We hear it often — "it is all about the networking." While networking is important, equally so (in my opinion), is relationship building and creating partnerships.

Jake Krocheski, President of Client Connection, and a BPAP member, and I recently wrote an article for Legal Management titled ALA Exhibit Hall's Growing Tradition, Knowledge. In the article, we re-trace the exhibit hall's history and experience, and speak of the opportunity to take "advantage of the personal relationships with the people you are doing business with." While so much has changed over the nearly 40 year history of ALA's exhibit hall experience, one thing has remained a constant — creating mutually-beneficial opportunities and relationships between our members and business partners.

Your support of our Association is critical to our success and the success of our members and their legal organizations. On the flip side, our support of you and your company is also critical. In one of my previous Messages for this Newsletter, I quoted Beth Thompson of BigHand, and another member of the BPAP. Her sentiments bear repeating: you (ALA members) need us (business partners) to help you run your firms, and we need you to use our products.

Networking + Creating Partnerships = Mutually Beneficial Relationships
 

We hope that you will join us in Honolulu for our Annual Conference & Exposition, or other international, regional or local events. Thank you for all that you do to support our Association and our industry.
 

The 2012 ALA Annual Conference & Exposition will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 22-26. Attendance is expected to exceed 1,000 legal administrators and approximately 140 exhibiting companies will showcase their products and services on the exhibit hall floor. ALA would like to thank everyone who is supporting this year's Conference & Exposition!

The Power of Partnership

Last fall, ALA hosted the Intellectual Property Retreat in Washington, D.C. During the Retreat, I took the opportunity to meet with our supporting business partners for a focus group discussion. I learned a great deal from our business partners, much of it culminating in brilliant ideas for future IP Retreats. However, the most resounding takeaway from my experience was the power of partnership that exists, not only between the ALA member and the business partner, but also among the business partners themselves.

The business partners who support ALA have an acute awareness of collaboration and its importance on the road to success. During our discussion in D.C., I witnessed a great deal of mutual respect and comingling of ideas to benefit the good of the whole. At some point, the discussion took an interesting turn. We were no longer talking about ways for ALA to better serve the business partner. Instead, the business partners were brainstorming about ways to help each other better connect with ALA members. It was there I saw the power of a dozen legal service providers fostering concepts and joining together to support a common goal — pure, unpredicted genius!

The key here is to recognize each other as experts in the legal industry. Communication leads to collaboration, creative solutions and new relationships. So, if the opportunity arises, I urge you to look for chances to explore ideas with other ALA business partners and discover a new road to making connections and the power of partnership.

Jane Matteson Mundell, CMP
Manager of Business Partner Relations
Association of Legal Administrators

Fees and hotel rates are available online. Exhibitor registration will open on May 1, 2012.

Please take the time to review the 2012 Marketing Guide and contact Jane Mundell, Manager of Business Partner Relations to find out how ALA can best assist with your strategic marketing plan. Customized proposals can be created to help you achieve your goals and maximize your company's marketing dollars.

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Currently, we're working on the June and July/August issues of Legal Management. Editorial topics include:

• Doing more with tablets
• Client retention
• Better listening
• Cell phone purchasing
• Office relocation
• Records Management
• Handling difficult conversations
• Accounting for non-accountants

In addition, there are a limited number of banner ads still available in ALA Currents and Your ALA News, so reserve your space today!

We value our business partners' expertise and are open to your editorial contributions for the e-newsletter, ALA Currents, distributed to all 10,000 members. Do you have educational content you want to share? Send your pitches (no advertorial, please) to Editor, Amy Dvorak. There are biweekly opportunities and we feature one business partner per issue.
 

Association of Legal Administrators
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