Query: What do you name one of the best staff in baseball when it’s off its A-game for an evening? Reply: One of the best staff in baseball.
So what do you name one of the best convention in authorized tech when it’s off its A-game for a 12 months? One of the best convention in authorized tech.
Monday and Tuesday this week introduced the tenth annual Clio Cloud Convention. It was the primary dwell ClioCon since COVID and the primary to be held in Nashville, after earlier years in San Diego, New Orleans and Chicago.
Having been to all 10 ClioCons, I used to be thrilled to return in particular person. However when the 2 days had been over, I left feeling that this 12 months’s convention was a bit off the A-game I had come to count on.
Had it been solely me that felt that method, I most likely wouldn’t write it. I most likely would have attributed my opinion to my very own temper or misperception and stored it to myself.
However it was not solely me. I heard it from many others – others who had attended previous ClioCons and who’re folks whose opinions I worth and respect – that this 12 months’s convention by some means lacked the identical vibe that has outlined the convention since its inception.
I went to the convention as a reporter, and as a reporter, I might be irresponsible to put in writing solely concerning the good and switch a blind eye to the not-so-good. So on this autopsy report, I’ll communicate to each.
However let’s begin with what makes this convention so nice.
A Should-Attend Convention
I’ve been an unwavering and unabashed fan of ClioCon since its begin in 2013. After the second in 2014, I known as it top-of-the-line authorized know-how conferences I had ever been to. After the 2015 convention, I mentioned that it was déjà vu over again. I felt the identical in 2016, 2017 and 2018, writing that it had “cemented its standing as a must-attend authorized know-how convention.” After the 2019 ClioCon, I described the expertise as like “a cult of innovation.”
This 12 months gave me no purpose to waiver from my fandom. I nonetheless suppose this is likely one of the finest authorized know-how conferences on the market, if not one of the best, and I nonetheless suppose it’s a must-attend convention for anybody serious about innovating the follow of regulation. Run out and get your tickets now for subsequent 12 months, the place it should once more be in Nashville. (There may be an early chook value by means of Jan. 19 of $399.)
Right here once more, I’m not alone. In actual fact, as a bunch of us ClioCon veterans chatted over drinks on the final evening of the convention, and regardless that everybody within the group agreed that this 12 months felt by some means off, all however one mentioned that ClioCon stays their favourite authorized tech convention and that they unequivocally deliberate to be again subsequent 12 months. (The one holdout was on the fence as to which is finest, ClioCon or the Legalgeek convention in London.)
So what made this convention nice? Listed below are among the highlights.
The tribe. In his closing remarks wrapping up this 12 months’s ClioCon, Clio founder and CEO Jack Newton described the sensation amongst attendees of getting “joined a tribe.” “We’re a part of an enormous neighborhood right here with a typical aim of remodeling the authorized expertise for all,” he mentioned. Tribe is maybe a greater phrase than my “cult,” however I believe Newton and I imply the identical factor.
It’s no exaggeration to say that it is a convention by which it feels as if each single particular person is there as a result of they’re deeply dedicated to bettering the follow of regulation and the supply of authorized companies by means of the higher use of know-how and the innovation of their practices. These are authorized professionals who care deeply about their shoppers and who need passionately to be one of the best they will at serving them. At no different authorized tech convention will you discover this breadth and depth of ardour.
The Clions. Clio despatched some 200 of its staff to the convention, not as idle attendees or to be salespeople or entrepreneurs, however slightly to be, in impact, concierges. Wherever one turns on the convention, there’s a Clio worker prepared to assist, whether or not you merely have to be pointed in the correct route or assist with another query. I do know of no different convention the place the organizers go to such expense to make sure that attendees are by no means with out help or steering – or, for that matter, a pleasant smile.
The applications. ClioCon continues to do a superb job of presenting applications on subjects that concentrate on the sensible facets of operating and rising a regulation agency and utilizing authorized know-how.
Exhibit corridor. That is how an exhibit corridor must be carried out. Each exhibitor will get the identical sales space. They stand or fall on the energy of their product, not on the gaudiness of their show. The corridor contains a number of different actions to attract attendees in and thru. Breakfast and lunch had been served day by day within the again. Exhibitors informed me that they received nice visitors to their cubicles and lots of leads for potential prospects.
Founder Jacqueline Schafer celebrates Clearbrief’s Launch//Code win.
Launch//Code. Clio’s $100,000 competitors honors one of the best app integrations. This 12 months, Clio broke the award into two $50,000 checks, one for finest new app and the opposite for most-improved.
The winner of one of the best new app was Clearbrief. Honors for many improved went to Legalboards.
Enjoyable. ClioCon does an amazing job of weaving enjoyable actions into the material of the day. This 12 months, that included line-dancing courses day-after-day at midday, pop-up networking occasions, dawn yoga, an space for taking part in corn gap, and a western attire store, amongst different issues.
The ‘press gallery’: Joe Patrice of Above the Regulation and Steve Embry of Techlaw Crossroads.
Media savvy. There could also be no extra media savvy authorized tech convention than ClioCon. Some conferences cope with the media as a chore, and even because the enemy. ClioCon welcomes the media in each method possible, from the supplies it gives upfront of the convention to the help it provides on website. A spotlight this 12 months, because it was in San Diego, is the realm put aside for podcasting, the place completely different podcasts every get their very own desk the place they will arrange and document at will.
(A specific shout out goes to Pamela Smith, senior supervisor, company communications, at Clio, who’s a consummate PR skilled and who is consistently on prime of each element a reporter would possibly want.)
So What Was Off?
Not solely have I been a fan of this convention since its begin, however I’ve additionally through the years come to know and be buddies with lots of the individuals who work at Clio. That extends proper to the highest, to CEO Newton, whom I sincerely imagine to be one of many main visionaries in regulation and who has been and continues to be a driving drive in shifting the authorized occupation and the authorized tech business to the subsequent degree.
Provided that, I very a lot want I had nothing however reward to heap on this 12 months’s convention, as I’ve on previous years’ ClioCons. However having heard from so lots of the attendees I spoke to — notably those that had been at previous ClioCons and who’re folks whose opinions I belief and worth — the identical sentiment that one thing was amiss, it’s the elephant within the room.
Even so, the problem in writing about that is that these exact same folks had bother placing their fingers on what it was that appeared amiss. Some talked a few completely different vibe. Others pointed to extra tangible points.
So what was it? Listed below are some potential candidates.
The Pandemic
I’d begin with pointing a finger at COVID. Look, all of us are a bit rusty in our social expertise. We’re all a bit off form doing something that includes gathering with different folks in social conditions. If that’s true for smaller gatherings, then it’s true in lots of multiples for large gatherings. Maybe it was becoming, then, that one keynote speaker was Priya Parker, writer of The Artwork of the Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Issues. We’re all relearning methods to collect.
The Venue
In my conversations with folks concerning the convention, there was one level on which just about all of them agreed: It was troublesome to separate their intestine feeling concerning the convention from their disfavor for the venue. The query, then, is: To what extent did their distaste for the venue taint their impression of the convention?
Architect’s rendering of the Gaylord.
The venue, the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Conference Middle, is a sprawling, byzantine facility that seems to have been designed by a staff impressed by the drawings of graphic artist MC Escher, with a confounding array of multi-level crisscrossing walkways, hovering plant-filled atriums, escalators that result in stairways, and an general structure that had folks usually feeling misplaced.
With its water park and indoor boat excursions, the Gaylord may be a enjoyable place for a household. However for a convention, it appeared virtually deliberately designed to discourage the very form of networking, intimacy and social spontaneity that has been a trademark of previous ClioCons.
In its earliest years, ClioCon was on the Radisson Blue Lodge in Chicago, the place the venue was intimate and had any variety of nooks and crannies the place folks may sit and chat. Even because the convention grew through the years to some 2,000 in San Diego in 2019, I used to be impressed that Clio was by some means capable of keep that sense of intimacy.
Maybe the lack of that intimacy is an unavoidable value of success. At the same time as different convention’s wrestle to rebuild attendance within the wake of COVID, this 12 months’s ClioCon was the most important ever, with 2,000 attendees on website and one other 1,000 attending just about from all around the world. With that many individuals, it should all the time be a problem to discover a venue that’s conducive to networking, however the Gaylord appears hellbent on discouraging it.
After which there’s the truth that the Gaylord is nowhere close to downtown Nashville – greater than 10 miles away from it, to be exact. Till this 12 months, each dwell ClioCon has been within the coronary heart of a tremendous metropolis – Chicago, New Orleans, San Diego – the place attendees may simply get out and discover a bit and even simply take a break.
In contrast, the Gaylord is successfully in the midst of nowhere. Granted, it’s instantly adjoining to the Grand Ole Opry, which little question is a draw for nation music followers. However that doesn’t change the truth that each the Gaylord and the Grand Ole Opry are removed from the guts of Music Metropolis.
Social gathering Issues
Though the opening evening occasion had logistical issues, the closing occasion introduced attendees to downtown Nashville for music, barbecue and rooftop views.
One other issue that little question affected folks’s feeling concerning the convention was the opening evening reception. Given Clio’s monitor document of constantly throwing one of the best bashes in authorized tech, this was a disappointment. Held on the Grand Ole Opry, folks arrived to a chaotic scene, with attendees uncertain of what was happening and people sometimes ubiquitous Clio staffers nowhere to be discovered.
With the doorways to the Opry locked, attendees had been confused as to what they had been speculated to do and even whether or not they could be let in sooner or later. Seeing an extended line queued as much as the Opry’s locked entrance door, I walked over and requested somebody what they had been all ready for. “I do not know,” she mentioned.
In the meantime, the courtyard in entrance of the Opry was a scene of a whole bunch of individuals restlessly queued up in any of a dozen or so lengthy, lengthy strains, ready to get to one of many bars for a drink or meals vehicles for one thing to eat. The await a drink was 30-45 minutes, solely to then need to get into one other 30-45 minute meals truck line. To get a drink and a taco took 90 minutes – 90 minutes that might have been spent networking and socializing.
There was no music taking part in or leisure of any type, simply a lot of folks wanting confused. Many – myself amongst them – ultimately left and returned to the Gaylord within the hope of scoring one thing to eat. Those that remained on the Opry had been ultimately handled to a rustic music present that was, by all accounts of those that attended, nice leisure.
Different Points
So between the venue and the miscalculated logistics of the opening evening reception, the convention already had two strikes towards it. (In equity to Clio, somebody informed me that the logistical miscue was the fault of the host, not of Clio.)
However there have been different potential causes. Of the folks I spoke to who mentioned the convention felt off to them, some supplied further ideas.
A critique I heard from a number of folks was that the convention felt extra pitchy than previously. One lawyer who was a first-time attendee, for instance, mentioned he felt as if an excessive amount of of the convention was an try to promote him merchandise – whether or not Clio’s or these of Clio’s companions.
In my previous years’ write-ups of the convention, I’ve praised Clio for staging a convention that isn’t only for Clio prospects, however for anybody with an curiosity in studying extra about tech and innovation in regulation follow. In actual fact, for a few years, Clio drew a vivid line between programming designed for its prospects and programming designed for that broader viewers, with separate tracks for the 2.
This 12 months, Clio or its ecosystem companions appeared to have a presence at just about each session. At lots of the classes, a minimum of one of many audio system was a Clio worker. As I’ve already mentioned above, and as I heard from many attendees, there was wonderful programming. However it did really feel extra conspicuously to be a Clio buyer convention than it had in previous years and fewer a common authorized business convention.
One thing else I heard repeatedly is that the sense of neighborhood that has permeated previous years’ conferences was much less palpable this 12 months.
As I famous earlier, in my write-up on the 2019 convention, I known as it a “cult of innovation.” And as I additionally beforehand famous, CEO Jack Newton described it as a tribe.
Whereas that remained true this 12 months, I did really feel that the sense of it as a tribe was much less pervasive, much less palpable. Whether or not that was due completely to the venue or to one thing extra, I have no idea.
Solutions
Let me be clear: I nonetheless suppose that is one of the best convention in authorized tech. And, as I already mentioned, just about everybody I spoke to who attends different authorized tech conferences agreed.
Frankly, I used to be thrilled to spend these two days at ClioCon with so many individuals who, as Newton mentioned, share a typical aim of remodeling the authorized expertise for all. This isn’t simply Clio’s tribe – it’s my tribe and that of many others. I draw vitality and inspiration from being amongst them.
To the extent this was an “off evening” for staff ClioCon, I believe it was an anomaly. Personally, I’m not thrilled that the convention is returning to Nashville subsequent 12 months, solely as a result of I so disliked the venue, however there isn’t a query that, wherever ClioCon goes, I’ll observe – and that I might be excited to be there.
I hope that a few of my feedback can show to be constructive in designing subsequent 12 months’s convention. And I hope that I’ve not been so damaging that they flip me away on the door. The reality is – and it is a unusual factor for a journalist to say – I care about this convention and the individuals who work so onerous to make it occur, and I need every year’s model to be higher than the final.
I’ve spent method an excessive amount of time on this submit conjecturing why this convention felt “off” this 12 months. Slightly than finish on that be aware, let me supply some ideas on how, given the identical venue, the convention may very well be even higher subsequent 12 months.
- Reconfigure the registration space. The primary registration space was a cavernous room that discouraged gatherings (aside from an space of seating for audio system). It was a large room to maneuver by means of slightly than to fulfill in. I might recommend discovering a method to redesign it to make it extra of a social hub.
- Reconfigure the general convention space. Honestly, I do not know if this may be carried out with such a big convention, however the general convention house felt too unfold out this 12 months, with a lot of strolling from place to put – usually by means of that aforementioned registration space – and too little sense of connection among the many areas.
- Relocate the Launch//Code pitches. The pitches had been within the exhibit corridor, which made sense from the perspective of pulling visitors into the corridor. However the acoustics had been tough. Both maintain it there with higher acoustics or transfer it to a separate location.
- Resolve in case you are a consumer convention or business convention. Clio has each proper to make its convention a buyer convention. However I believe it must extra clearly talk which method it is happening this.
- Employees the events. Far be it for me to inform Clio methods to throw a celebration. Its events have been among the many most memorable I’ve ever attended. However it’s potential that the disorganization of the Grand Ole Opry occasion may have been minimized by having extra Clio workers on website. Bear in mind these Clions-as-concierges I described above? It was onerous to seek out anybody within the early hours of the Opry occasion who appeared in cost.
Grand Expectations
With ClioCon, Clio faces a frightening problem. Because it raises the bar every year – even with its digital conferences throughout the pandemic – it then has to surpass that bar the subsequent 12 months. And with that elevating of the bar every year comes greater and better expectations amongst attendees.
As a reporter, I might be turning a blind eye if I mentioned this convention was good in each method. I’ve taken the house to speak concerning the methods it felt off this 12 months as a result of that was what I so usually heard from others.
However even when barely off its A-game, the Clio Cloud Convention continues to be top-of-the-line, if not one of the best, convention in authorized tech. It was a must-attend earlier than and it stays a must-attend right this moment. So head on over and purchase your tickets now.
