ALMResearchBlog

2008 AALL/Thomson West Excellence in Marketing Awards

Submissions are now being taken for the 2008 AALL/Thomson West excellence in Marketing Awards and thanks for the Law Librarian Blog for their announcement. The contest is open to any individual, group, library, Consortium, SIS, Caucus, Chapter, or any other group affiliated with AALL.  Award categories include: Best Brochure, Best Newsletter, Best Campaign, Best PR Tool Kit, Best Use of Technology. The deadline for entries is February 1, 2008.

Top Tips from ABA TECHSHOW

Mark Kuiack, writing on the Canadian Bar Association’s web site, CBA PracticeLink, offers these Top 10 Tips from TECHSHOW. A few samples: Create a “TripTik” for your clients – Remember those CAA roadmaps that were so helpful in the pre-Google days? Apply the same concept to guide your clients through the entire process, from engagement to closure. Don’t manage staff by e-mail – Recent surveys show that recipients correctly interpret the tone of e-mail only 50 per cent of the time. E-mail shouldn’t replace face-to-face interaction with staff. Google yourself – Google yourself regularly to find out how potential clients see you through the eyes of the Web. Better yet, set up Google Alerts to ensure you’re not the last to know what’s being said about you online. To read more, click here

Forbes’ Annual Billionaires List

Forbes magazine’s annual list of The World’s Billionaires is on the newsstands, as well as all over the internet. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet top the list, as usual. According to the report, Forbes editors “pinned down 946 billionaires, including 178 newcomers and 17 people who climbed back into the ranks after being absent for a year or more. Two-thirds of last year's billionaires are richer. Only 17% are poorer, including 32 who fell below the billion-dollar mark.” We’re wondering if that is billionaire-speak for “falling on hard times.”

ALM Research Blog Information

We have updated a few of our features on the blog and wanted to update our readers.

First, as you have read in the past under the headline of "Calendar Items," we periodically post about upcoming events, in the legal industry.  These have now been moved to the right side bar in the Google Calendar.  To read about an upcoming event, simply click on the title and a description window will open.  Additionally, we have added dates of ALM survey releases to help you with your internal planning. If there are events you would like to see posted, feel free to comment, or email them and we will be happy to review them.

Second, we are very pleased to report that our 2006 Global Law Firm Knowledge Management Survey has been receiving good coverage in the press.  We post links to these articles, as well as others, in the left side bar under ALM Research In the News.  Simply click on the link and you will be taken to the publication's article.

Calendar: Upcoming Events

The following webinars are presented by MRA

"Selling Has Nothing To Do With Selling" "In this critical session, you will learn how to deliver measurable results through an improved sales process."  Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM ET; Presenter: Rick Farrell, Selling Dynamics, LLC; Cost: $45 Members; $75 Non-members; Deadline to register is Monday, May 22nd at NOON! Click for a registration form.

"Guerilla Publicity" "This is a presentation that will help professionals in any industry get the word out about their business, product, or service."  Date: June 20, 2006; Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM ET; Presenter: Jill Lublin, International Speaker / Best Selling Author; Cost: $45 Members; $75 Non-members; Deadline to register is Monday, June 19th at NOON!; Click for a registration form.

ALM President Selected for “Top Innovator in Business Publishing” Award

Posted by Margaret Daisley

ALM president and CEO William Pollak has been selected by Media Business magazine as a recipient of its third annual “Top Innovators in Business Publishing” award. Media Business’ editors and reporters selected the awardees from a wide pool of nominees submitted by the magazine’s staff and the publishing community. Profiles of Pollak and other winners are featured in the May issue of the magazine. The awards will be presented at a gala luncheon in New York City on June 8.

 

Pollak was cited for innovations in developing additional media and database offerings for the legal industry, while extending the company’s business into related sectors, such as commercial real estate. The article also profiles ALM’s innovations in creating branding partnerships with publications such as Fortune and its investment in online and rich data products for major legal segments, as well as its creation of lead generation services for companies seeking to reach the $200 billion legal market.

ALM and West Have New Content-Sharing Agreement

As of May 1^st, a new content-sharing agreement between West, a Thomson business, and ALM, our parent company and the nation’s leading legal journalism and information company, means that content from all of ALM’s award-winning publications, newsletters, and litigation resources will be available exclusively through Westlaw, as a third-party provider to the legal market. West has set up a hotline for questions: 1-800-207-9378.

Confessions of an Apprentice Addict

Posted by Margaret Daisley

When I saw the words “The Apprentice” in the e-newsletter Chief Marketer recently, I had to read on. Sure, I have my reservations about The Donald like everyone else.  (That hair! The constant name-dropping – of his own name!). But c’mon, admit it!  He’s certainly more entertaining and even educational than, for instance, Paris Hilton. And I find it rather fascinating to watch the Darwinian experience each week in which two groups compete in a quick and contrived marketing task, knowing that one of them will be fired. Oh that Donald! He always picks the right one.

The Chief Marketer piece was by Drew Neisser of the Renegade Marketing Group in New York. Neisser writes that “Our nondisclosure agreement with [The Apprentice’s] producers prevents me from providing specific details of our involvement. But that said, it’s public record that two of us made cameo appearances (on Episode 2, Season 5, in which the “oh-so-easy-to-despise Brent” led his “doomed team” straight to failure). However, Mr. Neisser’s and his companion’s appearances were so short, he says, that even his mother missed him on the show.

In any case, it has occurred to me, as it has to Mr. Neisser, “that there are lessons to be found in the rubble, gems of marketing wisdom buried amid this primetime detritus.”  Mr. Neisser examines the task of Episode 2, Season 5: convincing consumers to send a specific text message. As he notes, in The Apprentice task, “there was no reasonable exchange of value with the consumer. Unsuspecting pedestrians were asked to send a text message without a promise of anything in return. In fact, they simply got a wordy reply that referenced the Gillette Fusion (the company/brand being promoted that week).” “In marketing reality,” Neisser summarizes, “most companies try to build meaningful relationships with target prospects. Recognizing that the ‘experience’ can define the brand, more and more marketers are examining every aspect of their consumer interactions and are working hard to make them as enjoyable and rewarding as possible.” He goes on, but you get the picture.

My own Tuesday-morning critique (The Apprentice airs on Monday evenings) always revolves around wondering why the teams, as they approach their assignments each week, never seem to get around to doing much due diligence. Where’s the gathering of competitive intelligence? Why do they persist in thinking that their success has more to do with becoming good pals and liking each other, rather than with figuring out how to accomplish the task in a way that will wow the client? Rather than focusing on how to increase sales? Why in the world on last Monday’s episode did Project Manager Charmaine spend so much of her team’s precious time stocking shelves with product at that Long Island beauty salon, instead of making sure the grand opening was a smashing success?

Can you imagine planning a seminar for a client without really knowing what the client’s business is?  Have you ever planned or made revisions to the firm’s web site based simply on your own preferences and “instincts”? Are you getting ready to launch a blog or do podcasts simply because they’re the latest marketing fads?  Do you find yourself nodding your head in response to any of these?  Well, if so, I hate to say it, but in the words of La Donald:  Ms./Mr. Marketer, you’re fired!

Morgan, Lewis, Bockius, Damon & Affleck?

“Good Will Hunting” buddies Matt Damon and Ben Affleck will take on the roles of two partners from Philadelphia law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius -- Michael Banks and J. Gordon Cooney Jr. – to portray the 15-year pro bono crusade of the Morgan, Lewis lawyers to overturn a murder conviction. Disney’s Touchstone Pictures have made a deal for the film based on the partners’ story, according to an April 18 report in The Recorder by reporter Kellie Schmitt. Though the ending is already public knowledge (the convicted man, John Thompson, was finally exonerated), the story is, as Schimitt puts it, “packed with enough dramatic tension to fill a Hollywood screenplay.”

New York State Bar Accepting Community Service Nominations

The New York State Bar Association is accepting nominations for its 2006 Root/Stimson Award. The honor recognizes lawyers who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to community service. For details and nomination forms, which must be postmarked by April 28, visit http://www.nysba.org/Root.Stimson. Nominations forms should be mailed to Juli Turner, Department of Media Services and Public Affairs, New York State Bar Association, One Elk Street, Albany, N.Y., 12207.