on September 21.

Ambrogi is chair of the event, which targets general counsel and their staff. We're going to address everything from "Social Media and the New World Order," to developing social media policies, protecting identity and intellectual property, and more. My panel, "Your Business and the Social Media Sensation," features speakers Michele Mitchell of NBC Universal, Cheryl Givner of MasterCard Worldwide, Nicole Black of Fiandach & Fiandach and Andy Mitchell of CNN Worldwide.

Givner, vice president and managing counsel of MasterCard's WorldWide Marketing & Core Products, offers examples of how powerful social media has become: United Airlines took a lot of heat recently from an unhappy customer who vented (with great humor) on YouTube when baggage broken guitar. The post has been viewed more than 5 million times and is a great example of the business risks of social media, says Givner. And here's the aftermath -- the consumer's statement about United's resolution and gesture of compensation.

And there's an early bird discount, too! Conference organizer Judy Kelly reports that legal bloggers and readers of Law Technology News and our blogs (The Common Scold and EDD Update) can save $50 -- just use promotion code TCS.

#ILTA09 TECH TURB PANELISTS ON LEGAL CURRENT

Kudos to Angie Schaffer and her team at West for a terrific job condensing the wisdom of Monday's speakers on our Tech Turbulence panel into a tight video.

Catch it here on West's Legal Current blog.

#ILTA09 TECH PURCHASING SURVEY

2009 ILTA Survey:  InsideLegal and ILTA have released the 2009 Technology Purchasing Survey, which targets law firms with more than 50 attorneys. Produced in cooperation with InsideLegal.com, the 40 question web-based survey was distributed to 730 firms, and yielded 115 responses, says JoAnna Forshee.

Among key results, the most popular tech implementations for 2008 were network and server upgrades. Budget cuts for 2009 were severe --  only 15% of survey participants spent more than 4% of total firm revenue on technology -- compared to 28% in 2008.

Virtualization -- virtual desktops and data center/backup virtualization -- is by far the hottest trend, the survey found.

And we were happy to see that both Law Technology News and The Common Scold blog continue to draw strong support from the ITLA crowd, with LTN coming in fourth in popularity behind ILTA's own publications (Peer to Peer quarterly magazine and ILTA white papers) and CIO magazine!
For more information visit www.insidelegal.com.

#ILTA09 WHY I LOVE IT LEADERS

So I'm chatting up a couple of my favorite CT Summation dudes, Tom Rump and Bob Hopen, and whining about how I could not believe that I fell asleep in the middle of Letterman and missed the Mark Texeira segment.

"Oh Monica, it's probably already on YouTube," they said.

Sure enough, it is!

#ILTA09 MORE FROM LESS

Monday morning, at the ILTA keynote address, Tom Koulpoulos of the Delphi Group started off the thinking with "Innovating More with Less," which was a bit long but very engaging. Koulpoulos argued that the three major constitutencies (Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y) approach technology through very different eyes. A key point: much innovation has occurred during tough economic news. That's good news, for sure!

Because I do a lot of public speaking, I always listen with two agendas -- one, to learn from the speaker about the subject matter; second to see if there are any kewl thangs I can steal adopt when I speak. I definitely robbed my "please turn to the person next to you and introduce yourself" tactic from a prior person at the podium (I think it was Keith Ferrazzi at Silvia Coulter's RainDance marketing event) but Koulpoulos took it to a new (and insulin-inducing) level when he insisted that we hug our neighbor. Waaaay too kumbaya for me, thank you very much. (Fortunately, I got to hug a very nice and handsome dude, so it wasn't all bad :)

Another thing I notice about speakers is whether or not they take the time to truly tailor their presentation to the audience. That means, at a minimum, going to the organization's website and learning a bit about them. I was so impressed a few years back when ILTA brought Jim Lovell (the Apollo 13 astronaut) and he did exactly that. Since his talk, I always follow one of the "take-aways" from his presentation -- I keep duct tape within close reach at all times. 

My attitude is if I walk away with 1 good idea from a speech it's worth the fidget time of sitting for an hour. Koulpoulos got a solid base hit. But he coulda hit a grand slam -- with just a bit more homework.

#ILTA09 IN TURBULENT TIMES

Numbers Count: ITLA executive director Randi Mayes kicked off the keynote address at ILTA at the Gaylord National Hotel near Washington, D.C., with the relatively-happy news that despite firm travel cuts about 850 members were at the five-day conference.

Later in the day, program manager Peggy Weschler, speaking to the vendors at the ILTA/InsideLegal vendor educational meeting, told the group that there were about 1,400 vendors and consultants in attendance -- which presents a dilemma for the ILTA management team, because they try to keep the members/vendors-consultants ratio at 50/50 to make sure the event maintains its character as a primarily educational event.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the first line item that firms will cut is travel for their support staff, no matter how superb the educational programs are, and how much bang for the buck they deliver. A short-sighted move, of course, but we won't go there.

Weschler firmly cautioned the vendors not to stalk members and pounce on them in efforts to sell their products, acknowledging that these difficult times are hard on the vendors as well as the firms. She predicted that next year, membership attendance would also be down, and sent a strong message that if the vendors abused the privilege of their ratio this year, that next year, the number of available booth slots would be cut back.

She also asked everyone to be cognizant that while a top agenda of ILTA is to provide peer-to-peer networking opptys, that it is the educational component to gets the law firms to approve the travel requests. Her message,  in essence, think twice before you post that picture of your favorite IT director networking after midnight with a glass in hand.

The vendor sessions also addressed the challenges faced by the providers, and included not only a media panel (thank you, JoAnna, for inviting me again), as well as a panel on how vendors can sell effectively to the ILTA crowd.

But just as theme of the keynote (see next post) was "Get More from Less," I personally found the reduced attendance had some unexpected positives (I think ILTA drew about 1,200 members last year, I don't remember Peggy's exact figure). This year, it  feels a little less crowded than Disneyland on a hot, humid Saturday July morning, and that's a good thing.

#ILTA09 HEADING TO D.C.

Heading to Washington, D.C. for #ILTA09, hope to see many of you there. Tomorrow (Monday) I'll be moderating a terrific panel on "tech turbulence" with George Rudoy (Shearman & Sterling), James McKenna, (Morrison & Foerster), and John Roman (Nixon Peabody). At 1 p.m., Woodrow Wilson Room B. We'll be discussing how IT leaders can help their firms survive and thrive in these difficult economic times, while at the same time protecting their teams, their careers -- and adopting "green" protocols.

Following that, I'll be participating in InsideLegal's media panel, organized by JoAnna Forshee and her team.

LTN's associate editor Theodora Blanchfield and I will attending seminars, doing media briefings (sorry, we are completely full and can't take any more reservations), and hope to have some time to wander the exhibit hall show floor. Hope to see you there!

USF LEGAL EMPLOYMENT SYMPOSIUM

My alum, the University of San Francisco School of Law, is offering a symposium on 9/17 to help law students and lawyers negotiate the changing legal landscape. It will include four panel discussions, featuring legal commentators, practitioners, and folks (like me) who have pursued non-traditional legal careers.

The program will focus on:

* The business of running a successful law practice.

* Nuts and bolts of going solo/small firm. 

* Alternative careers for lawyers who don't practice law. 

* Possible law firm models for the future.

For more info, click here.  Panelists here.

#LTWC: NETWORKING OLD & NEW

We did some old-fashioned networking -- the kind where you actually talk in person -- at our "Green Your Career" breakfast at LegalTech West Coast -- where we had a packed house full of job seekers, vendors, and law firm folks. I'm already hearing from some attendees that the event may have linked at least one person with a new gig!

Huge, huge thanks to the generosity of the vendors who provided so many gift cards that we were able to give every job seeker at least two! Thank you!

And thanks to our speakers -- Brad Blickstein, Tom Collins, Babs Deacon, John Lipsey, Mary Mack, Mark Reichenbach, John Tredennick, and  J. Craig Williams for such terrific outreach and discussions.

Good luck to the folks who are looking for work, and thanks for joining us!

Later Thursday, we put the spotlight on another kind of networking, with our Twitter panel. Matt Homann (@matthomann), of LexThink, started off the discussion, with his excellent job of "framing" the discusssion, and was followed by LexBlog's Kevin O'Keefe (@kevinokeefe), who always makes you want to run right out and try the sites and tips he offers.

Practicing lawyers Denise Howell (solo, @dhowell) and Nina Goldberg (associate at Baker Hostetler, @ninakat) discussed how they use Twitter in their law practice. Howell was stellar as always, and Goldberg -- in her first podium gig -- proved to be a natural born speaker, as she focused on how as a relatively new lawyer she finds Twitter both useful -- and entertaining.

Thanks to all for a fascinating panel!

Our colleague Sean Doherty was unable to attend the show, but that didn't stop him from providing an overview of some of the new products that were launched at the event, including the revamp of CompuLaw's Deadlines on Demand website, and a new service called Litovation, from IKON.  Check it out here.

PECK & WAXSE HOLD COURT AT ROUND TABLE

Fascinating dinner last night with the Fios (see below) gang, to kick off LegalTech West Coast. Mary Mack and Debbie Caldwell were among the orchestrators of the evening, which featured two prominent U.S. Magistrate Judges who you have been reading a lot about (in Craig Ball's EDD column): Andrew Peck, (far left) of the Southern District of NY, and David Waxse (left) , of the District of Kansas. It was a sneak preview, of sorts, of tomorrow's keynote address at LegalTech West Coast.

Mary Mack moderated the eat-and-talk roundtable discussion, which drew about 25 lawyers and one summer associate for an off-the-record discussion of recent discovery trends. Peck recently caused a lot of heat with his Gross case ruling, a "wake up call to the bar" chastising attorneys about sloppy searches and failure to truly cooperate with opposing counsel (See Ball's June column), Waxse authored the key  Williams v. Spring/United Management Co. case in 2006.(See ABA Journal's "These Cases Rock").

The two men interact well together and quickly drew the audience into the discussion, which covered a lot of territory running from ethics to how EDD requests are sometimes used to bully the other side into submission because the sheer cost of production.

Both judges -- along with Tom Allman and moderator Carole Basri -- will be presenting the Thursday keynote (immediately following our "Green Your Career" networking breakfast for jobseekers) at LegalTech West Coast, at the LA Convention Center. Don't miss it. These two judges are entertaining, and substantive, and it's bound to be a great panel. For information, visit www.legaltechshow.com -- or just come on' over to the LA Convention Center!

GREEN YOUR CAREER: A NETWORKING BREAKFAST

This erratic economy has been tough on everybody, but none more so than the members of our legal technology community who have lost their jobs. It's difficult, scary, and challenging for even the most self-confident professionals.

Our Incisive gang wants to help -- so we decided to team up at LegalTech West Coast and offer a simple, heartfelt gesture: On day 2 (Thursday June 25) we will host a very informal, free "Green Your Career" networking breakfast, from 7:45--8:45 a.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

It will be co-hosted by Law Technology News and law.jobs, with the support of the LegalTech crew, and has a straightforward format:  We're inviting job seekers -- as well as vendors and law firm leaders (even if you do not currently have an available opening).

For the first half-hour, we'll just schmooze together, and enjoy coffee, tea, danish, etc. — i.e., a chance to "work the room."  Then we'll gather at round tables, where at each table a leader of our community will talk about how he or she survived/thrived thru a career transition. Among the scheduled speakers are:

• John Tredennick, who was a litigator partner at Holland & Hart when he spun off Catalyst Respository Systems.
• Tom Collins, former owner of Juris Inc., who survived cancer and now is a murder mystery novelist!
• J. Craig Williams, who shuttered his small firm and joined Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold.
• Mary Mack, renowned counsel at Fios Inc.
• Brad Blickstein, who opened his own consultancy to help businesses serve corporate legal departments, after working in magazine publishing.
• Babs Deacon, who was one of the SPi folks who lost jobs last winter, who is the new director of consulting at Integreon, based in New York.
• Mark Reichenbach, who just joined Capital Legal Solutions after losing his gig at i365.
• John Lipsey, who left law practice to work for legal technology vendors, and now works for Martindale Hubbell Connected. 

The event is FREE -- and all attendees will be invited to stick around and visit our exhibit hall and the Day 2 Keynote Address (immediately following the breakfast) on us.

Job seekers will be encouraged to post their resumes on lawjobs.com, and all firms/vendors who attend will get free access to lawjobs.com (for a limited period, of course).

Again, just a simple concept:  let's provide an hour of inspiration, nurturing, contacts, and networking. 

Please come, whether you need a job, or just want to offer encouragement. And if you are coming to show support, please bring along a gift card (you can pick them up at most supermarkets or drug stores), so we can give a day brightener "party favor" to each job seeker. It can be just a few dollars (or more if you can tithe a bit more generously) -- to a national "chain" such as Starbucks, Target, Macy's, Chevron, Von's, movies, SuperCuts -- you get the picture. Something practical and upbeat that will lift spirits!

(If you can't attend and want to send a gift card, mail them to us c/o Law Technology News, 120 Broadway, 5th floor, NYC 10271.)

Job seekers: Come for warmth, support and new contacts! If you e-mail us at lawtech@incisivemedia.com, we'll have a badge ready for you (and that will help us make sure we have enough coffee and danish). But you can also just show up.

Firms/vendors: If you do have a spot open, what a better place to find great talent? And even if you don't, you might tomorrow -- so bring lots of business cards.

And as an added incentive for technology vendors: We will raffle off a wonderful lunch or dinner with moi (you can even use the word "solution" and I will promise to try not to cringe) where you can tell me about your company's plans, products and services and get a great meal on LTN!

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!  Visit www.legaltechshow for details, or e-mail LTN at lawtech@incisivemedia.com.

LAST but not least: Please help spread the word!  Twitter this! Blog this! Reprint this post freely! Let's get viral! The permalink is http://tinyurl.com/LTWCbkf. Twitter hash: #LTWC.

Update: Great news! The Los Angeles County Bar Association (which offers career resources on its website, has joined us as a co-sponsor of the breakfast!!

#SESNY: BUBBLING ABOUT GUY KAWASAKI

Guy Kawasaki mesmerized the SRO crowd today at the NY Hilton, when he gave the kickoff keynote address at our Search Engines Strategies conference. #SESNY.

Kawasaki is smart and irreverent, two of my favorite personality traits, and gave a crash course in using Twitter as a marketing tool. I think it will take me days to absorb all of his advice, but among the top tips:

• Retweeting is one of the best measures of your success. (How many folks re-post your posts).
• Twittercounter tracks the most popular sites (currently, @cnnbrk)
• "Forget the A list" -- instead of thinking "trickle down," it's better to have evangelists "bubble up" with enthusiasm about your products or services.
• It's important to have lots of "followers," but what really matters are "direct messages" and "@ replies."
• If you are serious about wanting to use Twitter as a marketing device, you probably want helpers who can post for you.
• Another key to success is the quality of the links that you put in your posts.

Guy demo'd a slew of third-party programs, everything from TweetDeck to ReTweetist, that he uses to monitor his own site, and his company site, Alltop.com.  He graciously offered to give attendees his bookmark list, which I will post here once we get it.

Bottom line: If you have a chance to hear Guy, don't miss it. He will make your teeth hurt with all his ideas (some, he admits, are controversial) and is big fun.

Update: here's his list.

WHAT I HATE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY: UPDATE!

I'm thrilled to announce that CommVault,  which offers e-discovery services, has just signed on to sponsor our upcoming "Trifecta" -- that includes a live program at LTNY09, six podcasts, and a report on the panel in Law Technology News and Corporate Counsel!

Anthony Paonita, editor-in-chief of Corporate Counsel magazine, and I are organizing the panel, and it should be a flat-out blast. We've got a GREAT crew of speakers, and a great topic: "What I Hate About Technology - and what i expect my outside counsel, opposing counsel, vendors and staff to do about it!"

Like our inaugural "FutureTech" program at LegalTech West Coast, this program is modeled on the famous TED lectures, with each speaker presenting a standalone, 12-minute presentation. Each one will be recorded as a podcast for my Law Technology Now podcast series. And then we'll have at least one article in LTN and CC based on the panel!

So on Tuesday (Feb 3) at 3:30-5, come hear about GC departments' pet peeves and  wish lists. Whether you are outside counsel, a vendor, or also in GC offices, you're bound to hear pragmatic, real-world information that can help you help your organization -- and your own career.

 
Scheduled speakers include  Alexander Arato of CA, Ted Banks, formerly of Kraft Foods,  David Cambia, of Aon Corp., Deena Coffman, discovery director at Johnson & Johnson, Janine Dascenzo, associate general counsel of GE, and Kim Townsan, of United Technologies Corp.

And the wonderful Ted Banks wrote a nice little hyberbolic inflammatory article in our January issue of Law Technology News, which you can read here to get you in the mood.

I'm so looking forward to this program!

TWEET TWEET @ LTNY

We've decided to add a Twitter panel to LTNY, and what a panel it is:

  "What is Twitter and How Can I Use It?"  Monday, Feb. 2, from 3 to 4 p.m., in the 3rd floor Hilton West Ballroom (same one being used for the general sessions).

Among the questions we'll address:
* At the end of the day is Twitter the “ultimate time waster” or a “great tool”?
* From 'huh?" to "a ha!" - one lawyer's journey into the Twitterverse.  -- alternative title "How I learned to stop worrying and love to Tweet!"  
* Time to Tweet?  How to use Twitter without losing time to Twitter.
* Lawyers, Twitter and Client Development *How lawyers are using Twitter for sharing and camaraderie among each other.

Panelists:
Matthew Homann, Founder, LexThink  Twitter: /matthomann
Kevin O’Keefe, Chief Executive Officer,Lex Blog,  LexTweet.com,
T: /kevinokeefe
Chris Winfield, President, 10e20, T: /chriswinfield

Special guest Robert J. Ambrogi, (T: /bobambrogi) author of LTN's Web Watch column, and co-author of Legal Blog Watch and Lawyer2Lawyer podcast, will handle the introductions, and will "live Tweet" from the event!

Moderator: Monica Bay:  T: /commonscold, /eddupdate, /lawtechnews

Not signed up yet for LTNY09? Register here.  T: /legaltechshow

In the meantime, if you wanna do some homework, check out:

• "Tweet 16:" by Ambrogi, from LTN:  

•  Lawyer2Lawyer's "The Pros and Cons of Twitter," here.  (Ambrogi/J.Craig Williams, with guests Kevin O'Keefe and Scott Greenfield.)

• Crowell's Jeffrey Brandt suggests this article from Computerworld.  ("CIOs who Twitter.)

• From Stephen Nipper: 

http://is.gd/4EDR
http://is.gd/4EDS
http://is.gd/4EDT
http://is.gd/4EDU
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SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR GC TEAMS

Heads up, GC teams -- Our legal events team is offering a special discount for the upcoming Mastering the Discovery Process for the General Counsel program, which will be held Monday and Tuesday (Nov 3 & 4) at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel, sponsored by our colleagues at Corporate Counsel magazine.

CLE and CPD credits available. Members of GC teams can attend for a special discount rate of $795. (Vendors are welcome to attend at $2,495.)  Just use promo code EDDU.

 

The event is chaired by Jonathan Siegfried, right, partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf, and faculty includes Craig Ball, Law Technology News' award-winning e-discovery columnist, as well as Alexander Arato (CA), Courtney Barton (Crowell & Moring), Michael Berman (Rifkin, Livingston), Laura Buckland, (T-Mobile USA), Christopher Clark (Dewey), Scott Cohen & Brad Ruskin (Proskauer), Judges James Francis & Andrew Peck,  Stephen Ludlow (Open Text Corp.), Scott Martin & Bruce Meyer (Weil Gotshal), James McGinnis (Sheppard Mullin), Kent Roger (Morgan Lewis), Jay Safer (Locke Lord), David Shonka (US FTC), Alexander Vasilescu (SEC), Robert Weiner (McDermott), Milt Williams (Time Inc.) and Michael Zweig (Loeb & Loeb).

Here's the brochure with further 411: Download masteringdiscovery.pdf- 8-28.pdf

DOHERTY @ ILTA

I wasn't able to attend this year's ILTA conference due to our move to new Incisive Media HQ in downtown NYC -- that coincided directly with the close of the September LTN issue -- but my trusty colleague, Sean Doherty offers his usual superb analysis of the show, here. And here.

From all reports, it was its usual excellent event, and I'm looking forward to next year's event, at the latest sauna venue -- just outside of Washington, D.C. I keep begging them to schedule their annual August fete in Alaska, but they ain't listening. But the great programs are worth all the humidity. :)

A WONDERFUL TRADITION

What a fun evening last night (August 12) at the Dome in Mpls, for our SIXTH annual Twins/Yanks fest! Michael Medwig, Marnie Maroney & I hosted the event, which drew about 50 folks for a lively evening of beisbol and conversation!

We had a blast in section 222, with contingents from Thomson/Reuters/West, Kroll, Merrill, the EDD consultants gang, Teri "Jersey Girl" McCarron and her entourage, Amy Juers' Edge Legal Marketing crew, Dorsey, Parsinen Kaplan, et al. It was also delightful that LTN's former associate editor, Katie Montgomery and her mom could join us! What a great group.

It was great opportunity to see everybody, chat about the latest developments, and see a great game, with so many ups and downs that the fans of both teams were happy. (The Yanks won, but only after the Twins' Delmond Young hit a home run off Mariano Rivera to take the game into extra innings).

Thanks to everybody for joining us for such a memorable evening! Thanks as always to the Twin's fabulous Luis Breazeale and Lisa Rasmussen for taking such very good care of us!

Here's a quick photo album.

MO MAILBAG #080806

Still more incoming:

• Kevin Hunt checked in from July's American Association of Law Libraries Portland (Ore) meeting to let us know that West posted a "Westcast" with Leonard Lee, about how the "Google generation" is approaching legal research. Check it out here.

And on the Westblog, Bob Azman, vp of West's "customer experience operations," invites you to contact him directly about your experiences and needs — echoing a theme of our July LTN cover story by Alvin Podboy, who dares legal librarians to start talking to legal publishing vendors. For more info, you can reach Hunt here.

• Update on the laptop seizures controversy: The Association of Corporate Travel Executives' exec director Susan Gurley testified before Congress about the ongoing controversy over seizures of business travelers' laptops. Details here.

• LTN's Safia Maharaj found this tech/beisbol/charity item, "Text Me Out to the Ballgame" -- about a pilot project between the Washington Nationals and MLB.com (major league baseball's website) to raise money for the Children's National Medical Center's proposed Diabetes Care Complex. During the day game on 7/13, fans were invited to text "NATS" to 90999 to donate $5 -- a tactic also used during the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium to raise money to fight breast cancer. Clever and painless -- and less expensive than a soda at the Stadium. Let's see more of these! Check out the Mobile Giving Foundation here.

• Last call! The deadline's been extended until tomorrow (Friday) to nominate your company for the 2009 LTN Vendor Awards, which will presented at LegalTech New York in February. Check it out here.  It's quick and easy, and as they say re: the New York Lottery, if you don't enter, you can't win.

LEGALTECH PODCASTS FROM FUTURETECH TRACK

They're up! Our "six-pack" of podcasts from the "TomorrowLand" panel of the Law Technology News presents FutureTech track at last month's LegalTech West Coast are now available at Law.com's Law Technology Now site. (You can also find it at the Legal Talk Network, and on iTunes!)

You can listen to the predictions and wisdom from Tom Baldwin, Craig Ball, Doug Caddell, Peter Hsiao, Judith Flournoy, and J. Craig Williams, and download PowerPoints. With a nod to Disneyland's iconic venue, we looked forward to the "tomorrows" of legal technology.

It took quite a team effort to make this happen. First, thanks to our audience for graciously helping us with the bumps and gurgles that happen when recording a live program. Your enthusiasm (and patience) was much appreciated as we coped with the Murphy's Law tech problems! We learned a lot that will help future efforts! (Cue the cute kid with the big hair and the dog -- "The sun will come up...Tomorrow!")

Second, thanks to our amazing speakers, who stepped up to the proverbial plate to deliver amazing content. You are terrific!

Third, thanks to BlueArc, our sponsor of the live program and the podcasts, for joining us on this inaugural effort. (Be sure to visit their website to learn about their network storage offerings). 

Finally, Huge, huge, huge thanks to the indefatigueable teams at Law.com, the Legal Talk Network , and Law Technology News, including Jill Windwer, Lu Ann Reeb and her entire team, and Katie Montgomery and Russ Curtis for unending support.

Enjoy the podcasts!

Hat tip to Craig Ball for the graphic!

LEGALTECH WEST COAST - SHOW FLOOR

LegalTech West Coast 2008 was a two-day whirlwind of exhibits, demos, programs, parties, and networking.

I'm still on the road, but here's some shots of the Exhibit Hall, by LTN's photo editor, Russ Curtis (www.russcurtis.com).

Thanks to all the vendors, panelists, and attendees who made LTWC 2008 a wonderful experience

Enjoy!

HEADIN' TO LEGALTECH WEST COAST

Quick last minute reminder that Thursday in LA we'll be hosting a Bloggers' Breakfast, in room 508 of the LA Convention Center, where we will celebrate J. Craig William's new book, How to Get Sued (Kaplan Publishing). Do stop by! Everybody's welcome -- bloggers and readers of blogs. I will be doing my Vanna White hostess impression!

If you are a non-vendor blogger, you can get a free full conference pass -- (and we even have some EVDO cards to lend) -- just give a holler to John Bringardner at legalblogwatch@alm.com

Also, both vendor and non-vendor bloggers are invited to send John links of your posts (also at legalblogwatch@alm.com) because we're dedicating the Legal Blog Watch to LTWC Thursday and Friday, and he wants to link to YOUR coverage!

And in all the conference session rooms the first two rows will be reserved for bloggers with electrical outlet strips.

Speaking of the seminars, content is truly king, and our LTN edit board is front and center with EDD tracks by Craig Ball and George Rudoy, among others. And Friday is FutureTech! (Room 503), LTN's all day track featuring Craig Ball, Doug Caddell, Judi Flournoy, and a host of other top industry leaders. 

Hope to see you there!

Mon, hoping United won't fold between now and July 2.  (Yeah!!! Star Alliance deal with Continental -- the first piece of goooood news from UAL in ages. :)

SNEAK PREVIEW: FUTURETECH AT LTWC

We've been  putting the final touches on the upcoming, first-time ever  Law Technology News Presents FutureTech  at LegalTech West Coast.

We're calling it "The Trifecta" inside ALM, because it's the first time  we've conceived an effort that includes a live presentation, podcasts, and an LTN report.

And I'm updating this post today (June 4) with exciting news: FutureTech will be sponsored by BlueArc, a San Jose-based company that provides "high performance unified network storage systems to enterprise markets, as well as data intensive markets, such as electronic discovery, entertainment, federal government, higher education, internet services, oil and gas and life sciences."

BlueArc supports "both network attached storage, or NAS, and storage area network, or SAN, services on a converged network storage platform." We're thrilled to have them as our sponsor of FutureTech!

Here's the 411:

1. Live: Day-long FutureTech track presentation at LegalTech West Coast (L.A.) on Friday, June 27.

2. Podcasts: Podcast package of six standalone presentations, for our Law Technology Now   podcasts (created in partnership with Law.com and Legal Talk Network).

3. Law Technology News (print/digital/website): We'll run a “FutureTech" story, in the August 2008 edition, based on the topics in the track.

FutureTech Live Program at LegalTech West Coast

Panel description: The legal profession is undergoing a dramatic change as firms face a future where clients expect “better, faster, cheaper” legal services, demand use of technology, and require accountability. No longer can law firms be run behind closed doors, managed like private clubs. Today’s firms must compete to win — and retain — business, and are expected to demonstrate the same priorities as their clients: for quality work, diversity, cost management, and responsiveness. This track will explore how firms and clients are responding to these challenges. 

Law Technology News’ editor-in-chief Monica Bay  will moderate all panels

1. Sell Your Tech 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.
It’s no longer enough for firms to win business based on legal skills alone. Today’s savvy firms realize that they must offer top-line technology to win and keep clients. Our panelist will share how their firms have integrated technology tools, such as extranets and wikis, to increase collaboration and better serve their clients’ expectations.

Doug Caddell  —  CIO, Foley & Lardner.
Rob Kahn — Director, Business Development, Fenwick & West
Robin Solomon – Firmwide Knowledge Manager, Heller Ehrman

Green Law 1:30-3 pm
It’s Not Easy Going Green.... Or is It? Using technology tools to create a “green” workplace will not only lower your energy consumption, it will increase productivity, morale, profits, improve lifestyles and health, cut costs, and help you get, and keep, new clients. How your organization can establish a program, from leadership needed to concrete programs that work.

Alvidas Jasin, Director of Business Development, Thompson Hine
Bruce Lymburn, Partner, Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean
Tony Hoke, Global Technology Purchasing/Asset Manager, Morrison & Foerster

TomorrowLand  3:30-5 pm

Where is legal community headed, and what challenges does it face, as technology becomes embedded in every facet of our lives? From delivering the best possible legal services to our clients; to providing opportunities to excel in the workplace and at home; to confronting the challenges of competing interests in a global economy; it’s a heady challenge to move forward. Named for the iconic futuristic venue at Disneyland, this panel will showcase six legal technology leaders who will forecast what lies ahead — and where opportunities may abound.
 
J. Craig Williams – Partner, The Williams Lindberg Law Firm  (Tech & Law in Multi-jurisdictional Practices)
Craig Ball – Consultant/Attorney (Crystal Ball: Future of E-Discovery)
Douglas Caddell — CIO, Foley & Lardner (Next Generation – Systems & People)
Peter Hsiao — Head, Land Use & Environmental law Group, Morrison & Foerster (CleanTech)
Tom Baldwin — Chief Knowledge Officer, Reed Smith (Relationship Capital) 
Judith Flournoy – CIO, Loeb & Loeb  (Leadership)

I got the idea for the TomorrowLand sessions from TED (Technology Entertainment Design) -- the Silicon Valley think tank that produces amazing conferences where speakers are allowed exactly 18 minutes to talk. That's it. 18 minutes.

I loved the concept, so I'm trying this format (15 minutes) for the third session of the track -- AND -- we are going to tape them to create "Almost Live from LegalTech West Coast" -- six standalone podcasts for my Law Technology Now series (a joint project between Law.com & Legal Talk Network -- you can even subscribe on iTunes!

Finally, the LTN component: We'll produce at least one article in the August LTN, which will be available in print, digital and website versions.

We are tremendously excited about this first-ever Live/Podcast/Print/Digital/Website effort, and we hope you will join us at LegalTech West Coast, on June 27. And listen, and read! About the only media we're NOT doing (yet) is TV -- but don't rule that out for the future. Let me know what you think!

NO ENERGY CRISIS IN NOLA

About 300 people attended this week's Louisiana Bar Association's first Solo & Small Firm Technology Conference -- about three times the number originally expected by the organizers of this nuts-and-bolts conference.

LSBA's Eric Barefield, left, -- who has the long title of Professional Counsel for Law Office Management and Professional Assistance -- was the chief organizer of the program, which not only was a crash course in legal technology but a nifty way to rack up a whole lot of CLE credits in two days.

I was honored to be invited to serve as the lunch speaker, on the topic of blogging, and among the others of our legal tech community who participated were consultant Tom O'Connor, a recent emigre to NoLa, Andy Adkins of the University of Florida (Gainesville) Legal Technology Institute, and the ubiquitous Ross Kodner, president of Milwaukee-based MicroLaw Inc.

O'Connor and Adkins, right, are current LTN editorial advisory board members, Kodner is a former board member, and watching them in action this week reminded me of what talent and energy and heart they bring to our community.

They are three very different personalities, but one common thread permeates all three: a true passion for their work. It's a running joke among all of us that if you are on a panel with Ross Kodner, you better speak first or you will be lucky to speak for 5 minutes. He's a very effective, enthusiastic  speaker, who seems to almost to burst with eagerness to share his expertise with the audience. If we could tap his energy we would be paying 24 cents a gallon for gas again.

I sat in on his "How Not to Commit Malpractice with Your Computer," and was reminded of how effective Kodner, left, can be at the podium. Aside from his dreadful PowerPoints (Ross! Don't cram so much text on each slide!) he's a whirling dervish of practical information, presented with humor and enough person asides to make the potentially dry material very palatable. In fact, often compelling.

Perhaps the best part of his presentation was when he showed an actual BigFirm document (redacted to remove any identifying material) to demonstrate how a huge firm got fired when its client was able to read all the metadata on the file about its history -- which included such tasty details as the fact that the document was actually originally created by another firm, modified by a low-level associate in less than an hour, but billed out at a huge partners' rate for far more time than one hour. Let's put it this way, Ross had the audience's attention.

Too many CLE speakers at programs are just flat-out lousy who appear to view the opportunity as a chore, and stand up and give flat monotoned monologues while attendees work on their   BlackBerrys or play Scrabble on the iPods while collecting CLE credits.

Ross, Andy & Tom are examples of speakers who know how to push essential information while capitalizing on the "theater" of the podium, so that at the end of the session, the attendees want more ..... rather than looking for the fastest way to exit the room.

Congrats to Barefield and the LSBA team for presenting a high-energy, two-day program that was crammed with the pragmatic and the essential, from ethics and malpractice prevention, to overviews of basic technology tools (everything from Adobe Acrobat to Outlook to case management to scanners).

LIVE FROM NEW ORLEANS

I am demonstrating live blogging during my presentation to the La. Bar Assn.

SNEAK PREVIEW: ALMOST-LIVE FROM L.A.

Speaking of live blogging, plans are underway for LegalTech West Coast, in Los Angeles, June 25-26 to repeat our popular  "Almost-Live from New York" blog-o-rama.

We'll once again have live reporting on Legal Blog Watch, which will again serve as a central clearinghouse for other posts from other bloggers covering the show.

All non-vendor bloggers who plan to do live blogging will be provided with a free full conference pass (e-mail legalblogwatch@alm.com to register), we're going to have a welcome breakfast on June 25 open to all bloggers.

We're planning to designate the first two rows of every conference program for bloggers and provide electrical outlet strips, and looking into other ways to facilitate blogging at our West Coast show!

I'll keep you posted!

LIVE FROM CHICAGO: ABA TECHSHOW

Just arrived at ABA TechShow late Friday.... I'm presenting Saturday morning (i.e., today) on one of two "Green" panels... Do stop by if you're in the 'hood (Chicago Hilton):

* Lara Pearson and Arthur Harrington (left) will present "Meeting the ABA EPA Law Office Climate Challenge, from 8:30 am - 9:30 a.m., then I will join them for the 9:45 panel, "Small Footprint - Big Impact:" Improving Client Services with Sustainable Practices. (Northwest 3).

* After our panel, stick around for the ABA TechShow's signature panel, "60 Sites in 60 Minutes," which closes out the event, and features Craig Ball (LTN's EDD columnist), TechShow chair Tom Mighell, and D.C.'s own Reid Trautz  in the Grand Ballroom.

Can't attend? No prob: Check out the blog reports:

* The aforementioned Tom Mighell.

* Robert Ambrogi on Law.com's  LegalBlogWatch offers links.

* Larry Bodine is blogging (and also on assignment for LTN, scoping out the latest social media issues -- keep an eye out for his report in the April Law Technology News).

* Kevin O'Keefe's (right) team is also live-blogging, with a very interesting concept -- Rob La Gatta is interviewing some of the tech community's leaders, including Jim Calloway, of the Oklahoma bar;  Aviva  Cuyler, who just launched JD Supra; and Ed Poll, of LawBiz, among many others.

O'Keefe's LexBlog and The ABA Journal (Ed Adams & Molly McDonough) co-sponsored a Beer for Blawgers get together Friday, which was a lot of fun, and O'Keefe even used his live blogging feature to alert folks that the venue had to move to a different lobby bar, due to overcrowding with green-bedecked revelers gathering at the original site (Kitty O'Shea's) to kick off the St. Patrick's Day Chicago celebrations. Chicago LOVES St. Patrick's Day -- and its annual huge parade will take place Sunday.

Other live bloggers:

* ABA TechShow Buzz * Dennis Kennedy

 

ESTRIN LIT SUPPORT LEADERS CONFERENCE

Campers: I'm live blogging over at EDD Update today, so click on over and see what the gang (Mike Arkfeld, George Socha, Craig Ball, Tom O'Connor, Lisa Rosen, et al. ) are doing and saying across the hall.

Mon

LTN AWARDS: AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Law Technology News held its fifth annual awards program Tuesday night, and the vendor winners -- in 14 technology categories -- are announced here. The awards are based on votes by LTN subscribers, and some familiar names dominate the list: LexisNexis took five awards and CT Summation took three.

The Law Firm and Legal Department award winners include John Sroka of Duane Morris, IT Director of the Year, and Goodwin Procter's iStaff system, for Most Innovative Use of Technology by a Law Firm.

George Rudoy, of Shearman & Sterling -- and a member of LTN's Editorial Board and an author of this EDD Update blog, was named IT Champion of the Year. (Photo by Russ Curtis).

More pictures from Russ Curtis here on LTN site.

Photo album here.

 --John Bringardner & Monica Bay

Monica's keynote address: Download LTNKeynote08.doc

ALMOST LIVE FROM NEW YORK!

The Common Scold will be taking a break during LegalTech New York, and moving the party for the next few days over to our special edition of Legal Blog Watch!

We're offering a BlogFest river at LBW, where you can find reports from ALM reporters and bloggers, as well as almost-live blogging from bloggers from throughout our legal community -- journalists, analysts, consultants and vendors -- check out the action!

If you are at LTNY, stop by the ALM booth and say hi to our team -- and if you are blogger, don't forget to join us Wednesday at 9 am in the Pettite Trianon room for our 2nd not-quite-annual Bloggers' Get Together. (It's free, and we promise lousy coffee and mediocre Danish).

10/4 for now -- I got to go practice my speech for tonight's LTN Awards gala, and polish those sequins. And oh yeah....

CONGRATULATIONS NEW YORK GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Manning brothers rock!!!

--Mon, who has watched two football games in her entire life, all in the last three weeks.

COURTROOM LIVE LAUNCHES TODAY

ALM and Courtroom View Network,  a legal video news organization, today announced the launch  of CourtroomLive, a new service bringing exclusive live and on-demand video coverage of newsworthy and precedent-setting legal proceedings direct to professionals' desktops. Designed to serve the needs of litigators, law firms, in-house counsel, law schools, financial analysts and others in the financial and securities industry, the site provides access to live, streaming trial video; on-demand video clips of trial highlights; and customized video services.

Detailed information and a free demo of services are available here.

JUNGLE FEVER

It's set-up day at LegalTech New York, and the fun is just beginning! Here are some photos by Russ Curtis (click to enlarge) of the gang from Attenex, Cisco, ARMA and Thomson.

ALMOST LIVE FROM NY - BLOGGING LEGALTECH '08

We're excited to announce that Law.com, in cooperation with Law Technology News magazine, will be offering a special platform for those of you who will be blogging from next week's LegalTech New York event.

We'll devote Law.com's Legal Blog Watch Web page  and newsletter to LTNY coverage from Tuesday through Thursday, Feb. 5-7, offering a central clearinghouse for LTNY-related blog coverage. By showcasing links to your posts, we hope to generate interest in and traffic to YOUR blog.

Here's the plan. If you're planning to attend LTNY and blog about it, please drop us a line now at legalblogwatch@alm.com with the name of the blog and the bloggers. That way we'll know who to expect to hear from next week, and we'll be able to post a note about our blogger-participants.

After you post on your blog, send us the URL (permalink) with an intro sentence about the post to legalblogwatch@alm.com. Our Legal Blog Watch editor will post them — in a style similar to that of the EDD Update Blog.  Be sure to include your name, the blog name, your phone number and email address in case we need to contact you.

We’ll highlight this LTNY Special Edition of Legal Blog Watch on Law.com, the Law Technology News website, Law.com Legal Technology  and our associated blogs: EDD Update, Sean Doherty's Law.com Legal Technology and Monica Bay's The Common Scold.

Bloggers who are journalists, consultants, or analysts should let us know if they need free press credentials. (Vendor bloggers are welcome to participate, but we can’t offer them press credentials.) Please email requests for credentials to LegalBlogWatch@alm.com by noon on Monday, Feb. 4, and pick up your credentials at LegalTech registration during the show. When you email your request, be sure to include your name, address, blog name, email address and phone number.

All bloggers are welcome to join us Wednesday, from 9-10 a.m., for an informal bloggers gathering at the Pettite Trianon Room, on the 3rd floor of the Hilton. We'll even provide lousy coffee and mediocre Danish.

And bloggers -- in case you are wondering, the Hilton offers free wireless in its lobby.

If you have any questions, please email us at (David) or (Monica).

Cordially,

David Snow
Executive Editor
Law.com

Monica Bay
Editor-in-Chief Law Technology News
The Common Scold
EDDUpdate

LEGALTECH NY 24/7

It hardly seems possible, but LegalTech New York, at the NY Hilton, is NEXT WEEK!!!!!

Gather up your comfy shoes (and those dance slippers for Tuesday night) -- it's time to triage!

• First, do your homework by taking a quick look at LTNY e-newsletters: Here's the latest edition.  Here's the one that included a profile of yours truly. You can check out all five -- just click on the drill down box on the upper right hand corner.

• A good place to start is keynotes: On day one -- Tuesday, February 5 -- at 9 a.m. in the West Ballroom, it's Thomas Allman, a member of Law.com's editorial board, and one of our EDD Update authors. Allman, former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of BASF Corp. will be presenting on "E-Discovery Today: Federal and State Rulemaking in Light of Emerging Issues and Best Practices."

• Of course, LTNY is a feast full of e-discovery programs, but that's not the only tech on the agenda -- by a long shot. The CIO Forum, a companion event to LTNY, focuses several panels on document management systems. And that's where you'll find our Green Law program, "Isn't Not Easy Being Green ... Or is It?" Wednesday afternoon.

• The Exhibit Hall will be, as always, jam-packed with vendor booths, where you can get demos and learn about the latest products and services.

• Tuesday night, at 6:00 p.m., the 5th annual Law Technology News Awards Dinner takes place. We'll present the Vendor Awards, which honor the best products of the year, as voted on by LTN's readers; and the Law Firm & Law Department Awards, selected by an independent jury, which honor the IT Director of the Year, IT Champion of the Year, and the most innovative use of technology in a law firm, law department, trial, and pro bono project.
If you would like to attend but haven't registered yet, please go to www.lawtechnews.com/awards to secure your seats.

That's just day one! For more information about more keynotes, our Wednesday morning "Editors' Breakfast and Bloggers Get-Together," and all the other exciting activities, visit www.legaltechshow.com.