ABA: LAWYERS R EMBRACING SOC NETWKG

Lawyers are beginning to embrace social networking, says the new ABA Legal Technology Survey. "Social networking for personal use is gaining popularity among lawyers," it says, with 43% of respondents saying they "maintain a personal social networking presence" -- up 15% from last year.

And slowly, firms are joining the bandwagon, it says, with 12% participating in communities such as Facebook, Linkedin, LawLink or Legal OnRamp.

Lawyers are increasingly addicted to their BlackBerrys -- that's not news. This year, 82% are using smartphones, PDAs, or BBs -- a significant jump from last year's 64%. And while iPhones are increasingly popular among lawyers, that hasn't translated to a switch to Apple: Only 4% of respondents use Mac OS on their primary computers.

The annual survey is available here  www.lawtechnology.org/survstat.html, and is produced by the ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center. Director Catherine Sanders Reach will share more news from the survey in the December issue of Law Technology News. www.lawtechnews.com.

REBEL CALL

Our former ALM colleagues, Edward Adams and Molly McDonough, have just completed a two-week road trip -- one component of the ABA Journal's "Legal Rebels: Remaking the Profession" project. Adams is now the editor and publisher of the ABAJ; McDonough is the online assistant managing editor. They were joined on the tour by reporter Rachel Zahorsky and video dude John McQuiston.

The idea of the project was to identify lawyers who have changed the practice of law, and to report using just about every conceivable type of media: video, audio podcasts, wikis, photo slideshows, flicker, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. They even offered a "song of the day" during transit.

Taking full advantage of sponsor product placement (Hertz provided the SUV, Sprint the phones and Starwood the crashpads), the journey started in Boston and ended up in Washington, D.C.

They conducted daily interviews with a wide range of lawyers, including "Free Talker" Frank Aquila, and "Gossip at Law" David Lat (who was profiled, and then conducted a very strange interview of Steven Brill, the founder of American Lawyer Media).

Hats off to the ABAJ team for an ambitious adventure that demonstrates the strengths (and some of the weaknesses) of the exciting and sometimes overwhelming new technologies we are all grappling to understand and use.

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.

A QUICK REBUTTAL

Kevin O'Keefe has posted today on Real Lawyers Have Blogs , asserting that Law Technology News (actually he called us "Legal Technology News") ran an article by marketer Larry Bodine  that discusses social media options -- and happens to deride Twitter as a "time-waster."

Says O'Keefe:

"With American Lawyer Media's flagship legal technology publication running a feature article telling American lawyers that Twitter is a waste of time for client development, it's no wonder lawyers are in a time warp when it comes to adopting innovative and effective technologies."

and 

"I suppose if Legal Technology News were around in the days of Alexander Graham Bell, they'd be siding with the lawyers who thought a lawyer's use of a phone in rendering legal services was clearly unprofessional and, of course, unethical. A small group of radical lawyers decided to use the phone, probably for perceived mindless babble."

"Let's keep an open mind as to innovative client development tools for the American Lawyer. What's so bad about just saying a medium appears to be working for some folks, I don't use it to much, I don't understand it, and we'll have to see how things play out?"

"Perhaps I shouldn't get worked up about misguided advice from someone who I don't believe understands Twitter, but Legal Technology News decided to the run the story. A story that will passed around by managing partners and chief marketing officers clinging to the past. A story that will needlessly keep the legal profession lagging behind the industries, corporations, and consumers we serve. That's a disservice to the American lawyer."

Oh please.

1. For starters, get your facts right, Kevin: This article never ran in Law Technology News.  It did, however, run in an ALM newsletter, and was picked up on Law.com's Legal Technology site. 

2. Larry Bodine (who Kevin declines to ID in his post) is a member of the LTN Editorial Advisory Board, and often writes controversial articles that get everybody talking and thinking. This is a good thing.

3. As for whether LTN -- or any other ALM entity -- should have run the article: The last time I checked, LTN (and ALM) readers [lawyers, IT professionals, paralegals, GC, vendors, et al] are smart, savvy, and like to debate.

Speaking for LTN -- just because I am an active fan and user of Twitter (@lawtechnews @eddupdate @commonscold) doesn't mean that everybody else has to use Twitter (or that I will only allow twitter advocates to write LTN articles). I drive a Ford. Some people like Chevy. What works for me may not work for you. But that doesn't mean that I am irresponsible or misguided to allow -- and encourage -- all points of view in LTN.

In fact, I WANT all points of view in LTN, because that's how we best serve the entire spectrum of our wonderful legal community.

That's why I choose a wide array of articles (and opinions). And why I regularly participate in panels discussing important technology trends and issues. Oh yeah, btw, O'Keefe participated on two recent ALM panels that I moderated, talking about how lawyers can use Twitter (LegalTech NY 09 and LegalTech West Coast 09).

I personally think Larry Bodine is wrong in his assessment of Twitter, but lemme tell you something -- he is soooooo not alone in his view. I'm gonna give him -- and others -- the "microphone" and let the readers make up their own minds! And that is a very, very good thing.

Update: Kevin O'Keefe has corrected his post (and apologized). Much appreciated.

7th ANNUAL TWINS/YANKS FEST

Bye Bye Dome.... The 7th annual Twins/Yanks fest was, as always, Big Fun -- a chance to connect with the terrific Twins Cities tech community and say goodbye to the Metrodome... (well, unless we meet again in October!)

As always, it was a jam-packed three days of vendor meetings and beisbol! We started off the trip with our annual visit to Thomson Reuters, with huge thanks to John Shaughnessy (far left), Gretchen DeSutter (below)  and Scott Augustin (left) for setting up a day of helpful briefings. We had a chance to say a quick hello to Allison Guidette, who has returned to Eagan as vp of litigation (she was headed to the airport for a trip west); then visited with Preston McKenzie, vp of  Hubbard One (which includes ContactNet, Hubbard One and Monitor Suite). Then we got a fascinating update from Rob Sargeson, senior vp & CIO, about the company's expansion plans for its massive data centers.

Over a yummy evil midwest lunch, (TR's commissary is just too tempting!)  Mike Abbott and Stephanie Krause updated us on pro bono projects designed to help displaced legal professionals. It's always great to see vp Laurie Zenner and the corporate communications team, which also includes Kevin Hunt and Michele Endgahl in addition to the aforementioned folks.

Then Denis Hauptly (vp strategic development), who has just returned from a long stint in Switzerland, offered his mighty wisdom about uber search and other trends on the horizon. Here's a link to his new book, Something Really New, which I will be reading shortly!

Next on the agenda was a briefing on the Westlaw Business' global outreach, with marketing vp Gus Thompson)  and sr. director Rob Kirchstein (with Gretchen, above).  The day wrapped up with sr. director Brian Knudsen mktg mgr John Vonhor offering me a tour of the company's PeopleMap public information software that helps everybody from litigators to skip tracers track down 411 on folks.

Before I headed to the Dome with Teri "Jersey Girl" McCarron and Teddy Lindgren for game 1 of the Twins/Yanks series, Incisive's Michael Medwig and Marnie Maroney (below left in white shirt, with Paul Godlewski from Thomson Reuters) and I  visited 3M -- with mktg communications mgr Joan Olseen and Erik Johnson for an update on the company's popular RFID system that helps law firms and companies track their paper files.(BTW, apparently Teri is not the only "JG" in Mpls -- check out the license plate I saw at Thomson Reuter parking lot!)

Day 2 began with an update from NightOwl, which offers document management services. Scott Sterkel, director of sales and mktg, told us how the company is growing with its e-discovery offerings.

Then it was off to Eden Praire to meet up with the Kroll Ontrack gang, including Christian Betancourt and Megan Kubacki, (left). Kaitlin Shinkle regaled us with reports on her June wedding at the St. Paul hotel (Congrats! plus a shout out to Michelle Lange, who is on maternity leave!)

Finally, we had a very interesting meeting with Avantstar's Matt Knudson about the company's content management system, and how they are getting increasing traction within the e-discovery community.

Then it was to the Dome for the Twins/Yanks fest. Thanks to everybody who joined us, including LTN edit board members George Socha and Tom Gelbmann (right); consultants LaVerne Pritchard and Linda Ulbrich. As usual, the gangs from Thomson  Reuters and Kroll. 

The Dorsey & Whitney crew included partner Melissa Krasnow, left in red -- who with colleague Nick Ackerman, was the star of our May Law Technology Now podcast. Next to Krasnow is her friend, General Mills counsel Cam Hoang. Also from Dorsey was Patrick Courtemanche (in light blue shirt) who has joined the firm's marketing department, with Dorsey marketing colleague Bob Kleiber (in royal blue shirt).

We were also thrilled that LTN's former associate editor Katie Montgomery could come north from Iowa to be with us! Incisive's Rob Hafiz of LegalTech also joined in the fun, as did Curt Meltzer of Meltzer Consulting, and Sean Solberg, of Faegre & Benson (far right).

BTW, we send our best wishes to Linda Will, who's on the DL, for a speedy recovery, and a shout-out to Amy Juers, who missed her first Twins/Fest because she was in California (good excuse!). 

Huge thanks to Luis Breazeale of the Twins for all his help getting us such great seats (behind home plate!) It was a great, tight game, a nailbiter all the way to the end, when Mariano faced Mauer, and for only the third time in our seven year Twins/Yanks fest history, the Yanks actually won. (Sorry, Minnesota fans :) On top of the good game, one of our rows was selected as the Hormel Hot Dog Row of the Game  -- so everybody in the middle of our group got a free hot dog! What a hoot!!

Day 3 started with a few "issues" with my Garmin Nuvi 200 -- actually, it wasn't the tech's fault, it was my fault for not updating the maps. The Twins City is undergoing a massive amount of construction (Three people told me the same joke: "Minnesota has two seasons: winter and road construction") and the whole area is completely chewed up (especially downtown) rivaling Boston's Big Dig. Trying to get to Roseville to meet up with the Merrill gang, I could not find an open on-ramp to 35W North -- and ended up almost at Bloomington trying to get north. I am soooo updating my maps before my next adventure!

But because I'm paranoid and always leave extra time to find new places, even with Garmin's 90% reliable "Jill," I pulled into the parking lot just at the meeting time. Thanks to Leonard Lee and the Merrill team for a terrific conversation about social networking, e-discovery and all the challenges they present. We enjoyed meeting with marketers Scott Snyder, Diana Lepper, and Dawn Edwards!

Finally, before heading back home, I had a chance to visit with Jon Bream, my colleague from my days at the Minnesota Daily, who is the veteran music critic at the Star Tribune. (His latest "coffee table" book is Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin). We headed to Wasabi, which I highly recommend as a terrific Japanese restaurant right about halfway between the  Guthrie theater and the Dome. 

We noticed a lovely new restaurant in the same complex, Sanctuary, and took the opportunity to get a quick tour from Michael Kutscheid, owner and GM. The charming bistro also has a sweet outdoor garden -- and I definitely plan to visit it on my next trip to Minnesota, hopefully in October! 

And if not for post-season, we'll look forward to returning next year for OUTDOOR baseball at the new Target Field (we'll bring our down coats). 

More photos here.

MO' MAILBAG #052009

JoAnna Forshee checks in to let folks know that it will provide 10 scholarships to unemployed attorneys who are job hunting, to attend its "Get a Life" Conference that is presented by the Total Practice Management Association. It is a two-day workshop on marketing and practice management and social networking that will be held in Chicago on May 27 & 28. Deadline to apply, 5/22, 5 p.m. CST. 411 here.

• Brent  Bourque has replaced long-time director of marketing Connie Moser at Los Angeles-based Elite. She's a tough act to follow! Bourque, based in New Orleans, has been with Elite for 12 years, starting in sales. His title is senior director, strategic marketing and business intelligence, and he can be reached here.

• Charlie Haas, who went to University of California Santa Cruz, along with lawyer/marketer Louise Rosen Byer et moi, is embarking on a book tour for his latest novel, The Enthusiast (Harper Perennial). Check out his book readings:

Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 pm  - Books Inc. at Opera Plaza, San Francisco.
Thursday, June 4, 7:00 PM - A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland (Montclair district).
Monday, June 8, 7:00 PM - Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland.
Friday, June 12, 7:30 PM - Barnes & Noble, 396 Avenue of the Americas (at 8th St.), New York, N.Y.
Thursday, June 18, 7:30 PM - Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles.

 I'm planning to attend the NYC reading -- after all, the main character's name is Henry Bay!

Charlie also wrote the sequel (Gremlins 2) to one of my all-time favorite movies Gremlins. (Whenever I'm in a funk I just remember the scene with all the critters singing "Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work I go" with popcorn bucket hats!)

• Stephanie Hall wants you to know about her Relay for Life -- the American Cancer Society fundraiser she participates in every year to honor her mother, who she lost to cancer almost five years ago. Any donation helps.

• And our LTN colleague Theodora Blanchfield is also participating in a project, to benefit the Cancer Survivorship Initiative at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in N.Y. She's running to hnor her grandfather, Herbert Blanchfield, who died of mesothelioma in 2000. 

• Steve Schwartz reports that certain LSAT PrepTests (past administered LSAT exams) are available only to students who take prep courses, not those who self-study. Check it out on his LSAT Blog. 

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!!

NEW IS OLD AGAIN

Sorry, Baltimore, we got Tex & we ain't givin' him back. Even if he got jussssst a little bit  spooked by the "welcome" booooos he got on opening day at Camden.

Now usually when the Yanks meet up with the O's in Maryland, there's about 65% Yankee fans in the stands
(I suspect most from New Jersey because it's so easy to get to from the Garden State, and Camden is so economical and family friendly.)

But not on Opening Day. It was more like 10%. To be honest, it's the first time I've felt juuuuussst a little intimidated in the friendly confines of Camden. The hostility to our newbie Tex rivaled that of the pissed off Yankee fans chanting "Who's Your Daddy" to Pedro Martinez in 2004 postgames, the noise level so intense that the Stadium literally shook.

But anyway..... it was big fun, even tho we got clobbered. My colleague Jai Wallace and I are sending huge thanks to our guests, the delightful Mary Ellen Belusci, Yankees fan Joe Zanta, and Scott Bogash of Needles; and Yvonne Dornic  of eSentio Technologies and her finace Jim Rhodes,  and Red Sox fan David Horrigan of Covington & Burling. Yvonne and Jim helped me recover from the trauma with a nightcap at their amazing restaurant, Ze Mean Bean in Fells Point.

I'm hoping tonight's game has a much happier ending for the New Yorkers. Should be interesting, as my O's rep Matt Dougherty notes: It's the Far East match-up, with Taiwan's Chien Ming Wang facing the O's new addition, Koji Uehara -- former ace of the Yomiuri Giants-- in his major league debut. And Thursday I get the pleasure of spending time with Cataphora's fascinating Susannah Smith, and Kelly Klyn, litigation technology specialist for Goodwin Procter. Can't wait!

I'm also LOVING the brand new Baltimore Hilton -- Check out the view from my room! It is literally yards from Camden, and gorgeous. But I must admit has a kinda odd color palette -- but it works: tangerine, gold, cobalt blue and lime green. So much better than 2008's obsession with chocolate and aqua (Yes, yes, yes, I watch way too much HGTV.)

Tuesday was an off day so we headed down to DC to visit with Robert Erich Jr. of Select Associates. We had a terrific conversation about how the economy is affecting the time/billing/acctg vendors -- Erich noted that his company's star* collect  product has seen quite a spike in sales in recent months. Select Associates, says Erich, specializes in a variety of add-on software that integrates with Elite, Aderant, and other T&B/A software that targets the top AmLaw firms, he explained, including data warehousing and business intelligence tools. One of the newest offerings star* targetCash which helps firms project cash flow.

I suspect that interest in these types of products will most definitely continue to jump as purse strings tighten throughout the legal industry.

Tuesday night, we had the pleasure of joining Sally Gonzalez (Baker Robbins & Co.) and Stan Wasylyk (Michael Farrell Group) for a boisterous dinner at the Hard Times Cafe in Alexandria. Years and years ago, when I was vice-chair of the ABA's Law Student Division, we had a ton of meetings in D.C. and made regular pilgrimages to the HTC. It's a lot of fun, and it was great to return, although I probably ate more carbs in one sitting than I normally eat in a month.

Sally and I can bore anyone to death when you get us talking about our adventures on United Airlines. Sally's in the coveted rareified air of Global Services -- so elite that they don't even publicize it or tell you what the membership requirements are -- but it pretty much boils down to flying overseas a lot. Sally was based in London for a long stint, and also frequently visits clients in Switzerland, so she has that elusive BLACK Mileage Plus card that the rest of us mere mortals drool over. I hope we didn't drive our companions toooo nuts but we sure had a good time comparing road warrior stories.

(Btw: this could be a very interesting year for road warriors because so many of us will probably drop at last one level in the elite tiers because so many firms/companies are reducing travel.)

So... two more days in the wonderful Inner Harbor before I head back to NYC. Of course I save the best for last.... thanks to a dear friend who is a Cubs season ticket holder I actually got tix for last Saturday's Cubs/Yanks Exhibition game at the New Stadium.

OMG, it totally takes your breath away. It's just magnificent. But the strangest thing about it is that once you are inside, in your seats, it's almost Twilight Zone Deja Vu -- because it FEELS like the old Stadium. Even the FTI ad is in its proper place. The new video screen is awesome, and the Batter's Eye is now a restaurant, but the subway still screams right by the Short Porch, the Bleacher Creatures still do roll call, and it just feels great. Only the courthouse is missing from the tableau, because of the slight change in real estate.

And making the day even more touching: the first pitch was thrown out by Captain Sully, and the USAir 1549 skyboat crew! (He was joined by the first officer Jeff Skiles and chief flight attendant Doreen Welsh.)

Saturday, Cano christened the Stadium with its first home run,  and Tex got back-to-back homers! (Jeter got the Stadium's first hit Friday night.) Joining me at the day game was the fabulous consultant Brad Blickstein, of Chicago's The Blickstein Group (above left), who took most of the photos on this page, and two terrific marketing dudes from Deloitte: Alan Numsuwan and Michael Rachlin. (We had a great conversation about off-shoring e-discovery and the impact of the economy on outsourcing.)

Two things da Yankees gotta do: 1) Get Sweet Lou (who got a standing ovation from the crowd during the Saturday game) to give us another one of  his bats to sit on top of the center field flag pole, so we can see the wind direction (Mattingly took the original from the old stadium) and 2) they HAVE to install those nylon rope bank-line things to control the concessions line from blocking traffic all the way across the huge broad concourse.

But no complaints. It's wonderful.  It's awesome. Even the birds are already finding their niches. And yes, no question about it, Aura & Mystique and the other ghosts have cheerfully crossed the street. Welcome home. 

CONNECTING BUSINESS & PLEASURE

Marc Osborn and the gang over at LexisNexis' Martindale Hubbell have now officially launched Martindale Hubbell Connect, which has been in beta for a while. Bob Ambrogi raved about it in his Web Watch column last September in Law Technology News.

As part of the launch celebrations, MHC invited six bloggers to do a mini-carnival from March 30-April 6. MHC asked us to pontificate on social networking for lawyers, and MHC is posting links to each of our blogs. I'm honored to be invited, and happy to participate — especially in such good company: LexisNexis' Kathleen Delaney started it all Monday; Rees Morrison (Law Dept. Management)  had day 2; Law.com's tech editor Sean Doherty tackled April Fool's Day; Bob Ambrogi drew the straw for Thursday;  I have the reins today, and then Larry Bodine closes it all out on Opening Day. 

Speaking of Ambrogi, he's always hipper-than-hip, and I count on him to point the way to new, kewl tech stuff. In fact, Ambrogi and Incisive Media's CEO Bill Pollak (@wpollak) can be mildly annoying to this tech editor, because they always seem find the latest greatest tech tool (or toy)  just slightly faster than I do — which I generally attribute to the fact that both of them are parents of young adults. I'm parent only to a dog and cat who somehow have not mastered the computer keyboard (give them time), but one of these days I'm determined to find something kewl before these two dudes. :)

Anyway, all three of us are now pretty damned obsessed with Twitter. Bob (@bobambrogi)  has written two great columns in the last year:  Tweet Sixteen -- in December, where he talked about 16 reasons why lawyers should take Twitter seriously, and  Let Twitter Sing, in March, where he ID'd numerous 3rd-party tools to help addicts become efficient power-users. 

Indeed, many Incisive folks have contracted Twitter fever, and others are at least testing the water. One of the latest folks to dive in is Aric Press (@aricpress), the editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer. And Incisive "entity" IDs are popping up like Spring daffodils: @AmLawDaily; @LegalTechShow; @LawTechNews; @EDDUpdate, so on and so forth.

Sean Doherty (@legaltechtrek) and I (@commonscold) are both on board, but the winner for first early adopter within Incisive is probably LTN's new associate editor, Theodora Blanchfield (@tblanchfield) -- who was twittering LONG before the I.M. Baby Boomers got wind of it -- she was singing a full year ago. 

Anyway.... for me, at first, Twitter didn't make a whole lot of sense. I thought it was fun and interesting and arguably more productive than playing BubbleBreaker on my Samsung Saga when I needed a quick break from editing. But my Eureka moment came when a story crashed, and I needed a last minute replacement. I tweeted that I was looking for a security story. Within an hour,  Vivian Tero pinged me expressing interest, and wrote an absolutely terrific article, "Dangerous Shadows," about why it's important to be careful when social networking because seemingly innocuous personal information can come back to haunt you.

I knew I was officially drinking the Kool-Aid when I moderated a panel at LegalTech New York, featuring Kevin O'Keefe (@kevinokeefe), Chris Winfield (@chriswinfield), and Matt Homann (@matthoman) -- with a cameo from Bob Ambrogi. They were awesome, and outlined even more ways to effectively use Twitter. The best takeaway was their instructions on how to use Twitter's search functions (www.search.twitter.com). My skills grew logarithmically after Guy Kawasaki's (@guykawasaki)  intoxicating keynote at our Search Engine Strategies conference in March. (See Kawasaki's link for a huge list of 3rd-party apps).

One of Kawasaki's points was that companies can use Twitter to monitor complaints and accolades, and immediately respond to customers. Sure enough, I soon experienced that first-hand.  After being stuck in Manhattan for three weeks with the Nor-eastern flu from hell, I ran into a leeeetle problem when my car battery died while I was loading up the aforementioned dog and cat to go to my upstate cottage. Of COURSE I was illegally parked (this is Manhattan!) and I went into a cold panic. I called AAA and they rescued me in 20-minutes with a battery boost, and offered such amazingly good service (they even called me back to be sure I was OK) that I tweeted about it. Sure enough, within minutes of my rave, I got a thank-you tweet from @AAAauto saying they were happy I was happy. Good customer service? You betcha. 

So what's next?  We're going to reprise the LTNY Twitter panel at LegalTech West Coast, June 25 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, at 2:15 p.m. Kevin O'Keefe and Matt Homann will be returning, joined by solo Denise Howell (@dhowell) and Baker & Hostetler associate Nina Goldberg (@Ninakat). Do join us. We've already set up a "hash tag"* for the LA show - #LTWC. (The New York panel #LTNY was widely live-Tweeted.)

Well, enough. Gotta go Twitter. I'm still looking for tix to the April 16 home opener at Yankee Stadium, and hoping that my Tweets and Facebook posts will help me find someone who wants to sell 2 tix for under $250. (No bleachers please). Sellers can reach me at monica.bay@incisivemedia.com.

Bodine's watching the store on Monday. I'll be at Camden Yards -- It's Opening Day 2009!!!

Go Yankees!

* a code so others can easily find tweets related to the topic.

#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.

MAILBAG #090222

From da inbox:

Video CLE: Ellis Mirsky says Trial.com  www.trial.com, now offers free video CLE programs. Tarrytown N.Y.'s Mirsky is exec director and GC of Trial.com, which is a network of trial lawyers and firms. They are also offering litigation management podcasts on iTunes.

Economy crunch: Samantha Carlin, of Steven Brill's Clear, says even if your law firm or company is not reimbursing users for membership in its program that helps frequent fliers circumvent long TSA lines, Clear will still set up employee discount programs, and can send over its mobile enrollment kiosk. I absolutely love Clear, especially when I'm flying in/out of JFK and SFO. Its staff are professional, courteous, and savvy. (Usual caveat: Brill used to be my boss.)  Interested? Contact Carlin here. 

John Bringarder, news editor at Law.com, caught this enticing post on Above the Law about some of the severe cutbacks at BigLaw.... including a decision by Locke Lord to shift from Lexis to LoisLaw to cut research costs. ATL also broke the classic gaffe story about the chatty commuter on Acela who loudly discussed pending layoffs at Pillsbury.

David Henderson chronicled this little faux pas by Ketchum's James Andrews who, when arriving at Memphis, carelessly Twittered that he was underwhelmed by client FedEx's home town -- which created quite the brouhaha. (Hat tip to Donna Payne for spotting it.)

FRIDAY THE 13TH

Bad news, better news:

1. 800 law firm jobs were lost yesterday (maybe they did it yesterday rather than today to avoid Jason's wrath?) http://tinyurl.com/ltn213 (The Recorder).

2. Horrible news from Buffalo, Continental commuter plane down, all lost -- stunning  photos  on The New York Times' website. Adding to the misery, the flight originated in Newark, N.J., second plane incident from our area in a few weeks, and sadly this one with no miracle ending. 50 dead, including someone in the house that the plane hit.

On a MUCH happier note:

1. Terrific article by @pogue (David Pogue) in the New York Times about Twitter http://tinyurl.com/tcs213 (image courtesy of the NYT.)

2. Yesterday was not just Honest Abe's birthday, but the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of my idols (No, not Joe Torre - but I did just buy his audiobook and plan to listen to it over the long weekend) - but Darwin.

3. My colleague Jill Windwer found this hysterical "tech" rant by George Carlin. Love the jargon!

4. Another colleague, Anthony Paonita, editor-in-chief of  Corporate Counsel magazine, will discuss its new  Technology Survey via webinar on 2/19 at 1 EST: Registration info here.

Update: Mark  Reichenbach checks in, to advise me to "Forget Friday the 13th. Forget Valentines Day. Today is soooo much more: Using UNIX or POSIX time, at 6:31:30 seconds EST PM today, it will be 1234567890. Numerologists and Unix freaks will be having parties all around the world." He blogged about it here.

And I did forget about Valentines Day.. so a shout-out to all of us who don't have sweeties to celebrate with, including my mom... it's her first VD without Daddyo. May past and future joys buffer the bittersweet day. As an old friend once said, "You never know, when you wake up in the morning, what will happen that day."

May tomorrow bring us all  new possibilities for unexpected delights.

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
http://is.gd/4v94
http://is.gd/1d4Z
http://is.gd/4EEr

CISCO DIVES INTO SOCIAL NETWORKING

Alltop's Guy Kawasaki  spotted this C/Net article about Cisco diving into social networking.

MAILBAG #010209

New Year, More Mail:

* Kevin O'Keefe checks in to advise us that he has just launched beta of lextweet.com. Sez he is "changing text Friday to make clear it is open to all legal community, not just lawyers." Kinda a mini-Twitter, interesting!

* Ross Kodner offers 33 New Year's resolutions here.  His # 1 prediction: at least 10% of AmLaw 100 firms will collapse by year's end. "The era of the megafirm is over. Heller Ehrman and Thelen are history. Who’s next? (Take a look at these websites - it’s positively chilling - when Goliath falls, he falls hard."

* Related topic:  "Will BigLaw firms gain -- or lose-- business in tough economic times? Integreon's Ron Friedman has an interesting dialogue going on his blog, PrismLegal, here.  (Hat tip to WP.)

* Turbulent skies: A holiday message from  United's pilots:

December 16, 2008

To our passengers,
As the Holiday Season approaches, the professional pilots of United Airlines want to assure our passengers that whether you are headed home to share the holidays with loved ones or enjoying vacation travel, we'll continue to go the extra mile to make sure that you get to your destinations in comfort with minimum stress and inconvenience.
We are very much aware that the friendly skies have become less friendly in recent times because of increased costs, reduced flights and cutbacks in in-flight service and amenities. We have been at the forefront when it comes to resisting these cost-cutting initiatives because we do not believe that our passengers should be penalized for the mistakes of United's management. We still feel that way and are still fighting the fight on behalf of our passengers.
As we get into the winter months, we want you to know that United is an all-weather airline. United pilots pioneered many of the safety innovations such as onboard weather radar, anti-skid brakes, enhanced weather forecasting, and improved navigation instruments that allow safe operation in inclement weather. And we will not allow our airline to fabricate excuses for not serving the needs of our passengers.
On behalf of United's professional pilots, we want to extend our best wishes to all for a joyous Holiday Season. We will continue to do all that we can to make the skies friendlier for our valued passengers who continue to be our number one priority.

--The Pilots of United Airlines
United Chapter, Air Line Pilots Association

TWEET TWEET

OK, I've joined another cult.

Check out:

http://twitter.com/commonscold

http://twitter.com/eddupdate

http://twitter.com/lawtechnews

Bob Ambrogi's going to tell you everything you need to know about it in the December LTN, but I'll post a few links here shortly as well from others who have 'splained it.

Update: As promised --

http://is.gd/4EDR
http://is.gd/4EDS
http://is.gd/4EDT
http://is.gd/4EDU
http://is.gd/4v94
http://is.gd/1d4Z
http://is.gd/4EEr

And here's Nicole Black's recent article, "Twitter 101 for Lawyers," from the Nov 3 issue of The Daily Record.  Download dr_11.3.08(3).pdf

Hat tip to Kevin O'Keefe: for  Twitter Tips for Beginners: