Gina:
It was 1975. Summer. And my previous carefree relationship with dipping a toe in the water changed forever with just a few notes on the piano…da-dum, da-dum, da-dum. 

Even though I lived in the midwest and was a thousand miles away from the nearest shark, I’d never even seen an ocean, and certainly shouldn’t have seen the movie—Jaws forever changed the way that I thought about swimming, survival, and scary movies. 

Looking back, adjustments I made—ensuring I could always touch bottom and run out of the water if necessary; identifying who I’d be willing to sacrifice in my bid to get away with all limbs; and having a companion who would shield me from the scariest parts of any movie scene while I created bruises as I grasped them uncomfortably tightly—were probably unnecessary. 

And then it was 2020. Spring (well, really still Winter). And my previous carefree relationship with conferences changed forever with the start of a pandemic. Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum. 

COVID-19 has now forever altered the way I think about personal interactions; facilitating engaging experiences for attendees; technology related to conferences and how it helps, hinders, and adds expense; and the varied comfort levels of all persons involved in a conference. 

Fall 2021: In-person conferences were back! We were moving ahead with plans to get attendees together in a room with speakers at a podium or table delivering educational content, albeit with new procedures and protocols in place. 

But new spikes in COVID cases, the Delta variant, and conflicting views on masks and vaccines meant that we were having to make the same (or even more) decisions about how to adjust programming to create the best experience for our attendees, while fulfilling contracts and covering expenses. Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum. 

While I had so little reason to fear that I would experience a shark attack and need to utilize the contingencies I’d planned in my head, COVID and how it changed the conference experience and the decisions I make have affected nearly every day since. 

Do we forgo the in-person conference and again move to an online only event? Do we stream the program as a hybrid event and allow an online audience to access the educational content at the same time as the in-person audience? Do we stream in remote speakers who are not allowed or able to travel to the in-person event? How do we ensure engagement with our online attendees—both with each other within the platform and with speakers and attendees at the in-person event? 

As I work with ABA staff to answer these questions for our upcoming events, I encourage you to consider the needs of your audiences as well as the parameters of your own technology and budgets when planning for your upcoming conferences. 

Kristin:
These were also the questions ACLEA contemplated when finalizing plans for the 58th Midyear Meeting, coming up January 22-24, 2022 in Austin, Texas. And this is how we answered those questions. 

Do we forgo the in-person conference and again move to an online only event? 

ACLEA had originally planned our 2021 Midyear Meeting to be held in Austin. After much negotiation, the hotel agreed to allow us to postpone the contract to 2022 or face stiff penalties for canceling. As such, ACLEA agreed to hold the upcoming 2022 Midyear Meeting in-person in Austin.

In order to fulfill the obligations of our contract, ACLEA needs to encourage as many in-person attendees to come to Austin as possible. ACLEA focused on ways to ensure the safest environment for our attendees: a vaccine mandate/negative test requirement; encouraging masks; and working with the hotel on cleaning and social distancing.  

Do we stream the program as a hybrid event and allow an online audience to access the educational content at the same time as the in-person audience? 

Working with our LMS partner CE21 and the Austin Planning Committee, ACLEA approved a virtual program to accompany the in-person event. We will stream all plenary sessions and two sessions from each breakout session throughout the event. These will also be recorded and made available to attendees to access online. 

While there is additional expense to offer an online option, ACLEA determined that it was critical to allow our entire membership access to the event, even if they did not travel to the live in-person event in Austin. ACLEA is committed to giving our members options and allowing all members the choice to not travel but still be involved with the conference and take advantage of the high-quality content that has been planned.  

Do we stream in remote speakers who are not allowed or able to travel to the in-person event? 

In determining if we should allow speakers who are not allowed or able to travel to Austin to present remotely, there were three components to our analysis: technology; expense; and most importantly, the impact on the experience of our in-person audience. 

The technology surrounding pulling in and pushing out a stream to both audiences is more complicated than it might first appear. While technology is relatively simple to do one or the other, when looking to do both at the same time (stream in speakers to the live in-person event and at the same time, incorporating those speakers into a stream out to a virtual audience) it becomes much more challenging. Since the platform has to take on a heavy load to merge the two streams for the online audience, the equipment needs in the room would be greater (large screen with both the remote speakers and slides, confidence monitor for in-person speakers to see the remote speakers). 

To both stream in speakers and stream out to a virtual audience would add considerable expense with the need for additional AV, extra staffing, and training of staff to enable. 

One of ACLEA’s largest considerations was ensuring that the in-person experience remained the focus of our final determination. How could we provide our in-person audience the benefits of live attendance that would justify the additional time and expense of traveling to Austin? What does in-person attendance look like if the speakers are streamed in remotely or pre-recorded? Would an in-person audience sitting in a room watching a video screen of remote speakers or videos provide the positive experience and benefits of other live in-person conferences? Additionally, communication between the remote speakers and in-person attendees would be difficult, and wouldn’t create the networking opportunities that are critical to being together at the event. 

Ultimately the question became a choice between streaming speakers into the Austin conference or creating a virtual event streaming content out to our members. Weighing the considerations, ACLEA determined that a virtual event in which the entire membership could benefit from the content and the interaction with colleagues better fulfills the ACLEA mission of serving continuing legal education professionals worldwide through leadership, community, education, and development.  

How do we ensure engagement with our online attendees—both with each other within the platform and with speakers and attendees at the in-person event?

We have all discovered that creating and encouraging community and networking can be especially challenging in the online and hybrid world in which we now find ourselves. ACLEA will continue to work with the planning committee and other volunteers to find new ways to engage our audiences, and create dialogue and participation across our membership. 

While it may be easier to ignore the related issues, we cannot “ignore this particular problem until it swims up and BITES US IN THE A**!”* Through analysis and discussion, ACLEA’s plan to move forward with the live in-person event with in-person speakers presenting, coupled with a virtual event streaming the majority of the content to a remote audience, will provide benefit to the largest percentage of our membership. 

Gina:
As we move through these COVID-infested waters, collaboration and open discussion are key to getting through the next conference, the next year, and the next challenge. 

Kristin:
Please join us in Austin or online with CE21 as we get back into the water!


*Jaws, Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper

At the Mid-Year meeting in Nashville, ACLEA recognized the contributions of two well-known, highly respected members, Pat Nester and Larry Center.

Pat was presented with the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award and Larry was presented with the President’s Award to recognize their contributions to CLE and the association over the years.

When asked to describe Pat and his contributions to the CLE profession, Larry provided me with the following,

“Pat has been a friend and mentor to so many of us within the CLE profession for more than 30 years.  He is respected, admired and, dare I say it, beloved, by dozens of us who have been fortunate enough to come under his influence.  He has both a pioneer and an innovator in continuing legal education. His leadership style is unmatched. His thoughtfulness is remarkable. His insight and wisdom have driven our profession. His passion and compassion continue to be the foundation of his decisions. We are all so lucky to have had Pat in our lives.”

Pat provided me with the following when asked the same question:

“Larry was probably the most frequent speaker at ACLEA programs over the last twenty years and deservedly so. His frequent focus was on the personal traits that CLE professionals need to lead and succeed. I think all of us experienced CLE folks think of Larry as the moral leader of ACLEA with the courage to see the underlying problems that we confront and to ask how we can change ourselves to deal with them. When you think about it, that’s what good education is all about, and Larry gave us--and me--a great model to emulate. Plus, putting aside CLE and ACLEA, Larry is just an excellent human being, and we are all privileged to know him.”

Thank you Pat and Larry for all that you've done and continue to do for CLE and ACLEA.