Via ooVoo: Pistachio on a Presentation That Rocks MUCH More

Last Friday I talked about My ooVoo Day and trying out this fantastic new video chat tool ooVoo. Well, yesterday I put it to the test by attending a workshop put on by Laura Fitton of Pistachio Consulting (in the land of Twitter, we just call her @pistachio which is kind of fun and gives her lots of street cred I'm sure). Laura is a speaking coach extraordinaire, so it was amazing to have some semi-private time with her.

She is based in Boston, and other people who joined us were Andrea Vascellari in Finland , Beth Kanter in Boston, and Nico Pin in Brazil (I think!). Tommy Vallier in Kingston, Ontario, appeared briefly but unfortunately was having problems. The ooVoo platform does demand a lot of bandwidth and some people do unfortunately have issues with the set-up at this early stage of the game. Anyway, it was great to have such a geographically varied group!

Blue Lightning
Originally uploaded by jpre86

Laura went through her workshop 10 Minutes to a Presentation That Rocks MUCH More, and then answered our questions since a number of us were already experienced at presenting. Then (this is the COOL part) we shared slides of our own presentations via Slideshare (remember I talked about that last week, too?). Laura was able to post the slides in her screen on ooVoo and we could also page through it ourselves. We tried out her concept of "Lightning Round" where you spend only 5 seconds on each slide, verbalizing the main concept of the slide. Most presenters are unlikely to go through an entire presentation more than a few times, but one can do the lightning round frequently to really practice and warm up. It also helps narrow down which slides are needed or not.

What I really liked were the personal comments Laura gave us. For me, I need to think about some key ideas of my overall presentation and put them up front to really hook people in. You really have their key attention right in the first 30 seconds, so it is also best to have someone *else* introduce you so that you don't waste those precious moments at the beginning. Finally, she gave me some good hints about how to build real "take away" ideas into my presentations, since that is something I feel needs work.

Working with Laura for the hour will, I think, really help my presentation style. Maybe even my blogging and podcasting style, too. Which surprised me because I thought I knew a lot already, and doubted how much she could teach me in a short time over ooVoo in a group session.

If you are a speaker who wants to kick it up to the next level, I would highly recommend working with Laura at Pistachio Consulting!

Okay, I'll stop gushing now. ;-)

FIS Announces Eight New Library, Information and Museum Studies Professors and Lecturers - University of Toronto

As alumna of the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto, I like to check in periodically as to what is happening with the program. They have had a standing call for new faculty for quite as while, so I am pleased to see an announcement on the front of the website explaining who have now been brought in. It is a wonderfully diverse group.

I extend my personal congratulations to Mike McCaffrey who has been named lecturer. We attended FIS in and around the same time, and even as a student he was already an expert on international and government documents. I have heard good things from students who have taken his course, so it is good the school is officially recognizing him as Lecturer. Kudos!

The school is still looking for two faculty members in the areas of information organization and classification; and information resources, seeking, services, and reference; and one faculty member in the area of museum studies.

Toronto Wiki Tuesdays - Photos and Write-up

Thanks to Martin Cleaver for posting photos and another write-up of my presentation last week on his blog.

He counted 16 people who showed up in the snow storm. This is a tremendous number for this group. I can only imagine how big we could grow with more focussed discussions and better weather!

A Look at the Free Software and Open Source Movements

Joel Alleyne has just posted his Extreme Tech column for Slaw: Why You Should Take a Look at the Free / Open Source Software Movement. While I support the Open Source movement in principle, I have to admit not being personally involved and not knowing a lot about it. I do use (and love) both Firefox and Wordpress, so have to admit having personally benefited from the movement. I guess I have thought of it more as a coder/developer type of concept.



Adding to my "to do" list: exploring the links in Joel's post, trying some of these things out for myself. I have considered loading Linux on an old laptop. Maybe I should try Ubuntu? I know a number of others who have.

Photo source: Linux.org website

Podcamp Toronto Podcast Episode #10

Episode #10 has now been posted over at the Podcamp Toronto Blog. This is our second attempt at using Talkshoe to host, and I think we are getting better at it. I had better control of the conversation compared to last time. I may just be getting the hang of this podcasting thing! ;-)

Cheers,
Connie

Friday Roundup (Feb. 15/08): Five Social Media Sites to Kick Off Your Weekend

One thing I am loving right now is having the time to try out new media tools and better explore some old favourites. Here's what I've been up to lately:

Joseph Jaffee on OoVoo
Originally uploaded by ConnieC

1. Podcamp Toronto - I've been helping organize this new social media unconference coming up next weekend (February 23 & 24, 2008). It is fabulously free, and a fantastic opportunity to learn about podcasting and other social media as well as meet a diverse, interesting group of people from Ontario and beyond. I had such a fantastic experience last year as a newby, I dove head first into helping this year. Notably, check out our podcast episodes on the blog in which I am learning to podcast from Sean McGaughey. Episode 10 should be out later today.
2. Talkshoe - This is a call-in platform that allows you to record a "talk show" style podcast. I have been calling in to Greg Schwartz' weekly library show Uncontrolled Vocabulary periodically, and recently filled in as host. Since then, we have hosted two episodes of the Podcamp Toronto Podcast (#9 and #10) over on Talkshoe. The format takes getting used to, but with each attempt I am getting better at it.
   
3. Slideshare - I've had colleagues share presentation slide decks with me from this site in the past, but only woke up to how great this site is this week. You can make presentations public or private. You can share with people so they can watch on the site or download the presentations for their own use. Coolest use of all, it allows me to repost presentations to my blogs. I have had a great time exploring the presentations of other people with similar interests. People can set the copyright and Creative Commons licensing, so it is very clear whether we can re-use each others' presentations. Great site! Check out my page. I am going to have to hunt back through my computer for some past presentations for y'all.
   
4. Flickr - I've long known the virtues of posting and sharing my photos on this photo sharing site, but I have been neglecting this favourite for a while. To warm up your winter weekend (for those of you in the winter climate, that is!) here is my photo and recipe for a spicy Ground Nut (Peanut) Soup. I don't recall the origin of this recipe--probably something I cut out of the newspaper--since I just remember the basic recipe and play with it. One of my goals this year is to get photos of past vacations and conferences finally posted. Stay tuned!
5. ooVoo - I have saved the most exciting for last! Earlier this week I took part in a video chat with well-known new media marketer Joseph Jaffe and four other people. That's us in the snapshot I captured. It was part of the promotional series of chats called "myooVooday" starring some of the top names in social media and communication. Jaffe has written a good write-up, as has my fellow video chatters Sherman Hu based in Vancouver and Mitch "Studio Nashvegas" Canter in Nashville. Sherman included a brief video clip from the session, while Mitch went one better and recorded and posted the whole thing. I didn't say a lot because I wasn't sure how well my mic was working, but my fellow Podcamp Toronto organizer Eden Spodek obliged and said a lot of what I was thinking. Also on the call was entertainment management consultant Allen Mostow. What an interesting group. We mostly talked about virtual world Second Life. Anyway, we came to the conclusion that this is definitely a great tool for communicating with a group of people at a distance. A pretty good computer is needed, with video camera, microphone, and headphones. So, not accessible to everyone. But still, we are sure getting there with the technology!

Thanks so much for following me on this journey! Have a great weekend. For those in Ontario, enjoy the new Family Day holiday if you have it off!

Cheers,
Connie

Do Wikis Belong in Law Firms?

Tuesday night I gave a presentation to Toronto Wiki Tuesdays about the use of wikis in law firms. On Monday, to get some additional ideas, I posted a message to Slaw asking for any new examples of wiki use in law firms since I wanted to present more than just wikis I had a hand in myself. The next day a very interesting discussion ensued on Slaw about whether wiki use is suitable for firms. This was a fantastic discussion, starting to really get at the heart of whether a firm should be using wikis and what really works. So much so, that I took the liberty of using the discussion as my "hook" into the presentation.

The group I presented to at Wiki Tuesday was a real cross-section of people interested in wiki use: consultants, tech developers, at least one lawyer, people who have worked with lawyers, people with general interest in wikis, and even some new to wikis. Despite a snow storm progressing outside, we had at least a dozen people present which is a good turn-out for this event.

My slides (with some added annotations) are included below. Not all content of the presentation is captured in the slides of course, so if you have any questions please let me know. Some of the content was given to me in personal email, so I have kept the information anonymous and unattributed.


Do Wikis Belong in Law Firms?

| View | Upload your own

Presentation to Toronto Wiki Tuesdays about use of wikis in law firms and the adoption of wikis by lawyers. Presented February 12, 2008.

SlideShare Link

The subsequent questions from the group were very interesting: they were surprised that there was any wiki use in law firms since they see the culture to be competitive, not one conducive to sharing. We discussed what type of firm might be best for initiating wiki use. The feeling was that one that is used to collaboration, possibly as part of a larger knowledge management program, would find wikis useful. A firm with teams working across a number of geographically dispersed locations might also find it a useful tool. Finally, it was speculated that a smaller firm with younger members (such as a 5-lawyer firm) with the goal of working as a team could really find some value in wiki use and might be the most likely space we would see wiki adoption by lawyers.

Finally, we discussed some of the original concerns about the use of wikis when there are so many systems in place. One distinction is that with knowledge management systems, the emphasis is submitting documents and analysis after the fact. Wiki use emphasizes work in progress and collaborating on the end result. In this way, lawyers may find wikis more useful in the process of working on a project rather than after the fact.

We also discussed the "open law" projects first initiated at Cornell, which CanLII participates in, how this is meant to open the law and make it accessible to the public. Although they are largely creating controlled, edited systems, they in some ways have the collaborative ideal that wikis and the "open source" movement aspires to. We looked at screen shots of the wiki Wex from Cornell, and the wiki JurisPedia that is meant to be from a number of jurisdictions around the world. Martin Cleaver pointed out that JurisPedia was an excellent example of a wiki being used to bring different cultures together.

One participant thought that it would only be a matter of time before solo lawyers or those in smaller firms would get together to share things like model documents, precedents and the like on a wiki platform. This reminded me of the new service JD Supra in which firms can contribute and share their documents. I mentioned it briefly at the session; it isn't yet open yet, but according to Larry Bodine, it will be going live very soon. It is in a "private beta phase" right now. Seems to me I had an invite a while back to have a look around--I will have to check back through my email. If I do, I will have a look and write more about it.

I have to thank my friends and colleagues for sharing what they know here and over at Slaw. I hope the discussion continues. A special thanks to Ted Tjaden who played the vital role of devil's advocate and took our ribbing in good humour, and to Doug Cornelius for pointing me to material about wikis that he has written on his blog over at his blog KM Space.

Venue Change! Toronto Wiki Tuesdays moved to Insomnia Tonight

This last-minute notice from Martin Cleaver:

Hi all,

Re: Tonight's Toronto Wiki Tuesday (Wikis in Legal Firms)

I am really sorry to have to say that I've just discovered Rowers Pub is shut for renovations. We've scrambled and managed to find a place not too far away and have posted a notice at Rowers.

We are at Insomnia, near the corner of Bathurst on Bloor, just east of Honest Ed's. http://www.dine.to/profile_map.php?id=2330

The following map shows that if you walk west 2 blocks from Rowers, north up to Bloor and turn right you will find us...

To give late-comers a chance to find us, we'll start introductions / food at 7pm and start Connie's talk at 7:45pm. (The TikiWiki guys are already at Insomnia with me)

Please do pass on this message and accept my apologies. We'd happily been using Rower's Pub since 2005 without incident. Rowers did apologise profusely but are unable to accommodate us. The only good thing is that Insomnia is just over the road from Bathurst subway, saving you a walk in the cold.

I extend special thanks to Nelson Ko for extra travelling to get a projector at such late notice.

See you tonight,
Martin.

Recording Live - Podcamp Toronto Podcast Episode 10

Just to be confusing, we have changed up the day and time from last week. We are giving Talkshoe another go, and recording Podcamp Podcast Episode #10 at 9 pm tomorrow night, Wednesday February 13, 2008 here on Talkshoe. The phone lines will open up at about 8:45 to get us set up, so join us then.

It will again be the talkshow format. Here are the questions we'€™ll be asking:

* What are you looking forward to at Podcamp Toronto?

* Who would you like to meet at Podcamp Toronto?

Talk to you then!

Should Law Firms Be Using Wikis?

My colleague Ted Tjaden has raised the question about wikis in law firms over at Slaw. If this question interests you, I invite you over to the discussion (see the comments in addition to Ted's post). I respect Ted's opinion, and believe it to be justified for his particular law firm.

A summary of my viewpoint:

- wikis are one type of tool in the electronic toolbox which you may or may not choose to use;
- not all law firms may want to use wikis, especially if they have robust systems that enable collaboration among groups;
- not all lawyers are in firms that have sophisticated document management, content management, or intranet systems, and for them wikis may be lightweight solutions for certain challenges;
- I am interested in learning if and how wikis are being used so that I can inform others of how they might be used. I do not necessarily say they should be used in every organization.

I would love to have this discussion live tonight at Toronto Wiki Tuesday if anyone wants to come help me debate it.

Cheers,
Connie

Wikis in Law Firms - Toronto Wiki Tuesday

Please note! Last minute venue change - we will be at Insomnia. Details here.

This month's Toronto Wiki Tuesday will be held tomorrow (Tuesday) night. I volunteered to take the lead on the evening's discussion. I want to talk about two subjects:

- the acceptance of social media by lawyers and, specifically, the use of wikis in law firms; and

- how best to develop a course on wikis

I'm hoping that any members of law firms who are using wikis will drop by give some input.

Details about Toronto Wiki Tuesdays is over at the Blended Perspectivesblog. We meet at Rower's Pub. It's free to attend; food and drink are of course available. Please RSVP at Upcoming.org.

I hope you'll join us!

Tonight - Join me Live for Podcamp Toronto Podcast Episode 9

Tonight my co-host Sean McGaughey and I will be trying out the Talkshoe platform to record our podcast. We are looking for Podcamp Toronto attendees to join us in the call and talk about what they are up to and looking forward to with Podcamp.

University of Toronto, Faculty of Information Studies Grads: Call for Nominations Jubilee 2008 Award

Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto is looking for nominations---

Call For Nominations for the 2008 Alumni Jubilee Award -- Deadline March 28, 2008

Do you know of an innovator, a leader, a mentor, a researcher, a catalyst, someone who’s made a difference to the profession and is a FIS alumnus/ae? Each year, the Faculty of Information Studies Alumni Association (FISAA) honours a distinguished graduate of the Faculty (or its predecessors) who has made significant contributions in innovation or leadership in libraries or information management, professional organizations, publications/research, or the community at large.

To nominate an alumnus/a, write a letter about your nominee, their achievements, and why she or he should receive the award, sign it and email it to: alumni@fis.utoronto.caThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , or fax to (416) 978-5762, or mail to: Alumni Jubilee Award Nomination, Faculty of Information Studies, 140 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G6.

There are two awards: one for an alumnus and one for a student. More details here on the FIS website. Submit your nomination now!

Research and Morals - What Would You Do?

What do or would you do if you are asked to do research that goes against your personal morals? That question is posed over at the Enquiring Minds Want to Know blog by Jennifer Vass and Davina Gifford. Below is the response I posted in their blog. What would you do?

It helps to have thought out what your barriers are in advance and worked out a policy. I have always maintained that librarians, when calling outside the firm for information, should:
(1) identify our name and who our employer is ("Hello this is Mary Smith, I am a librarian at the Big Smart law firm") and
(2) not identify the name of the lawyer or client on whose behalf we are calling, unless requested or given permission to do so. This is because the client and/or matter is often confidential.

When asked to do something that goes against these principles (especially #1), I explain the policy and stand firm. I have been known to even maintain #2 inside the law firm when calling another lawyer for advice on the research depending on the circumstances and the culture of the firm.

Can you think of certain policy you were put into place to help you deal with this in the future?

The lawyer ethic is that everyone, not matter what he or she has done, has the right to legal representation. That can certainly put you in the position of doing research on behalf of someone or some organization you do not personally believe in and would prefer not to support. Depending on how much this bothers you, you need to think about whether you can work for an employer that supports this organization. Are your feelings strong enough to make you want to leave that organization? This is something you need to ask yourself.

Ontario Library Association Superconference 2008 - Blog

Did you miss the OLA Superconference that took place last year? The blog is here. I am reading my way through the posts.

The link is courtesy of John Dupuis at Confessions of a Science Librarian. John has included his own presentation, My Job in 10 Years: the Future of Academic Libraries.

ABA Law Practice Management: Is CRM Worth It? and Other Marketing Technology Trends

In the January/February 2008 issue of Law Practice Management, a magazine from the American Bar Association, I was invited to contribute to a panel discussion about Client Relationship Management applications in the Law Practice Case Study: Is CRM Worth It? The Pros and Cons of Client Relationship Management. This is the scenario we were given:

Charlie gazed at his administrator while holding the memo from a group of partners who were advocating for a client relationship managementsystem. The administrator was explaining that CRM wasn’t so much a software product, but more of an approach to how a law firm deals with its clients. A CRM system, she said, was much more than an expensive electronic Rolodex. Among other things, it would allow the firm to track clients’ needs and expectations and cross-sell services accordingly.

Charlie was all for a centralized system that would finally help the firm’s 70 lawyers keep better track of clients and bring in more business. He’d read about the new technologies and believed there was plenty of potential. But he’d also done an informal survey of his peers—managing partners at other midsize firms—and despite the hype surrounding CRM, not one could honestly say their firm had successfully implemented one of these systems. On top of that, no one he’d talked to seemed especially sure about what components these systems needed to contain to succeed. That wasn’t likely to help in answering the tough questions he knew his partners would have about why they should support this initiative, especially given its potential cost. Even the firm’s most successful rainmakers relied on marketing techniques they’d developed 25 years ago. The majority of the firms’ lawyers thought marketing meant doing good work and waiting for clients to call if they needed new services. To them, cross-selling was telling the client that the firm had a litigation department on another floor. Convincing them that CRM was a worthwhile investment would take some doing. Before he agreed to support the initiative, he needed to talk to a few people and get up to speed—quickly—so that he could answer his partners’ questions and make the right decision. He wondered who he should talk to....

Doug Cornelius, Ross Fishman, Simon Chester and I all tackle the question in the Law Practice Case Study.

By the way, this whole issue focuses on Marketing Technology Trends and is one I highly recommend reading pretty much "cover to cover".

Feeling Deprived? Did You Miss the Superbowl Ads?

Superbowl isn't quite the big event here in Canada that is in the U.S. And I'm not a football fan. At all. Still, it would be nice to know what all these ads they talk about are. The folks at Fox are posting all the commercials over at myspace. Check it out: http://www.myspace.com/superbowlads

And for those of you wondering why Canadians don't typically see these ads during the Superbowl, Tod Maffin has the answer.

Jordan S. Hatcher - Lawyer, consultant and blogger

I always like discovering blogs that are new to me in areas that show a unique perspective. Jordan S. Hatcher is a lawyer specializing in the IT world, working as a consultant on copyright and content issues. He has at least a couple of interesting blogs:

opencontentlawyer.com

This is the blog of Jordan S. Hatcher, a Texas lawyer and legal consultant working in Scotland, the United Kingdom and throughout the European Union. This blog covers intellectual property, copyright, open content, internet law, media law, entertainment law, and related issues with a worldwide focus.

twitchgamer.net

This site has been around for quite a long time — especially in internet years, which generally are longer than dog years. It has, up until recently, mostly been a learning experiment in web design, site administration, and various other web activities.

From the left side-bar on twitchgamer.net he links to a number of projects he is involved in (including at least one other blog and a wiki). Looks like someone to watch for innovative ideas in the legal space.

Jordan Furlong Now Blogging at Law21

If you only look at one new Canadian law blog this year, you should make it Jordan Furlong's Law21. Jordan has been a dedicated fellow contributor to the Slaw blog for some time now, so it is fantastic to see him taking the next step and starting his own blog space. Jordan is a lawyer and journalist who is currently Editor-in-Chief at the National, the Canadian Bar Association magazine. He is using this new blog to examine the current state of the legal profession and how it is evolving:

In the 21st century, the practice of law is shaking loose from its traditional moorings and heading out into uncharted territory. Opportunities abound, but so do pitfalls. Most of the old rules won’t apply anymore, while some will matter more than ever.

Welcome to the new legal profession, powered by collaboration, innovation, and client service. This is your front-row seat.

Welcome to the blawgosphere, Jordan!

To find more Canadian law blogs, refer to the comprehensive Canadian Law Blogs List from Steve Matthews.

Uncontrolled Vocabulary #28 - Now Posted

Greg Schwartz has posted Uncontrolled Vocabulary Episode #28 which I guest hosted on Wednesday night. He hasn't created the show notes yet, but since he's been very busy I guess we will let him off the hook this time.

Comments about the show can be posted to his blog or emailed to us:
greg.schwartz @ gmail.com
conniecrosby @ gmail.com

I haven't listened to the episode yet. Not sure if I want to hear myself talk. :-)