Dennis Kennedy

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March 30, 2008

Dennis Kennedy's Links of the Week - March 30, 2008

Links of the Week is a regular feature on this blog where I list some of the most interesting links I've found during the previous week - sort of a "best of" from my Google Reader Shared Items. The idea is that I pick out a set of links that I might have wanted to write about or that I found especially thought-provoking or useful. I might or might not agree with the posts or items I link to, but I found them to be something I wanted to share.

On to the links:

No Time to Rehearse? You're Fired

Thimk!

Collaboration Tools and Technologies

Results from an Experiment in Ad-Driven Books

Legal Technology 2.0

Amicus Attorney - Inhouse Intranet

ABA Techshow Notes - SaaS with Dennis Kennedy and Dan Pinnington

State of the AmLaw 200 blogosphere, March 2008

The URL Is So Dead In Japan And What That Could Mean

Open Space in 60 Minutes

Helping Students Learn About Personal Finance

Thank You to the MANY Voices of Solo Practice Who Serve Clients and Improve Our Profession

Why Sophie 1.0 excites me more than today’s E Ink machines—or .epub

An Adjacency of Practice

Escaping the Trade Show Money Pit

Email vs. Wiki: Picture = 1000 words department

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Department of Remarkably Good Ideas, nuclear weapons edition

Rethinking Business Cards

20 Types of Pages that Every Blogger Should Consider

Groundbreaking Legal Transformation Study Identifies Four Strategic Planning Scenarios for Legal Services

Apple, openness, and the Zittrain thesis

Earth Evolves

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This Week's Additions to 52 Books in 52 Weeks:

Certain to WIn, by Chet Richards

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Read the blog posts and RSS feed items I find most interesting on Google Reader Shared Items or subscribe to its RSS feed. High volume, but lots of interesting items that will get you thinking.

Technorati tags: links

Posted by dmk at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2008

Started My New Job

As some of you already know, there's been a lot happening with me in the last few weeks in addition to the publication of the new book.

I've joined MasterCard Worldwide as an in house counsel focusing on information technology law and working out of the St. Louis offices. My six word summary - great people, great work, great company. It's a great opportunity that I'm very excited about, even though it brings my solo law practice to an end.

A commonly-asked question: will there be changes to this blog and website? Certainly - at a minimum, I have some updating to do and I'm getting started on that. I'm still sorting that out and also taking the opportunity to assess what directions I want to go with the blog. I'm guessing that I'll focus to an even greater degree on legal tech topics and areas of personal interest. I haven't written on legal topics on this blog since Missouri put into place advertising rules that I couldn't understand how to comply with, and I don't expect to go in that direction in my new position either.We'll get that worked out. I might even take this opportunity to help my wife start a blog.

I'd enjoy hearing from readers with their suggestions of how I might refocus the blog a bit - comment on this post or email me at denniskennedyblog @ gmail.com.

It's also worth saying again, as I mention in the disclaimer on my page, the posts and opinions expressed on this blog and this website are solely my personal opinions. They do not represent or reflect (nor are they intended to represent or reflect) the positions, opinions, viewpoints, policies and/or statements of my employer or any other entity or person.

More about this later.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Now Available: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Posted by dmk at 09:30 PM | Comments (4)

Book Groups and a Book Report

Tom and I could not be happier with the initial response to our new book, The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, which has been tagged as a "Best Seller" at the ABA Web Store.

If you've already bought the book, we thank you.

We're still working on getting the word out about the book, so we'd be grateful if you would mention the book to your friends or blog about it.

We're especially pleased by the people who've told us that they think that the book would be valuable to people who aren't lawyers. We think so too.

While we continue to work on getting the companion website for the book launched, we've started two groups for the book on the social networking sites LinkedIn and Facebook. On Facebook, check out and join The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies Group. On LinkedIn, look for the group called The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies.

If you've bought the book or are a regular reader of this blog and would to be a friend or connection of mine on either site, go ahead and invite me.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Now available: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Technorati tags: legal technology collaboration tools collaboration

Posted by dmk at 09:10 PM | Comments (1)

March 23, 2008

Dennis Kennedy's Links of the Week - March 16 and March 23, 2008

Links of the Week is a regular feature on this blog where I list some of the most interesting links I've found during the previous week - sort of a "best of" from my Google Reader Shared Items. The idea is that I pick out a set of links that I might have wanted to write about or that I found especially thought-provoking or useful. I might or might not agree with the posts or items I link to, but I found them to be something I wanted to share.

I missed last week's Links of the Week post because of ABA TECHSHOW, so I've doubled up this week. I'll also recommend that you check of the ABA TECHSHOW Buzz site - it sets a new standard for online coverage of a legal technology conference.

On to the links:

The connection between one of my Secrets of Adulthood and the “maximum-use imperative.”

Laptops Aren't the Problem: The Meetings Are

A Yahoo Pipes Video

Making the Case for Law 2.0

Tips and Tricks at the ABA TECHSHOW

Twitter - What It Is and How I am Using It

New Collaborative Websites for the Legal Market

No Two Law Bloggers Are Alike

101 Five-Minute Fixes to Incrementally Improve Your Web Site

Getting to Good Enough

Reasons I miss Psych, even though it is a little hokey

Turing'd

ABA Tech Show 2008 - How Technology Is Redefining the Attorney Client Relationship

What will America look like after this recession?

Takeaways from TECHSHOW

One secret to good facilitation design: work with maps not tools

How to insert a PDF file into a Word document

The Waste of Handwritten Notes

Why the Push-Up Belongs in Your Fitness Routine

Next Generation Contract Management Systems - more than software, more than LPO

A Solution to 4GW - The Introduction

A User’s Guide to Fabulous Friendships

How to Declutter Your Hard Drive

Do Something! Invest in Yourself - Especially in an Economic Downturn

Small Projects Generate Good Feelings

Disable Annoying CapsLock Key

The blinding light of Web 2.0

Three Internet Careers That Soon Won't Exist

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This Week's Additions to 52 Books in 52 Weeks:

Crashproof Your Kids, by Timothy Smith

The Physics of NASCAR, by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Read the blog posts and RSS feed items I find most interesting on Google Reader Shared Items or subscribe to its RSS feed. High volume, but lots of interesting items that will get you thinking.

Technorati tags: links

Posted by dmk at 08:11 PM | Comments (1)

March 17, 2008

Catching Up After ABA TECHSHOW

Still getting caught up after ABA TECHSHOW 2008. Hope to get back to regular posting tomorrow with a major announcement.

Thanks to everyone who I got the chance to speak with at TECHSHOW for making the conference such a great experience for me. Congrats to Tom Mighell and the TECHSHOW Board for putting on a great conference. The online coverage of the show was outstanding.

And a special thanks to all who bought the new book, getting it off to a great start.

If we got the chance to speak at TECHSHOW or you bought the book (or if you are a regular reader of this blog) and want to experiment with social network, please feel free to invite me as a LinkedIn connection or Facebook friend and I'll add you. Please mention the connection in your invitation.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Now Available: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Technorati tags: legal technology ABA TECHSHOW collaboration tools

Posted by dmk at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2008

I am the Worst Liveblogger Ever: A Report from ABA TECHSHOW 2008

I am the worst live-blogger ever.

As always, I come an event like ABA TECHSHOW 2008 with the good intentions of "covering" it on my blog. I admire greatly the bloggers who post frequent accounts of show happenings, incredibly-detailed notes of conference sessions and the like, making me feel part of an event that I could not intend.

"Hey, I should do that," I think on my way to an event. And I map out ideas for how I can do it.

Ah, but, especially for me, good live blogging intentions never survive first contact with the actual event.

Inevitably, I decide that taking advantage of the opportunity to talk with people I don't see often enough in person overrides all my liveblogging intentions.

Then, I end up putting together an early morning post or two that in no way "covers" what is happening at the event.

So, that's where I find myself once again.

But, people always trump blogging whenever I have to choose. That's the greatest part of being at ABA TECHSHOW.

However, even worse, I now realize that, in addittion to not live-blogging on my own blog, I'm also the guy who keeping the bloggers you want to read from TECHSHOW - Tom Mighell, Jim Calloway, Kevin O'Keefe and others - from getting the time to blog about this event. I'd feel doubly guilty about that, if I weren't having so much fun getting to talk to the people whose blogs I read all the time and many other great people as well.

I've also convinced myself that I'm a more "reflective" blogger and my strength is in the posts I write where I have some time to think about things and to analyze them a bit. And I'm sticking to that story.

A few observations: great energy here, lots of people, and some new areas have caught my attention. I've also found myself in more interesting and productive blogging qua blogging conversations than I have been in for quite a while.

The part about TECHSHOW I love the most: constantly seeing the speakers (and some of the biggest names in legal tech) consistently making themselve accessible, answering questions, and providing amazing advice to people they meet.

It's also incredibly exciting to see the launch of the book Tom Mighell and I wrote.

Speaking a two sessions today and much else to do, so expect continued light posting, but I'll have some observations and analysis later.

In the meantime, I recommend following the TECHSHOW BUZZ (http://techshow.com/buzz) for aggregated coverage of the event and searching on the abatechshow2008 tag on Flickr for Adrian Linares' great photos from the event (and, yes, we're working on her to get her back on a regular posting schedule at her I Heart Tech blog).

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Now available: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Technorati tags: legal technology ABA TECHSHOW

Posted by dmk at 08:28 AM | Comments (1)

March 11, 2008

Catch the ABA TECHSHOW 2008 Buzz

Whether you are attending ABA TECHSHOW 2008 this week or not, you can follow what's happening there at the new TECHSHOW Buzz site. It's a combination of social media and other resources that will add a brand new layer to the conference experience, with Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us and other components. There's also a combo RSS feed built on Yahoo Pipes technology.Congratulations to Tom Mighell (TECHSHOW chair), Fred Faulkner and the others involved in making this possible.

I've also set up an Unofficial ABA TECHSHOW 2008 Group on Facebook to test what Facebook can add to this process.

Looking forward to see readers there or virtually through TECHSHOW Buzz and other channels.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Now available: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Technorati tags: legal technology ABA TECHSHOW

Posted by dmk at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2008

Meet Me at ABA TECHSHOW

As I've mentioned, I'll be speaking at ABA TECHSHOW this week and Tom Mighell and I's book will be making its debut at the conference, so I'm really looking forward to being in Chicago later this week.

A number of people (well, more than one) have asked me about meeting up while at TECHSHOW.

The short answer is that I always make every effort to meet readers of this blog at any conference I'm attending. Despite my good intentions, it's become obvious to me that I'm often talking to people (these events are the main chance I have to visit with many of my legal tech pals) and might not seem as approachable as I'd like to be, especially if I schedule meetings.

My recent approach has been to avoid scheduling meetings and simply suggest that readers of this blog come up and introduce yourself as a reader when you see me, and I can thank you for being a reader and we can talk. I'm also really excited about the idea of actually signing copies of the book at the show.

That said, here is an overview of my plans for TECHSHOW.

Wednesday evening - speaker reception. I do have a couple of scheduled events for Wednesday, but I'll probably be around in the hotel common areas from time to time.

Thursday - Adriana Linares has talked me into volunteering significant time as a "conference concierge and probably a big exhibit hall day for me. I'll also be at the reception and start the day with Tom Mighell's introductory talk.

Friday - speaking in the afternoon, attending the ABA Journal's Blawgs and Beer event, and Tom and I are hosting a "Taste of TECHSHOW" dinner at the Exposures Tapas Restaurant. I believe that up to 10 people can sign up for that dinner to talk about collaboration tools.

Saturday - I'll be around all afternoon and Saturday afternoon is always one of my favorite times to hang out and talk with people.

I truly hope to see you at TECHSHOW. Remember that if you are in Chicago, you can get a one-day pass or even a free Exhibit Hall pass and see what's going on in legal tech. But the best part of TECHSHOW is finding out how friendly and accessible the speakers are - TECHSHOW is definitely a conference where you learn a lot both in the sessions and in the hallways outside the sessions.

One last thing: I've started a Facebook Group called The Unofficial ABA TECHSHOW 2008 Group for people planning to be at TECHSHOW. Go ahead and sign up. Tom Mighell has also set up a number of other social networking opportunities for TECHSHOW attendees.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Now available: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Technorati tags: legal technology ABA TECHSHOW

Posted by dmk at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2008

Links of the Week - March 9, 2008

Links of the Week is a regular feature on this blog where I list some of the most interesting links I've found during the previous week - sort of a "best of" from my Google Reader Shared Items. The idea is that I pick out a set of links that I might have wanted to write about or that I found especially thought-provoking or useful. I might or might not agree with the posts or items I link to, but I found them to be something I wanted to share.

In general, I'm just going to give a link to the item, without any explanation. I'll try to do this every weekend, and I'll include the latest additions to my 52 books in 52 weeks project.

This week's links:

Sun GC’s updated “Reebok Rules”

Let's Rethink LexThink!

1,000 True Fans

Into Thin Air

How Do I Build an Enforceable Online Agreement?

The Money Quote [A tip of the hat to Andrew Sullivan - the source for the idea of my frequent use of "money quotes" in posts.]

Who Buys the iPhone for the Enterprise?

An easy way to get the text out of PDF documents

Is Law Firm IT Obsolete?

The US Economy and the Next 'Big One'

Motherhood - the Key to Success

Solo Practice Doesn't Mean Forever

+++

This Week's Additions to 52 Books in 52 Weeks:

The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Read the blog posts and RSS feed items I find most interesting on Google Reader Shared Items or subscribe to its RSS feed. High volume, but lots of interesting items that will get you thinking.

Technorati tags: links

Posted by dmk at 07:33 PM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2008

Competitive Intelligence Roundtable Article

Just posted on the online version of the ABA's Law Practice Magazine is one of the best articles I've ever been a part of. It's called "Competitive Intelligence Roundtable: CI Tactics, Tools and Lessons to Be Learned."

I asked a who's who of experts on competitive intelligence in the practice of law (Mark Beese, David Bowerman, Cynthia Cheng Correia, Ann Lee Gibson, Mark Greene, Sabrina Pacifici and Meredith Williams) to participate in a roundtable discussion of the basics, practical tips and lessons learned about the use of competitive intelligence. To my delight, they all agreed to participate and the result is one heck of an article from which I learned a ton of things and so will you. I'm the article's moderator and a quasi-participant.

In the same issue is Ann Lee Gibson's How to Create and Use Competitive Intelligence: 45 Tips for Law Firms, a helpful CI primer to read as an intro to the roundtable article.

If you are familiar with CI, you'll benefit from the wisdom of this group. If you don't know anything about CI, these article will get you up and running. IF CI wa not on your radar, after you read these articles, it will be.

Highly recommended.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Debuting at the 2008 ABA TECHSHOW: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Technorati tags: competitive intelligence roundtable law pracitce ABA TECHSHOW

Posted by dmk at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2008

Leadership Advisory Board

I've been a fan and a reader of everything Patrick McKenna of the Edge Group has written for many years. An Edge Group training course I took on rainmaking while at The Stolar Partnership was very important in my professional development. It was quite a thrill when Patrick attended the initial LexThink event and I got to meet him in person.

So, when Patrick lets me know about something new that he finds innovative and exciting, I'm all ears.

His latest project, with Baker & Daniels' Chair Emeritus Brian Burke and Managing Partner Magazine, is the Leadership Advisory Board. The Board is a service for new law firm managing partners to get advice from experienced and knowledgeable managing partners through an interactive forum.

I've met a good number of young managing partners in the last few years who have talked to me about their wish to have a way to learn more about how to manage firms, get advice for the challenging questions they face and find some mentoring. Patrick aptly has described it as a "safe sounding board."

It looks like a case where need meets solution, which, given Patrick's involvement, doesn't surprise me in the least. This development is one to watch.

And, the Board, to me, gives us another glimpse of what Law 2.0 developments might look like.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Coming Soon: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Technorati tags: leadership advisory board managing partner LexThink! law firm Law2.0

Posted by dmk at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2008

Dennis Kennedy's Links of the Week - March 2, 2008

Links of the Week is a regular feature on this blog where I list some of the most interesting links I've found during the previous week - sort of a "best of" from my Google Reader Shared Items. The idea is that I pick out a set of links that I might have wanted to write about or that I found especially thought-provoking or useful. I might or might not agree with the posts or items I link to, but I found them to be something I wanted to share.

In general, I'm just going to give a link to the item, without any explanation. I'll try to do this every weekend, and I'll include the latest additions to my 52 books in 52 weeks project.

This week's links:

What Do Blogs Do for America

Lessons from the Oscars: How to Take Credit

Obama Starts Buying (Some) Web Advertising

An Open Letter to Google Sites

Tired of (Promoting) Your Blog? Flip It

The Last Days of Email

Home to House

New Album(s) in the Works?

Writing Tip: Using Footnotes in Early Drafts

F*** Winter

9 Tips to Start Blogging Successfully

The Homeowners Own the Banks

Google Docs Uploader: Ditch Office Easily

To Cheap to Matter

Create Will-Do Lists to Manage Huge Task Inventories

The Power of the Pause

Rumor: Microsoft set for vast data-center push

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This Week's Additions to 52 Books in 52 Weeks:

Absolute Power, by David Baldacci

Stone Cold, by David Baldacci

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Read the blog posts and RSS feed items I find most interesting on Google Reader Shared Items or subscribe to its RSS feed. High volume, but lots of interesting items that will get you thinking.

Technorati tags: links

Posted by dmk at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)