Dave & Vanessa in the Clockwork Booth at the LMA National Conference 2013
Vanessa and Dave met hundreds of legal marketers at this year’s LMA National Conference, which took place in Las Vegas, April 8-10, at the Aria Resort.
Keynote speaker David Wilkins, Vice-Dean from Harvard Law School, shared his 20+ years of legal insight, global perspective and marketplace forecasts of key industry trends. David touched on important questions, including: What are the major factors driving the market for legal services? Why are these factors leading clients to seek “more for less” from even their best law firms? How are these factors shaping the market for talent at both junior and senior levels? What can firms do to respond to — and, even more importantly, to anticipate — these challenges?
The conference breakout sessions were grouped into four tracks: Business Development, Innovation, Marketing Communications/PR, and Marketing Technologies. One of the more talked about sessions was titled “Pricing, Profitability and the Role of Marketing”. Law firms now recognize that it is no longer sufficient to just win revenue; now it must be profitable revenue. The presenters were Toby Brown, Director of Strategic Pricing and Analytics at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and Colleen Nihill, Firm Wide Director of Project Management at Dechert LLP.
“Digital Marketing Ideas Worth Spreading”, held in a rapid-fire format inspired by TED Talks, allowed six legal marketing minds exactly 10 minutes each to touch on big ideas in digital marketing. My favorite was a demonstration of responsive web design, and how that will help law firm websites display on mobile and other devices in the near future. Another session, also in the Technology track, was titled “Applying the Newest Interactive Trends to Law Firm Websites”. It also reviewed new trends and technologies, from HTML 5 and narrative navigation to content marketing and responsive design. Speakers addressed how these technologies are impacting the look, feel and functionality of business websites and mobile experiences. The session titled “Law Firm Video – Director’s Cut” addressed what type of video content works well, how to integrate video into a firm’s marketing strategy, and how to distribute video.
We enjoyed spending time with many of our wonderful clients including Maureen Grenier of Mirick O’Connell in Worcester, MA, Jennifer Shankleton of Brouse McDowell in Akron, Ohio, Jennifer Irvine, Jenna DiGregorio, and Heather Wolcott of Brown Rudnick in Boston, Jeff Scalzi, Denise Wilson, and Potellia Kirk of Goulston & Storrs in Boston, Liz Cerasuolo of Fish & Richardson in Boston, Caroline Von Flatern of Sherin And Lodgen in Boston, and many more.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth. I hope our “magic wands” work, and bring you much success in the coming year!
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