I decided to take a break from ABA TECHSHOW this year. However, it starts Thursday and, as I knew I would, I’m having pangs of regret. On the other hand, I’ve got so many things going on here that I know I made the best decision.
TECHSHOW has long been the best lawyer-focused, education-oriented legal technology show of the year – at least in my opinionated opinion, and given my bias of having spent a couple of years on the TECHSHOW Board.
This year, my good friend and honorary cousin, Dan Pinnington, is chairing the show and I’ll miss being with him to see how much he enjoys having his vision of TECHSHOW come to life. I know the people on this year’s board well, and know that they’ll put on a stellar show. I really like to see how they enjoy pulling the whole show together and the big smiles on their faces during and after the show.
There’s still some time to make plans to attend the show, and, if you are in Chicago, there’s no excuse for not snagging a free exhibit hall pass and spending a few hours or a day hanging around the exhibit hall and learning about what’s happening in legal technology. There are also a number of dinners and informal events where you can get the chance to meet and chat with some of the notables in legal technology and a big, friendly group of lawyers interested in technology.
My best TECHSHOW tip: grab a chair in the lobby of the Sheraton and join in the spontaneous conversations that arise. Some of my favorite times at TECHSHOW have been sitting in the lobby until the wee hours talking with Jerry Lawson, Alan Pearlman, Ernest “Ernie the Attorney” Svenson, Dan Pinnington, Jim Calloway, Jeff Beard, Adriana Linares, the Rethink IP guys, and many, many others, but especially my longtime pals from CaseSoft, Bob Wiss and Greg Krehel – I’ll definitely miss our annual get-togethers this year. By the way, it was largely my experience in these conversations in the Sheraton lobby that shaped my understanding of “unconferences” and led to LexThink.
I looked over the program schedule and, as usual, there are great sessions and speakers. Especially if you are in Chicago, it’s worth taking advantage of this opportunity. You won’t find a more open, generous and helpful group of people.
Yes, I’ll definitely enjoy the break from speaking at TECHSHOW this year (it’s nice not to be preparing two new presentations at this time of year), but I’ll definitely miss the camaraderie and fun. No doubt.
I’ve been brainstorming with Tom Mighell tonight to see if there’s a way to use Twitter to let me hang out with the people at TECHSHOW vicariously. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen on that.
Which reminds me. . . I had a great time at Matt Homann’s latest idea market last night. I met some great new people and got to catch up with a few friends. And I got the chance to talk about blogging, including a conversation with two other St. Louis bloggers who have been blogging for more than four years. We shared notes, and quite similar observations, about the clear “generations” of bloggers. I might revisit that topic in a future post.
Matt previewed some of his TECHSHOW presentation on Web 2.0, and, if you are at TECHSHOW, I can tell you that that presentation will be very, very good. When you see Matt, be sure to ask him about the next LexThink event.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (https://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
Like what you are reading? Check out the other blogs where I post – Between Lawyers (feed) and the LexThink Blog (feed).
Technorati tags: legal technology techshow LexThink! unconference web 2.0 idea market