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| Caroline Yarborough |
Caroline Yarborough with K&L Gates was this year's Annual Conference Scholarship recipient. This is the final installment in a series of three articles Caroline authored regarding her experience at the LMA Annual Conference in 2015.
During the LMA Annual Conference, my go-to icebreaker line was "so how did you get into legal marketing?" The responses varied across a wide spectrum - from converted attorneys to those who were handling PR outside of the firm and were invited to join the in-house team. My own introduction to the industry began at Best Lawyers, where I worked on the initial partnership and launch of the U.S. News - Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" rankings. During the research stage and launch of "Best Law Firms," I had the opportunity to connect with legal marketing professionals and attorneys across the United States, and learn from truly great legal marketers as they ensured their firms were recognized in the markets and practice areas in which they did business.
In fact, I remember the exact moment the legal marketing light bulb went off. I was on a conference call with a Practice Group Manager at a Washington, D.C. based firm, who was kindly providing insight into the advertising law market as we conducted market research for "Best Law Firms." The manager had in-depth knowledge of the market, the firm's capabilities, and the trust of the attorneys to develop business on their behalf. When the call concluded, it was clear this was one of the leading firms in this particular industry in large part because of the Practice Group Manager's efforts, and I knew I wanted that to be me in the future.
I digressed.
Having now had the opportunity to sit on both the vendor and law firm sides of the table as well as meet many of the fantastic vendors serving the industry, there are several relationship insights I'd like to share.
- Always listen to the offer. The technology and resources available to marketing and business development departments are constantly improving. As we look to improve internal processes and efficiencies within our own departments, I encourage you to take advantage of the offers available. One research tool or contact management software may provide the answer to your department's current time inefficiency and lack of productivity.
- Be clear in what your objective is. Clearly communicate to the vendor the firm's overall objective - whether it be data which is being sought for a new practice group product or a time saving by having invitations printed offsite.
- People first. At the end of the day, we want to work with people we like. When available, seek out opportunities to meet with vendors in person to learn more about their products or services - and the vendor as an individual. The exhibitor hall at both the national conference and regional conferences is a great opportunity to do so!
At the conclusion of this article series, I would like to again thank the LMASE Chapter and Board for the opportunity to attend the 2015 LMA Annual Conference. It was truly a "pinch me" moment