S&SF Conference Off to Great Start!

The fifth annual Indiana Solo & Small Firm Conference got off to a great start Thursday.

Florida lawyer coach Dustin Cole spoke to nearly 100 Indiana lawyers at the Boot Camp.  Cole gave a great presentation that challenged small firm lawyers to develop a more effective team approach to best serve clients, utilize the talents of staff, and increase income, and to do so in a more efficient manner which leaves the lawyer with more free time for his family. 

But this was far from a theoretical lecture.  Cole presented a workshop with a step by step approach to accomplishing these goals.  From talking with those attending, it appears that Dustin hit an out-of-the-park home run with his presentation.

For the fifth straight year, the weather held up for the conference golf outing.  While there was some grumbling over hooked tee shots and missed putts, it seemed everyone who played had a good time, including ISBA President Jim Riley.

The welcoming reception gave everyone a chance to relax and meet each other.  I had the chance to meet a number of folks attending the conference for the first time, as well as Dean Roebel from the I.U. Law School in Bloomington, who has graciously thrown the law school's support behind this conference.

The conference gets into full swing this morning with the keynote by Jay Foonberg.  Having Jay at this event is about the closest thing small firm lawyers have to a rock star.  And most certainly there will be plenty of people in the audience with copies of Jay's books and a Sharpie in hand.

*On the "you always forget something" front -- I may have set a record at this conference. 

1. I recently downloaded some photos at my office, so I left my photo card in the card reader and not in my camera (fortunately Ron Hansell has the same type of camera, and let me borrow his card).
2. I spoke at a seminar last week, an apparantly left my powercord for my laptop at the hotel.  Fortunately, I don't speak until tomorrow, I have a spare power cord that is on its way, and in the interim, Ron is letting me use his laptop
3. Finally -- I forgot my copy of Jay's book to get autographed.  But just like solos and small firm lawyers everywhere, when things like that happen, we don't go yelling at our staff to solve it.  We just look to our friends and colleague, use the resources we have, and keep going forward.

More from the conference later -- and hopefully some photos when I get my power cord.