It’s that time of year again – time for legal marketers from all over the world to gather together to network, get inspired, and learn from each other. That’s right, it’s the Legal Marketing Association’s Annual Conference! 

In between networking and meetings, I’ll be attending a number of conference sessions and sharing my reviews of them here. Here’s what my schedule looks like: 

Wednesday: 

• First Timer’s Reception: It’s not my first LMA conference (in fact, it’s my seventh!), but I’ve been invited along with my friend, Nancy Myrland, to talk to some of the first timers about social media. I’m looking forward to seeing some new faces!

Thursday: 

• 8:30am: Opening Remarks (the LMA State of the Union, if you will).
   
• 9:00am: Keynote speaker, James Kane, who will talk about the secret to building relationships. As all good professional services marketing is based on building relationships, this will be a session not to miss! 
   
• 10:00am: Social Media Special Interest Group Meeting: I’m fortunate enough to serve on the leadership committee for the Social Media SIG with a number of talented people, and we’ll be gathering with the other members of the group to talk social media and legal marketing. 
   
• 11:00am: Featured speaker, Jonathan Michael Bowman, will talk about leading change – since he’s a lawyer he’ll be able to speak to the unique challenges that legal marketers face. 
   
• 12:00pm: Lunch – I’ll be joined for lunch by the ILN marketers in attendance. It’s great to get to know them better and answer any questions they might have about the ILN and how we can help them better. 
   
• 1:30pm: Today’s Lawyers and Social Media – How Are They or Should They Be Using It? I’ll be attending and tweeting live from this breakout session, featuring panelists Marcy Salo, Peter Vogel, Camille Stell, and Melissa Croteau, with moderator Larry Bodine.
   
• 3:30pm: The Evolution of the Law Firm Brand. How to Promote Individual Attorneys within the Parameters of the Firm’s Brand. I’ll also be attending and tweeting live from this panel, which will also be of interest to me in terms of how I can better promote individual firms within the parameters of the legal network brand. This session features panelists Jasmine Trillos-Decarie, Robert Algeri, Joe Calve, Peter Winzig, and Aden Dauchess, with moderator Adrian Dayton. 

Friday: 

• 9:00am: Success Through Collaboration: GCs and Law Firms Working Together. My favorite session of the LMA conferences is always the GC panel – that’s where I get the most valuable information about what general counsel want from their attorneys. Panelists include Ron K. Barger of Archon Group, Jeffrey W. Carr of FMC Technologies (a presenter at the ILN’s 2010 Regional Meeting of the Americas in Houston!), and Janet L. Dhillon of J.C. Penney Company, moderated by Tom Duggan and Cathleen Flahardy of InsideCounsel. 
   
• 11:00am: Creating a Culture of Client Service Excellence: Following on the first session of the morning, I’ll be continuing in the client-focused theme with this session, featuring Leonardo Inghilleri of West Paces Consulting. 

You can follow along with my live tweets over at @LindsayGriffith, keep an eye on all of the tweets coming out of the conference using the #LMA12 hashtag, or wait for my re-cap posts!