ABA TECHSHOW 2022: An Interview with Co-Chairs Brooke Moore and Ivan Hemmans

Episode Notes

Transcript

Intro:  Before we get started, we’d like to thank our sponsors Alert Communications, the Blackletter Podcast, Scorpion, and Smokeball.

[Music]

Male 1:  Welcome to the Digital Edge, with Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway, your hosts, both legal technologists, authors and lecturers, invite industry professionals to discuss a new topic related to lawyers and technology.  You’re listening to Legal Talk network.

Sharon Nelson:  Welcome to the 168th Edition of the Digital Edge, Lawyers and Technology.  We are glad to have you with us.  I’m Sharon Nelson, President of Sensei Enterprises and Information Technology, Cyber Security and Digital Forensics firm in Fairfax, Virginia.

Jim Calloway:  And I’m Jim Calloway, Director of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Management Assistance Program.  Today our topic is ABA TECHSHOW 2022: An Interview with Co-Chairs Brooke Moore and Ivan Hemmans.

Brooke is the Legal Editor for Legal Templates, LLC and a founding attorney of MyVirtual.Lawyer, an online limited scope representation law firm model.  She’s been named as an American Bar Association Women in Legal Tech honoree.  Has been recognized in the Fastcase 50 and was the 2021 recipient of the ABA James I. Keane award for excellence in in e-lawyering.  She is a nationally recognized speaker and author on topics related to limited scope representation, virtual lawyering, legal technology, and well-being.

Ivan is a Senior Manager of Technical Development at O’Melveny & Myers, LLP and has extensive experience with information technology.  He has worked with law firms for over 25 years and computers for approximately three decades.  Many described him as a technology enthusiast.

Thanks for joining Brooke and Ivan.

Ivan Hemmans:  Great to be here.  Thank you guys so much for inviting us.

Brooke Moore:  Thanks for having us Jim and Sharon.  Excited to be here today.

Sharon Nelson:  Well, we’re excited to have you guys here and, of course, we want to begin with the big news that this year ABA TECHSHOW will be an in-person event in 2022, and a time when we haven’t had many live in-person events and that’s an understatement.  Why don’t each of you give us your 15 second elevator pitch about why every lawyer should attend ABA TECHSHOW and maybe tell them about the cost, and perhaps you could go first for me Brooke.

Brooke Moore:  I believe that all lawyers, legal professionals, anyone legal adjacent should attend this year’s TECHSHOW because it’s really a place where everyone comes together and gets on the same page about what the future of the practice of law should look like and a place where we can really workshop and collaborate on how to get there together.  So we have a lot of really exciting programming and tracks this year, set up for all skill levels and for all practice areas in different kinds of practitioners.  So it’s really a place where you can come together, to learn together and to be able to collaborate to move the profession forward by learning more about technology and about what it’s out there.

Ivan Hemmans:  I couldn’t agree more.  If anything, I’d describe ABA TECHSHOW as a technology conference run by lawyers and practitioners of law to come together and understand all of the new technologies, the new requirements and the changing landscape that we find before us.  And never has that statement been more true than it is right now.

Jim Calloway:  What about the cost of ABA TECHSHOW?

Ivan Hemmans:  That’s a great question, Jim.  Folks can go to techshow.com to find out the cost.  There are a variety of different options available.  There’s a virtual conference which we can talk about as well as an in-person conference.  Just to give you a round number, it starts at $1,150 and then depending on whether or not you’re an ABA member, you may find discounted options available as well.

Jim Calloway:  After 2021s all virtual conference, how did the ABA TECHSHOW Board decide on an in-person meeting with a virtual component?  Why don’t you tell our listeners what the virtual attendees receive and will let Ivan start.

Ivan Hemmans:  With regard to the conference, well, I guess the decision was kind of an easy one.  In 2020, we found ourselves facing a situation like none of us can ever recall, and in 2021, we went completely virtual.  Based on what we could see and what we anticipated to happen with developments in terms of vaccines and so forth, it seemed likely that we’d be in a position to have some sort of in-person meeting and based on all of those who contributed in terms of budgeting and planning, it seemed like the right choice was to come up with something that could both take advantage of the virtual world we found ourselves in.

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While also offering a more modest in-person experience.  So this year, we’re on track for this hybrid experience to happen in actuality.  So there’s two parts to the conference.  There’s an in-person experience with five tracks and a number of sessions that are all designed for those who plan to attend in person, and they’re also two tracks with a virtual experience.  And as you might expect, for folks who decide to join virtually, the cost of admission is $250, and if you decide to come in person, you get the virtual experience, add it on at no additional cost.  And we expect that for those who attend either virtually or in-person, they’re going to take away great amount of good information that they can use immediately at their firm.  In addition to the virtual and in-person components, we actually have several sessions that will be offered as hybrid, which means, that people who are both in-person, as well as people who are attending virtually can participate in several sessions at the same time.

Brooke Moore:  To add some clarity for exactly what a hybrid conference looks like, this is primarily an in-person conference.  That’s why we’re focusing on that aspect, but we also want to add value to the virtual attendees and add extra value to the ones that are attending in person.  And so for our virtual attendees, they’re going to, as Ivan said have the option to view two separate tracks.  Virtually one is called virtually everything and that’s a sampling of some of the topics and ideas that would be under certain tracks that we have in-person and then the coveted Core Concepts has moved to a virtual track because we feel like that is one of the most important and highly attended tracks typically for TECHSHOW in the past, and so we wanted to make sure that in-person had access to that as well as virtual.  So that’s an in-person and virtual concept as well.  Will be offering that virtually you can leave and watch that when you back to your office as needed.

Sharon Nelson:  Brooke, did you feel as though you were reinventing ABA TECHSHOW this year, I mean did that proved to be the case as you went along?  There were so many ups and downs and what was going on in the world.

Brooke Moore:  Yes.  We were having to make a lot of decisions based on a lot of unknowns and we had a little bit of information from virtual last year which was more successful than we imagined.  And then we also had the trends and information from 2020 and previous in-person conferences, so really it was kind of a guessing game on budgeting and designing, but we kind of jumped into this uncharted territory of having to blend what we knew about virtual and what we knew about the in-person experience and try to create something that would meet everyone kind of where they were in the process and make sure everyone was comfortable bringing them into the ABA TECHSHOW experience.  So in formatting creating this kind of hybrid experience that was reinvention, but also, we had reimagined as most co-chairs do throughout the years.  Kind of add their stamp to the show every year.  We’d kind of reimagine what we wanted it to look like so our track design and the processes that we have in place are not the exact same tracks that were accustomed to a TECHSHOW, but they are arranged in a way that we think everyone will get the maximum benefit out of the sessions and attending whether you’re in-person or your virtual.

Sharon Nelson:  How about you, Ivan, how did you feel during this process?

Ivan Hemmans:  You know it’s interesting in some ways, the process or the structure of TECHSHOW is similar to what we’ve grown to be familiar with over the last however, many years.  It feels in many ways the same, however, going virtual and Brooke and I both had the opportunity to participate in the planning phase of the virtual conference that happened last year, that whole virtual thing felt not completely different, but it felt so different that for those who are looking in from the outside you might have to do a little bit of gazing to see what you remember from the in-person experience.  It translates mostly but I think in many ways coming back to an in-person component, it felt like coming back home to me.  There are many aspects of the in-person conference that I was looking forward to seeing come back and I’m happy to say that they will be coming back and the virtual piece felt reminiscent of what we did last year.  So it was a new experience, but at the same time it was also familiar.

Jim Calloway:  Many lawyers are from states with a mandatory CLE requirement, do you have plenty of sessions with CLE credit offered?  And I’d like each of you to tell me what’s new and exciting with tracks and sessions this year.  Brooke, go first.

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Brooke Moore:  Sure, yeah.  We aim to get as much CLE credit as possible, so we try to apply for credit on all of the sessions that we know would be approved.  So we have plenty of CLE credit as we normally do and then, as far as what’s new and exciting with the tracks and sessions this year, I’m really excited about the way the in-person tracks are laid out.  We have a design, launch, grow, sustain, and transform track.  And so it really is customized to the experience where you are with specific things in your journey in your law firm.  Wherever you’re at, you can go to that stage and you can learn about the things that you want to or need to design your practice or if you are trying to launch it and you’re in that phase.  So we’ve designed it that way and you may be in different phases, depending on where you’re at for different topics and ideas, so you can jump around, but we have laid it out where you’re not having to choose between competing tracks that are applicable to you as much as we possibly could.  So I’m really excited about how it progresses and how, you know, hopefully in the future you can come back and go into the next phase for that and build on that as we go forward.

Jim Calloway:  Ivan, what do you see is new and exciting.

Ivan Hemmans:  I think that Brooke hit it.  There are five in-person tracks that she mentioned, the design, launch, grow, sustain, and transform.  And in addition to that, there are two virtual tracks which are Core Concepts and virtually everything, that’s sampling of the other five tracks that I mentioned just a moment ago.  I find that to be new and exciting because for those who have attended TECHSHOW in the past, whether in-person or virtually, they’ll find what they love in core concepts.  And for those who are new to TECHSHOW, they’re coming in person, they’ll find a more cohesive collection of tracks that are designed to help you, the attendee, no matter where you are in your law firm practice Journey.  So I find the whole approach to be new and exciting.  Our theme this year is about community and so never before has community been so important, especially for many of us who have transitioned to trying to find ways of communing with others virtually.

Jim Calloway:  Thanks, Ivan.  Before we move on to our next segment.  Let’s take a quick commercial break.

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Sharon Nelson:  Welcome back to the Digital Edge on the Legal Talk Network.  Today, our subject is ABA TECHSHOW 2022.  An interview with co-chairs Brooke Moore and Ivan Hemmans.  Our guests today are all obviously, Brooke Moore and Ivan Hemmans.

Brooke is the Legal Editor for Legal Templates, LLC and Founding Attorney of MyVirtual.Lawyer, an online limited scope representation law firm model.  Ivan is a Senior Manager of Technical Development at O’Melveny & Myers, LLP and has extensive experience with information technology.  He has worked with law firms for over 25 years and computers for approximately three decades.

Ivan how is the expo hall shaping up?  Tell folks a little bit about how the expo hall works and is there still plenty of swag to snag?

Ivan Hemmans:  So for those who’ve been to TECHSHOW before, the expo hall is coming back in a way that you have seen in the past, meaning there will be booths of vendors.  Booths and vendors who provide services as well as products that can help law firm practitioners practice their law.  So this year, as Brooke mentioned earlier, we’re focusing more on the in-person experience.  So if you are in-person, you’ll be able to go to the expo hall, wander around, pick up swag, talk with vendors, meet people that perhaps you’ve seen at previous TECHSHOWS in the past.  For those of us who are attending virtually, there is a virtual expo hall and what you’ll find there primarily is information about the various exhibitors that are going to be on site in the expo and you can contact those folks both through the virtual platform as well as by email and so on.  They’ll have information to their websites as well as the best ways to connect with them.

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Jim Calloway:  What’s the kickoff for ABA TECHSHOW going to be?  Startup Alley, right?  Tell us about that Brooke and also tell us what the conclusion will be.

Brooke Moore:  Right Jim.  Yes, Startup Alley is back and Bob Ambrogi has been organizing that and we have some great contenders for that.  It’s going to be an in-person event.  Unfortunately, it’s not going to be open to the virtual folks, but you’ll have plenty of information on the competitors, and of course, the results of Startup Alley, so we’re really excited to dig into that and check out all the new tech tools and things that we will see at Startup Alley.  And for the conclusion of the show is of course going to be 60 in 60 where Ivan and myself and our co-vice chairs will be giving 60 tech tips, tricks and tools in 60 minutes.  And so we are really excited to share with you some practical and fun things that you can find today in the world of technology.

Sharon Nelson:  Well, that sounds terrific and as the two of you know, Jim and I are both passed ABA TECHSHOW chairs, so we’re not exactly objective observers on this topic.  So we are going to ask you to drop your objectivity to have each of you pick two favorites among your children, your sessions do you believe will be really outstanding, so what would you say Brooke?

Brooke Moore:  Well, we are doing a Saturday workshop for each track, so I’m really excited about that.  It’s going to be a little bit different than some of the things that we’ve done in the past, and so we’re going to have a facilitator, it’s going to be based on what stage you are and you can come and find all the things that you’ve learned during the week, the different sessions kind of come together on Saturday with the facilitator and have a conversation like Ivan said really focused on community.  So come together.  Make sure that you’re making those connections, make sure you’re walking away with practical tips and knowledge to actually implement what you learned at TECHSHOW all week.  And then, my other favorite is probably going to be the session Come Play in The Sandbox, which is how to advance legal services through regulation.  Ed Walters, his sessions are always really heavily attended.  He and Lori Gonzalez are going to be taking on this session and it’s essentially going to be about how we can test different, you know, changes experiment on different productions, operations, things like that, as the legal community and legal technology continues to grow and expand, so that way we can find opportunities for lawyers, and also, you know, be able to discuss kind of the data that we have around the actual services and the regulations, how we can expand the delivery of legal services and also at the same time, address some access to justice issues.  So I think that’s going to be a really popular and heavily attended session.

Ivan Hemmans:  For me, I don’t know if I can pick my favorite, but I’ll tell you 60 in 60 is always great.  I enjoy that because there’s so many tips and tools that I take away, and I’m able to just jump in and start using them.  So, I’m not going to count that as one of my kids, because I think for many people, that’s their favorite session.  There are two sessions that come to mind.  The one under the Core Concepts virtual track, and that’s called MS Teams: Mastering the Fundamentals.  I can tell you that over the last year and a half, I have spent a lot of time on virtual meetings of all sorts and Teams continues to be one that is taking more and more of my time.  So Mastering the Fundamentals is going to be super helpful so that I could do even more hopefully, in less time with fewer clicks to try and fix settings that might have changed when I wasn’t looking.  And the other session is under the grow track strategies to grow your team because right now, as many are considering going back in-person to the various workplaces, growth is sort of first among many many considerations finding the right people in the right climate, in the right place to help you build your firm.  So I’m excited to see what that one brings.  I expect that it will be well attended.

Jim Calloway:  Before we move on to our next segment, let’s take a quick commercial break.

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Sharon Nelson:  Welcome back to the Digital Edge on the Legal Talk Network.  Today, our subject is ABA TECHSHOW 2022.  An interview with co-chairs Brooke Moore and Ivan Hemmans.

Brooke is the Legal Editor for Legal Templates, LLC and Founding Attorney of MyVirtual.Lawyer, an online limited scope representation law firm model.  Ivan is a Senior Manager of Technical Development at O’Melveny & Myers, LLP and has extensive experience with information technology.  Ivan, have you had any drop-off in registrations that you can feel because of COVID?  And can you tell us if there are COVID restrictions that will be in place that would make people feel safer about going.

Ivan Hemmans:  An excellent question.  And as I think everyone will agree, most people have had considerations concerns related to COVID as kind of affecting everyone, everywhere.  And so we anticipated that the registration numbers would be a little bit more conservative just because we weren’t sure the comfort level folks would have with regard to traveling or going to meet up with other people in the real world.  So I’d say that the registration numbers are on track with what we were planning for and I expect that as cases continue to drop and people become more comfortable going out to real events, like oh, i don’t know, the Super Bowl that will find that more folks will be more comfortable as the event draws nearer.  In terms of COVID restrictions, in Chicago there is a mask mandate and I believe there’s also a requirement right now that people show proof of vaccination.  So it will be complying with the local guidance both of the city as well as the venue where the conference is going to be happening.  And so for those of you who do register, you’ll get email information that tells you everything that you need to know before you make your way to Chicago.

Jim Calloway:  Okay.  It’s time to close the deal with our listeners now.  Who wants to say the final words about why everyone should attend ABA TECHSHOW and how to register and find more information?

Brooke Moore:  Everyone should attend because we’re in-person.  For one, there’s also an opportunity if you haven’t been to TECHSHOW or if you can’t go for whatever reason, aren’t comfortable going, there is an option to go virtually.  So you really have no excuse not to attend in some form or capacity either visit with old friends, get more information and just be at the number one place to learn about where the profession is headed, and what tools do you need to get there.  In order to register, you can go to the techshow.com website.  All the information is there, the drop-down of faculty members, board members, brochure, things that you can expect sessions, things like that.  It’s all going to be on the website.

Ivan Hemmans:  I would tell you this, if you work at a law firm, if you work in the field of legal at all, and you use technology, then you could definitely benefit by going to TECHSHOW.  I highly encourage you to go to techshow.com, you can check out the schedule to see what is available on each of the different days, and we hope to see you soon in Chicago.

Sharon Nelson:  Well, we want to thank you for joining us today, Brooke and Ivan.  It was a real pleasure.  We are so proud of the work you’ve done.  It’s been very hard work and hard times, but you’ve managed to come up with a beautiful hybrid model.  It’s very exciting, the session sound great, and it goes without saying, Jim and I are cheering you on.  Have a blast.

Brooke Moore:  Thanks so much Sharon.  We really appreciate both of you and your support.

Ivan Hemmans:  Yes, I couldn’t agree more.  We look forward to seeing both you and Jim in just a few weeks over in Chicago.  Take care.  Thanks for having us.

Sharon Nelson:  That does it for this edition of the Digital Edge, Lawyers and Technology.  And remember you can subscribe to all of the editions of this podcast at legaltalknetwork.com or on Apple podcast.  And if you enjoyed our podcast, please rate us an Apple podcast.

Jim Calloway:  Thanks for joining us.  Goodbye Ms. Sharon.

Sharon Nelson:  Happy trills, cowboy.

[Music]

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Podcast transcription by Tech-Synergy.com