ABA LPM and Envision Agency hosted the first ABA TECHSHOW Legal Media Panel discussion and subsequent publication “Meet & Greet” last Wednesday, the eve of TECHSHOW. Per our post Thursday, the event was well attended and the feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive. There is definitely a need for more media-vendor education and communication of this sort. Take a look at our panelist take-away notes below... Also, look for our publication profiles and editor contact information post tomorrow.
ABA's Law Practice
- Know your target publication: Know who the readership is, what topics they cover, and how you can contribute something that fits.
- Don't bother with vendor-authored bylines - while they are not published, law firm success stories and innovative examples of technological advancements are. Case studies focused on how something works, conceptually, are of interest as well.
ILTA's Peer to Peer
- Familiarize yourself with the editorial calendar so you know what topics both Peer to Peer and ILTA's whitepaper series are focused on.
- Vendors are thought leaders too, and although ILTA member firms provide most of the newsletter and whitepaper content, legal technology companies can participate in educating the target audience with relevant, non-promotional or sales-focused contributions.
ALA's Legal Management
- Email is the best way to reach out to editor John Delavan, be it sending relevant press releases or floating article pitch ideas his way.
- Vendors are an important part of the ALA/Legal Management community. Readers can turn to the "vendor perspectives" supplement (first introduced in LM's 2007 June/July technology issue) to read about best practices and legal technology trends from the vendors point-of- view. Case studies, primarily focused on law firm success stories, are now also a mainstay within LM.
- Send press releases to keep ABA Journal editors in the loop on new product announcements, corporate updates and significant partnerships that impact the readership.
- The ABA Journal has a team of reporters and journalists covering the legal space. While the staff handles all of the writing assignments themselves, vendors are able to offer up subject matter expertise and promote their clients' expertise for future article consideration. Keep in mind, if you pitch an article idea on a topic and the ABA Journal decides to proceed with the story, they may also include your competitors.
ABA's Law Practice Today e-Zine
- Law Practice Today is designed to inform and provide current information and how-to's on what's important to LPM members. Editor Dan Pinnington is always looking for new angles and welcomes subject matter expertise, be it from firms or technology companies with a keen understanding of trends and applications.
- Press releases are not picked up or included in issues of LPT, but might serve as a starting point for content the readers can use.
If you have any questions on the event, please let us know.
Excellent panel and very well done. Thanks to all who pulled the program together.
Posted by: Kevin OKeefe | March 19, 2008 at 12:51 AM