Please see my post-conference self-portrait above. I am wondering if anyone else who just attended the 57th Annual Meeting in the Cloud can relate?

As I sit to write this post, much later than I had planned (i.e., it was supposed to be done before the meeting) my brain is absolutely FULL! I consider that a good thing, even though it also feels a bit overwhelming. 

As usual, our Annual Meeting provided an absolute treasure trove of practical guidance, and once again we heard from cutting edge thought leaders in legal education. I learned new words like “hyflex programs” and had my mind totally blown by the 3-dimensional “Delta model” introduced in the last plenary as a guide for designing curricula and programs that meet particular needs, with an eye for involving key stakeholders in choosing target outcomes and pedagogical means to meet them. (At least I think that’s what it was about—it was a tough one to absorb on the last day!)

For those who, like me, may still be trying to organize in your headspace all the great content (and also for those who couldn’t or attend or have not yet watched the online replay videos), here’s a recap in the form of my 3 top takeaways:

1. The once change-averse legal profession is now careening along on an unprecedented, upside-down, post-pandemic rollercoaster ride of paradigm-busting, increasingly inclusive (we pray!), foundation-shaking, unpredictable change, hopped up on a combustible cocktail of steroids, antivirals, delta-variant mutating AI applications,  and RedBull (Whew!) —and like it or not, ACLEA folks are truly best positioned to help bring order to all this chaos.

Seriously, folks. I cannot put the hyperbole aside, ‘cuz it all applies. 

I’ve been to at least 14 annual or mid-year meetings over the last 10 years, and there’s always talk of “winds of change” that are coming, and how we need to pivot and get out in front of some new trend in content delivery, or else we’ll get crushed, outflanked, or shunned from the cool kids’ table, etc.

In fact, after our very first ACLEA meeting, in Boston in 2011, after hearing about all the predictions of online and virtual programming becoming “the new normal,” etc., Michael and I looked at each other and wondered whether our facilitated, in person, discussion-oriented approach might make us “dinosaurs” before we even really got started. Thankfully, at that same meeting, we met some of the most amazing people: kindred spirits in the pursuit of accessible, engaging, effective adult education, and largely because of that, we kept coming back.

Thus began our 10 year+ odyssey of “riding the waves of change” with you all--while still trying to keep our feet on the solid, time-tested foundation of sound pedagogy and learning design that ACLEA members collectively have carefully developed over decades.
Over time, we confirmed that there was and always would be a market for live, in person programs. (What a relief!) And thanks to so many of you who have become sponsors, well-being programming co-conspirators, and genuine friends, we learned a whole lot about better ways to do just that.

Enter 2020. (Gulp.) Bye-bye live programs for everybody.

By this point we collectively may have exhausted the supply of descriptive words and images to capture what the last 16 months have been like in our world. I doubt even a cosmic mischief-maker like Loki (from Marvel’s Avengers) could design a set of circumstances more effective to obliterate everything we thought we knew about where, how, and on what various devices lawyers would be doing their work.  Or to set fire to any prior prognostications about what these wholesale changes in technology and how we connect & consume content would mean for CLE programming.

Literally, the ground has shifted under our feet, and never before have we been so locked into “trying-to-build-the-plane-while-flying” mode.

And oh yes—let’s not forget that the Universe chose this very same moment in history to prick our collective conscience regarding the lingering effects of the Civil War, Jim Crow laws, and racial tensions in policing and criminal justice, such that there is a (well-founded) clamor for (long overdue) programming to address (very real) disparities in access to justice for folks from marginalized communities. 

This combination of multiple, “once-in-a-lifetime” history-delineating circumstances all just rendered more valuable and helpful every presentation that we heard and every individual story shared in the SIG meetings and networking sessions.  It was inspiring to hear how ACLEA members around the globe have risen to the challenges of the wackiest, most de-stabilizing, unpredictable era in continuing education.

Having during the pandemic attended several virtual conferences focused on professional development and in house counsel networking, I can say with confidence that ACLEA peeps are some of the very most nimble, adaptive, creative, forward-thinking, and practical educational programmers and marketers that we have encountered, let alone gotten to work with.  Period. Our time-tested commitment to continuous improvement of content delivery methods and our embrace of technology have proven invaluable as courts, firms, and non-profits alike scramble to practice virtually. 

Because we were talking about these kinds of things at ACLEA meetings 10 years ago, folks. Virtual programming isn’t new for us—we’re just having to implement it on an exponentially more massive scale than we ever dreamed.  We are the leaders that our organizations have been looking to in order to make the changes that they have needed to make.

Which leads directly to my next takeaway…

1. We are prime candidates for overwork, overload, and burnout.

About 3 months into the pandemic & lockdown conditions, I heard a very helpful description of what was going on. I can’t recall the source, but the person said essentially, “Let’s be done with describing the current situation as, ‘Oh, I am just working from home now.’”  A more accurate and honest description would be something like this:

“I am trying to get some measure of productive work done,
from my house without most if not all of the tools & resources I’d normally use,
with limited access to the people with whom I would ordinarily collaborate,
in pursuit of a completely different set of goals than I have ever had (and which keeps changing seemingly at random),
while helping my kids get their education from our home,
Sharing limited wi-fi bandwidth and or table space with ___ other people,
All of whom are similarly stressed out and deprived of most of their usual tools for life or school and routines or coping mechanisms for stress,
And all while trying to stay healthy and survive a global pandemic.

And that just covers folks who haven’t lost jobs, or loved ones, or months of time recovering from the disease itself. 

Put simply, all of us are being asked to do more, with less.

And when it comes to programs focused on technological competence and well-being, the demand is higher than ever and the importance of the content has skyrocketed. Our work as CLE professionals is crucial, and compelling, and more than ever, we genuinely care about giving our constituents and stakeholders what they need.

And as you may have heard Michael and I emphasize, each of us, despite being a CLE “rock star,” is also finite. Even in the best of times, we don’t have unlimited energy, creativity, focus, or time. And the competing values and tradeoffs we already had to navigate have only gotten tougher.

So, when we combine the nerve-wracking environment with the frequent disproportionality of resources to desired outcomes and our own dedication to serve our organizations well—we CLE professionals are in serious danger of neglecting our own self-care. 

I know this not only from the stories I’ve exchanged with so many of you in the course of planning virtual programs, but also from my own experience. Folks, I freakin’ speak to lawyers about self-awareness and self-care FOR A LIVING and my biz partner is the delightfully insightful and supportive Michael Kahn, former lawyer-turned counselor. Nevertheless, this past 16 months have contained some of the absolute worst self-care in my career. Lack of sleep, skipping meals, overworking, getting isolated, and over-binging on TV shows & YouTube videos at night, are just a few signs of my own struggle with anxiety and burnout.

And here’s the real trick of it: if I am the one with the problem, I’m not likely to have much luck correcting the slide, paying down the deficits in sleep and nutrition, or crafting a new set of habits & strategies to keep my head on straight. Put simply, any recovery or progress I may have made has required help from colleagues, counselors, friends, and yes, ACLEA peeps.

Hence my last (and briefest, I promise) takeaway.

1. We need one another, now more than ever.

This is not a time to be re-inventing wheels, or overly committed to pushing through with our own original solutions,  Indeed, if ever there was a time to leverage the resources that your ACLEA fam can provide, here it is.  

If you have a particular challenge in:

• Designing your curriculum;
• Planning a program to help your lawyers recover and maintain a measure of sanity amidst the chaos;
• Converting a beloved live conference to a virtual webinar series; or
• Recapturing the audience share that you fear you have lost.

… chances are good that someone else has faced a similar challenge. And the beauty of ACLEA has always been how collaborative and helpful and downright generous everyone has been with one another.

I still remember our first conversations with Sean Carter and Stuart Teicher, again 10 years ago in Boston. To our delight, they engaged with us not as competitors, but collaborators: kind, welcoming, and open handed in sharing resources, ideas and connections. It was such a refreshing change from the “shark-eat-shark” world of litigation I was used to that it drastically altered the trajectory of my career.

So if you haven’t already, lean into your ACLEA colleagues & let them/us help. I won’t say “don’t be a hero”—because I actually want you to be a hero. But the way to do it when the challenges loom large and resources are tight is by providing your org with a spot-on practical solution to one of its many challenges, and won’t drain its resources (including you!) completely dry.

With all that in mind, ReelTime Creative Learning Services would love to help you navigate any of the challenges you are facing. Why not let us take something off your plate, so you can focus your energy on the many other tasks and challenges you face?
For over 13 years, we’ve developed a catalog of engaging, interactive CLE programs that help lawyers experience greater well-being so they can thrive in both their personal and professional lives.

We’ve gotten CLE credit approval for ethics, professionalism, diversity & inclusion/bias training, and mental health/substance abuse awareness in even the most exacting of jurisdictions.

And we’ve not only made the pivot to virtual presentations, but we’ve found ways to combine our movie clips, roundtable discussions with each sponsor’s best volunteer presenters, polling, Q&A, breakout rooms, and to drive measurable, meaningful virtual engagement. 

And as a reward for anyone who has read all the way to the end of this blog post, the first 5 people who click this link can book a free, no obligation, 15 minute brainstorming session over Zoom.

Almost every legal association offers online CLE, but why do some associations see higher sales than others? Though there are many reasons why legal associations may be disappointed in their online CLE sales, two key reasons may include subpar technical support for their members and a lack in marketing for their online learning platform.

The Role Technical Support Plays in Improving Member Engagement & Online CLE Sales

The importance of technical support is often overlooked when legal associations select an online learning platform. The goal of technical support is to help your members get the most out of your platform by promptly providing assistance when they need it. If you provide sub-par technical support on a consistent basis, your members will eventually stop using the platform, leading to a reduction in member engagement and in CLE sales. Conversely, by consistently answering and solving your members' questions and problems, technical support can increase member engagement, leading to higher levels of satisfaction and increased online CLE sales.

Testing Tip: How good is your technical support? Set up an account on your online learning platform and send a message to your support team. What was the response time? Did they answer and solve your inquiry in a timely manner?

If your members have negative interactions with your technical support team, word of their experience can quickly spread through the member base. The default expectation is that your online learning platform should be easy-to-use and that, if assistance is required, it is prompt, professional, and timely.

The Importance of Marketing Your CLE Courses to Your Members

Marketing online CLE courses requires a different strategy than marketing in-person CLE sessions. For example, it’s not enough to simply rebrand all in-person sessions as “virtual” or “on-demand” without any additional information. To address this, you’ll need to create persuasive marketing campaigns to let your members know that they can use your online learning platform to complete CLE courses at their own convenience.

You might be saying, “We already sent out a campaign when we first launched--do we really need to send additional emails?” The answer to this is a resounding “YES!”  

Research has shown that you need to send between 10 to 20 emails about a specific topic in order to get the recipient to take action. With that in mind, we recommend sending your members 1 to 2 emails per month about your online learning platform to gain noticeable traction. You’ll need to create multiple campaigns to entice your members to use your online learning platform. Here are some examples of campaigns you can create to promote your online learning platform:

1. Speaker of the Month (highlighting a CLE presenter)
2. Limited-Time Offers
3. Member Testimonials
4. New Course Launches

Creating and maintaining these campaigns may sound like (and is!) a lot of work for associations to undertake, especially those with a smaller staff. But, if you think about it, how many emails do you receive from retailers persuading you to purchase their newest products or services? The retail industry may differ from the association world, but marketing communication principles remain the same: messages are more effective when repeated! And so, while campaigns may take additional work, your association will eventually reap the rewards of this labour.

At Vocalmeet, Marketing is a Complimentary Service Offered to All of Our Legal Clients to Help Them Increase Their Online CLE Sales. Learn More about Our Online Learning Platforms Here!

In closing, there are many reasons why CLE sales vary from association to association. However, when all else is equal (i.e. the quality of the content, the relevancy of the topic and an easy-to-use online learning platform), there are two main factors that determine the success of your online CLE courses: technical support and marketing. Create an email marketing campaign, commit to sending out one to two emails per month, and watch your CLE sales and member engagement rise. Then, with more members using your platform to complete their CLE requirements, ensure that your technical support team is at the top of their game. With all of these pieces in place and over time, your association's online CLE program will reach new heights!

This post is from our 2021 Mid-Year Meeting sponsor, InReach.

As 2021 dawns many of us find ourselves still working remotely, at times struggling to adjust to the new normal. Regular communications have shifted from office drop-ins and conference room discussions to video calls and messaging apps, and we find ourselves missing the in-person contact. Staying organized and keeping key players in the know have become a full-time job in and of themselves. As our workload increases and we remain isolated from our peers, experts continue to recommend ways to stay balanced: keep yourself and your family on a schedule, maintain a constant routine, take regular breaks, focus on the big picture, and buy a comfortable desk chair! 

Adjusting to the new normal also requires streamlining every aspect of our workflow. Are we manually processing tasks that could be automated? While we can’t answer all those emails for you, we can save you time with our scheduled email reminders, CE tracker, automatically issued certificates, and robust completions reports. No need to issue certificates individually, the InReach system does it automatically. Take the worry out of CE tracking with our platform’s capability to keep tabs on a learner’s CE all in one place. Email reminders also elevate the stress of making sure all learners have received the information needed on an upcoming event. No need to worry about sending reminders when you can set up scheduled customizable email reminders in advance. Our emails even have calendar invitations for all email platforms. InReach is here to make your work easy. Promoting and managing Continuing Legal Education is what we do!

For over twenty years, InReach Continuing Education Solutions has worked closely with their customers to bring continuing professional education and training online. The result is a comprehensive solution that powers the continuing education and training programs of leading professional membership organizations, non-profits, and businesses. To learn more about all the InReach Continuing Education Solutions has to offer, click here: InReach Continuing Education Management System (inreachce.com)

What They’re Saying

“We’ve looked at other providers and found nothing else out there that meets all of our needs and works with us as well as InReach.”
Annette Largin, CLE Alabama