Gina's CLE Blog

ACLEA “AHA!” Moments – Part II

I'm not surprised, with the focus on social media at the Orlando conference, how many of the attendees' "AHA" moments dealt with Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the like. I'll keep posting if I keep getting responses from you!

Actually, my aha moment was meeting Kevin O'Keefe in the flesh.  After seeing his posts and and conversing with him via Twitter, it was great to meet him in person.  He's actually a cooler guy in person than online, and I thought he was pretty cool on online!  Moral of the story - there's no substitute for meeting someone in person but I never would have even known about him, let alone met him, without the social networking.  It all works apiece.

My AHA moment was more of a reminder than a revelation. Not a reminder of what to do, but how to do it. The reminder came from David Shearon, executive director of  the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.  It was his gracious and gentlemanly manner in raising, addressing and expertly responding to all issues related to CLE rules and regulations during the conference. And consistently so. We are all passionate about what we do in the CLE profession but our roles differ, and we are just as passionate about advocating for issues unique to those roles. David's calm, reasoned voice never faltered, and I'm paraphrasing his words -- our purpose is not to enforce rules but to make lawyers more competent -- echoing my sentiments on the role of CLE regulators and the entire profession. An AHA reminder of our purpose and the kindness and grace that should govern our advocacy and actions around it. Thanks, David.

My "aha" moment concerned the power of Twitter.  Not just in what I learned in the sessions, which was great, but after I returned hone, when one of my staff told me how much she had learned through Twitter while attending the conference, and a colleague told me that she actually felt like she was there in person learning and networking, even though she was back in DC, through the hundreds of tweets and re-tweets throughout the meeting.  That really hit home for me!

My "aha" moment - I can't tell you how many times I said to people, "Oh my goodness, Hi! I know you on Twitter!!" I'd become colleagues with people I'd never met in person through social media, and it was great to put a face to a Twitter profile name!

ACLEA “AHA!” Moments – Part I

It was wonderful to see everyone at ACLEA, and I always leave the meeting energized and excited to get back to my own organization and implement some of the great ideas and best practices learned at the conference. To that end, I decided to write a series of blog posts about the many “Aha!” moments experienced during the plenary and breakout sessions, and in talking with fellow attendees.

I wanted to begin by gathering examples of these moments from my ACLEA colleagues. One of the best aspects of membership in ACLEA, in my mind, is the willingness of the membership to share with each other. My request for thoughts was met with enthusiasm from participants for which I am extremely greatful.

Gathering these thoughts has also given me a chance to see the conference from many perspectives, and realize that while every attendee adds something different to my experience, they also each take away something different based on their own filters, backgrounds, and positions in the CLE community.

I will be posting several of these “Aha!” moments from the ACLEA attendees over the next several days, and then will wrap up with my own – although I have to say I’ll probably share more than one as I found the Orlando conference a trove of good ideas.

My aha moment was when I realized a sizeable chunk of ACLEA and the CLE community were carrying on serious industry conversations and I wasn't part of it because I hadn't spend enough time using my social media accounts, particularly LinkedIn and Twitter.  You can't be a serious member of any industry or community which is moving toward social media, if you're not on social media, too.

My AHA moment was during the plenary session “A Whole New World: Social Media & CLE”. I think it was Amy Shapiro from ALI-ABA who was talking about getting other people outside of marketing involved in the organizations social media efforts.  She talked about having the program owner be responsible for the Facebook event. In our case, the program coordinator would be responsible for the FB event including things like where to eat, place to go, etc. I thought it was a great idea on how to get others in the organization involved.

My big "AHA" came when I realized that lawyers -- who've always been deadline-driven and worked on a "just-in-time" basis -- are now able to default to knowledge acquisition (and not just knowledge application) in that same way.  Ubiquitous information, easily accessed, will force CLE providers to focus on building skills, instead of increasing knowledge. 

One of my AHA moments occurred in the first plenary when I realized that through the magic of Twitter there could be a group of people who are not even at the conference discussing (texting?) comments just made by the speaker. In fact, since live audience members do not normally hold conversations with each other while a presentation is being made, the number of persons communicating about what was just said is likely greater on line than in the room.

The Regulations are Here! The Regulations are Here!

For all of us who have been anxiously awaiting more information from the New Jersey Supreme Court since the passage of the mandatory continuing legal education requirement on December 18, 2009. The regulations are finally here!

Submitted on January 15th and passed by the Court on January 26th, the regulations detail the ins and outs of the new requirement. How, when, where, with few surprises.

Now let's hope that the forms and processes for accrediting programs - either as an Approved Provider or for individual programs -are soon to follow! Stay tuned!

Orlando Bound: ACLEA's Mid-Year Meeting Begins Sunday 1/30

 
 
ACLEA, the Association for Continuing Legal Education, is a dynamic organization devoted to improving the performance of CLE professionals. A member of the organization since 2004, I'm looking forward to this year's mid-year conference to learn best practices from a multitude of sessions held throughout the event. 

In fact, I will be presenting a session on Sunday with the knowledgeable and entertaining Roger Curlin III, Professional Development Manager at Carlton Fields PA. The session, entitled "MCLE For Law Firms", will provide an engaging conversation on how to best control the MCLE process at your law fi rm or organization. Focus will be given to maximizing the credits for each of your programs, relationship building with MCLE boards, troubleshooting MCLE meltdowns, newest MCLE rules and trends, and more.

Many of the sessions will be webcast live from the event. Click hereto find out more about registering for one or all of the programs online. Additionally, more of the sessions will be recorded for later online distribution so be sure to check back.

With the weather in Minnesota once again so cold I question living here, I'm looking forward to a few days in the sun (I hope) and the wonderful networking opportunities this conference always provides. While I may not get a chance to see Mickey and Goofy again, I'll be sure to be on the lookout for my chance to get a new photo with stars of the CLE world!

Free Webcast: Haiti and New Immigration Policies

Recognizing the extreme hardships caused by the recent earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of State have made significant policy announcements that will impact Haitian nationals currently in the U.S., U.S. Permanent Residents stranded in Haiti, and Haitian orphans who are in the process of being adopted by U.S. citizens. 

West LegalEdcenter and the National Bar Association are teaming up to bring attorneys a free webcast on these important changes. The panel of speakers will detail the new policies and procedures to ensure you are in the best position possible to assist those in need of immigration advice as a result of the ongoing tragedies in Haiti. They will also address the emerging issues regarding infrastructure rebuilding.

To find out more about the program or to register for this timely and relevant program, click here.