Email remains the most popular online activity, yet many people in both the mainstream and alternative media dislike it with a passion. They rarely have anything nice to say.
I don't mind when people point out actual flaws (every medium has flaws after all), but lately I've noticed widespread dissemination of false information, most of which goes unchallenged. For example, I recently read a blog Post asserting that email newsletters do not feature a search mechanism.
The ability to search has nothing to do with the medium and everything to do with the underlying content management system. For example, you can search our newsletters in the TechnoLawyer Archive. Alternatively, you can collect and search them using regular email programs such as Outlook and online email programs such as Gmail.
I've seen plenty of blogs with no search mechanism. Again, it depends on the content management system, not the vehicle.
In 2006, when you come across people badmouthing email, ask them if they could live without email. That should shut them up.
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
Supposedly, 2004 was the year of the blog and 2005 was the year of the podcast. I believe that 2006 will be the year of mobile video.
Online video has existed for years, but only recently has it gone mobile thanks to Apple's video iPod. As usual with the iPod, Apple wasn't the first to market, but it was the first to create a user experience likely to attract a mass audience.
Never underestimate mobility. What the BlackBerry did for email and previous iPods did for audio, the new iPod will do for video.
Many people have already discussed one important development of the iPod — portable, space shifted television shows. I'd like to discuss another — small business videos.
The stage is now set for law firms and other small businesses to take advantage of video. Thanks to a confluence of software, hardware, and online venues, virtually any business can create and distribute engaging videos with decent production values at almost no cost.
I don't know exactly how this development will play out in the legal sector, but it would not surprise me to see the following:
Law firm Web sites and blogs with videos. How about video lawyer bios featuring interviews, footage of speeches, television appearances, courtroom performances, etc. Stream the videos on the site, and offer iPod-compatible downloads as well.
Engaging CLE videos that finally make use of the medium as opposed to the recorded lectures of old. Forget streaming and sell downloads instead so that lawyers can watch them anywhere.
Deposition videos for your clients to download so that they can see you in action rather than read a dry transcript.
To demonstrate why I believe we're about to witness an explosion of portable video content in 2006, I've put together an iPod-compatible video for you.
Below you'll find a link to Victoria's Secret Kitchen — a short cooking show I produced featuring my grandmother's secret recipe for Eggplant Frittata (despite its name, it does not contain eggs).
I filmed all the footage (34 different clips) on a still camera (no joke), and edited it using iMovie HD on a Mac. In other words, it cost me nothing to produce a coherent video with unique content (you won't find this recipe on the Food Network).
Just imagine what your firm could do with one or two camcorders, quality microphones, and Final Cut Express (Mac) or Adobe Premiere (Windows) — less than $2,000 in equipment and software.
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
Earlier this year, I participated in a roundtable discussion on e-mail marketing. The article summarizing this discussion as well as the transcript and recording require a paid MarketingProfs membership (worth every penny in my opinion if your job involves marketing).
Fortunately, NetConcepts CEO Stephan Spencer, who moderated the roundtable, has posted a few snippets from our discussion about RSS feeds to his blog, Stephan Spencer's Scatterings.
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
As we close 2005, TechnoLawyer has nearly 12,000 members! Without you, TechnoLawyer would not exist. Thank you for your support!
2005 was the year of the blog for us. We launched our own blog in April (to give non-members a taste of our newsletters), and then launched the BlawgWorld eBook in November (to give you a taste of 51 blogs).
2005 was also the year we finally reached out to national, state, and local bar associations. So far, the members of six bar associations are entitled to a free one year TechnoLawyer Archive subscription. We have many other bar deals pending that we'll announce soon.
On the newsletter front, in 2005 we published more exclusive TechnoFeature articles than ever before. We also published 744 Posts compared to 673 last year, and we canceled the Topical Compilation newsletter so that we could publish an extra issue of Answers to Questions each week. This move helped us distribute your Posts faster (in 2006, some new twists will completely eliminate any remaining time lag).
Thanks to these and other initiatives, TechnoLawyer attracted more new clients than ever before — plus we held onto most of our existing clients. Many legal vendors have already signed on for 2006.
At the end of this week, we will take a much needed break to recharge and retool for 2006. We stop publishing on December 16th and start up again on January 9th. However, on New Year's Day, look for a special message from me discussing our plans for 2006. Until then, we wish you an enjoyable holiday season with your friends and family. See you next year!
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
BlawgWorld has generated a tremendous amount of controversy and discussion online, not all of it favorable. Ironically, most of the criticism has come from bloggers, some of whom admit in their remarks that they have not read the eBook.
The most common criticism concerns our decision to use a PDF eBook for this project. Instead, these critics argue that we should have used a blog. These remarks strike me as insular. Using a blog would have defeated the purpose of the project — exposing those who don't read blogs to blogs.
BlawgWorld contributor Bob Ambrogi does a nice job of collecting all the criticism, including his own, in a Post entitled BlawgWorld: The (Mixed) Reviews Are In.
A few days after Bob rounded up all of this criticism, the latest review of BlawgWorld arrived, this time in traditional media — the January 2006 edition of West's Lawyer's PC newsletter. Here's an excerpt:
"Many lawyers ... remain oblivious to blogs — or have sampled them and are wholly unpersuaded they can serve useful purposes.... TechnoLawyer has taken an important step to prove to skeptics that legal blogs can be very useful.
"In late November it announced its new e-book, BlawgWorld 2006: Capital of Big Ideas, a compendium of publishings from some of the best blawgs online today. The resulting e-book, carefully edited/assembled by Sara L. Skiff and impressively packaged by art director Gabe Evans, shows you onscreen just how interesting and informative a well-conceived and well-maintained legal blog can be.
"I'm loathe to tout any publication as a 'must read,' but this one certainly comes close .... I'm hoping this is 'volume one,' with periodic sequels to follow."
We know of one other review being written, and doubtless others will follow. We'll keep you apprised of future BlawgWorld developments. In the meantime, thank you for your enthusiasm as evidenced by the 17,372 downloads thus far!
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
We celebrated the launch of BlawgWorld with a private party at Brandy Library on November 30th attended by about 40 TechnoLawyer members in the New York City region, including BlawgWorld contributor Bruce MacEwan. Everyone had a great time. Some people even made promising business connections. We wish all of you could have attended. Take a look at some photos:
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
On November 30th, we released BlawgWorld 2006: Capital of Big Ideas, a TechnoLawyer eBook designed to take you on a journey through 51 of the most influential legal blogs (blawgs).
So far, TechnoLawyer members have downloaded the eBook 15,674 times! This level of interest far exceeds our expectations. We had hoped for 1,000 downloads the first week, 5,000 within three months, and 10,000 within six months.
If you don't yet have a copy of the eBook, simply join TechnoLawyer at www.blawgworld.com. Upon joining, you'll immediately receive a free copy of BlawgWorld via email (membership is also free).
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
It looks like the iPod will once again reign as the hottest gift this year. Fortunately for you, this week's edition of TechnoLawyer NewsWire will feature five of the best iPod accessories, each of which serves a different function (iPod in your bedroom, iPod in your car, etc.). Don't miss this last issue of 2005.
In the meantime, below you'll find four non-iPod holiday gift suggestions, none which require dealing with the dark side of holiday consumerism on display at your local mall.
Gloves By Bruno: Leather gloves come in two varieties — cheap gloves that don't fit well and feature a cashmere blend rather than 100% cashmere, and expensive gloves that do fit well. Gloves By Bruno falls between these two extremes — well-constructed gloves in a variety of sizes sold directly from a Naples manufacturer by way of its New York-based sales office and Web site. Prices range from $80-$400 with most under $100.
Ecco: I recently learned that my waterproof shoes were no match for a 4 inch New York City slush puddle so I set out to find a waterproof boot for the winter. Surprisingly, few fashion companies have decent Web sites and even fewer sell directly. Sure, I know about Zappos, but it doesn't carry many of the styles that fashion companies reserve for their own stores. Fortunately, Ecco, a Danish shoemaker renowned for boots that are not only waterproof but stylish and lightweight, happens to have one of the best online stores I've ever used. The store carries limited editions that you won't find elsewhere (such as the boots I bought).
Forzieri: The Italians lost their empire, but ended up conquering the world again with their food and fashion. Notwithstanding the success of Armani and Prada, many Italian fashion companies do not export their goods to the United States. At Forzieri, you'll find products from these obscure (to us anyway) companies as well as offerings from the usual suspects.
Semsons: When I bought my Powershot SD500, I was disappointed with Canon's cases for the US market. Canon's offerings in Japan were much hipper. Fortunately, the gray market is now just a click away thanks to Semsons, an online store that imports electronics gear and accessories (like my Japanese camera case) from overseas OEMs. The store also specializes in defunct product lines no longer available elsewhere such as iPod cases for older models.
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
In a Post to the Solosez Listserver, legal technology consultant Ross Kodner criticized some legal bloggers for being elitist. Law Technology News Editor-in-Chief Monica Bay posted Ross' message on her Common Scold blog, sparking a fierce debate in the comments section.
I participated in the debate, but steered clear of the main issue. Instead, I discussed a side issue about the merit of PowerPoint presentations. Why did I censor myself? Because I'm working on a secret project that you'll learn about this Wednesday. It would have been disingenuous of me to opine without disclosing this project, which I cannot do until Wednesday.
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
Recently, AOL acquired Weblogs Inc., a Mark Cuban-financed startup company that operates dozens of enthusiast blogs, but which is best-known for Engadget.
Those of us in the online media business read MediaPost's Just an Online Minute, an e-mail newsletter about our little world. Naturally, the newsletter covered this deal, writing:
"America Online's decision to purchase Weblogs for $25 million is the latest example of the if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em attitude that, these days, established media companies exhibit toward consumer-generated sites.... These moves also suggest that the dichotomy between mainstream media ands [sic] user-generated content is breaking down. Perhaps the large corporate media companies are no longer as wary as in the past of giving citizen journalists and other consumers a platform."
The above characterization of Weblogs Inc.'s content as "user-generated content" (what we call "peer-written content" here at TechnoLawyer) is not correct. Weblogs Inc.'s pays freelance writers to write its blogs. That's not user-generated content, it's traditional content. The content just happens to reside in a blog with fewer layers of editing (or perhaps no editing). The only user-generated content Weblogs Inc. publishes consists of the reader comments below each article — no different than what you'd find in a mainstream media publication.
By contrast, here at TechnoLawyer, we not only publish user-generated content, we place it in the spotlight. For example, our Answers to Questions and Fat Friday newsletters consist of your contributions. If we have anything to say, we place our comments BELOW your Post, not above. Perhaps an even better example, our TechnoFeature newsletter consists of an article written by an expert in the subject matter, not by someone who earns their living writing.
Just to be clear, I'm not criticizing Weblogs Inc. We ourselves publish a newsletter — TechnoLawyer NewsWire — written by a freelance journalist. I've always felt that you need a mix of the two. Instead, I'm just pointing out an error in the use of the term "user-generated content." I have requested that MediaPost publish a correction, but it has not yet done so.
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
