Thanks, Chase Williams and Ryan Klein of Market My Market and Legal Mastermind Podcast! Truly an honor to be included in this mid year recap alongside such fab folks …
“2022 In Review So Far features Chuki Obiyo , Brenda Pontiff , Tobi Millrood , Sarah Tetlow , [me! 😁] Roy Sexton, Steve Pockross , Russ Cersosimo Jr. , Juyoun Han , and Frans Johansson.”
We had a ball this afternoon with our year-end holiday broadcast. Yes, there were zany costumes, beloved pups, heartfelt sentiments, plentiful laughs, and maybe a show tune or two. (Yes, I sang – about midway – WITH prerecorded accompaniment because I’m fancy like that.) So grateful to be part of this fab Legal Marketing Coffee Talk crew: our fearless leader Rob Kates and fellow hosts Tahisha Fugate, Jessica Aries, and Andrew Laver. The kind words offered during the show about my late mom Susie Sexton, our honorary sixth cast member, were so appreciated and healing.
Thanks to today’s incredibly brilliant special guest stars, including Gina Furia Rubel, Amy Payton Verhulst, Nancy Leyes Myrland, Brenda Pontiff. You are such beautifully authentic souls.
Shout outs aplenty during today’s show: Heather Morse-Geller, Gail Porter Lamarche, Terry Isner, Nikki Girard Sherrill, Toni Wells, James Barclay, Ed Lovatt, Marcia Delgadillo, Nikki Bagdady Horn, Scott Lawrence, Nathalie M. Daum, Jay Harrington, Heather Harrington, Jennifer Forester, Cyndy McCollough, Timothy Corcoran, Jenna Green, Rachel Shields Williams, Shade Vaughn, Jennifer Simpson Carr, Trish Desilets Lilley, and likely many more I won’t remember until I watch again tonight! 🤣
Thank you to Kates Media: Video Production and By Aries for supporting this show and to amazing Katelynn Audrey Wynn McGuire and Clarita Bonilla for the exceptional promotional work on our collective behalf.
See you in 2022! #LMAMKT
Postscript … I am truly lucky to have a wonderful friend with whom I also happen to work. I’ve known Megan McKeon maybe about 10 years now? But we first actually collaborated in 2015 on a Legal Marketing Association – LMA International annual conference quick start panel. Fellow panelists Heather Morse-Geller and Gina Furia Rubel said, “We gotta get Megan to join us!” They were absolutely right. Few people are as devoted, as hard-working, as caring as Megan.
Flash forward a few years later, and Megan introduced me to Clark Hill. Heather told me that I MUST take the job – as she saw it as the right next step for me. Don’t tell Heather I said this, but she’s darn right 99% of the time! 😉
This community blesses us with guardian angels at every turn, and three years ago when I received the distinct privilege to work with Megan my life improved for the better. I’ve never worked harder in my life, been challenged to be a better professional, or had someone so consistently in my corner as I have had with Megan, and our wonderful boss Susan Ahern, and our incredible colleagues.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, it’s late. And I’m in a reflective mood. And this magical surprise (pictured) appeared on our front doorstep today. Admittedly, one can argue it’s a year early as I will be president elect of the international association next year and president the following. Nonetheless, when my husband opened this, thinking he was going to find new floor mats for his Jeep 😅, we both squealed with delight. Of course, being me, I couldn’t get this on our movie poster wall fast enough.
This gift puts such a big smile on my face after one hell of a year, and I won’t lie that it tickles me to be side-by-side with fellow Hoosier James Dean here. Everyone knows I love movies obsessively, but Megan has a distinct giftgiving prowess and somehow she found somebody who could turn me into my own movie poster. The tagline is hysterical: “Only the marketing is legal.” 🤣
Fun fact, Megan took this picture of me – and it is one of my favorites. We were in Chicago, on a sidewalk patio, shortly after I had started with the firm (halfway between a couple of my quarterly nervous breakdowns 😂), waiting for Ray Koenig and Susan to join us for drinks. Little did that naive Roy know what incredible adventures were ahead. But I’m looking at this poster, reflecting on the past year, the past three years, the past 10 years, incredibly grateful for what our legal marketing community has given all of us and for this friendship with dear Megan. Love you, Megan.
We had a pretty fantastic – and free-wheeling – conversation with our friend John Byrne today. This may be one of my favorite shows we’ve done yet. To be honest, I’m not even quite sure how to recap it, other than this was an authentic conversation between people who respect and love each other. There might be some references to the bathroom habits of naughty cats, a general love of anything Disney, and appreciation for the unique attributes of the only child – AND an understanding that truth when delivered from the heart is always a good thing.
Shout outs in the show to … Susie Sexton, Don Sexton, Thor Hodges, Lisa Towey Simon, Anne Gallagher, Megan McKeon, Nancy Leyes Myrland, Nancy Slome, Brenda Pontiff, Andrew Laver, Michelle Friends, Kelly MacKinnon, Brenda Plowman, Amy Payton Verhulst, Laura Toledo, Lindsay Griffiths, Kevin Iredell, Dianne Rychlewski, William Fitzgerald, Linda Sedloff Orton, Stephen D Barrett, Jose’ Cunningham, Trish Desilets Lilley, #oklahoma, #themusicman, and more!
It’s the show about legal marketing and the people that make it happen.
This week, Roy Sexton’s guest is fellow LMA International Board Member AND Midwesterner John Byrne, Chief Marketing Officer for Gould & Ratner LLP. John and Roy will not only reflect on nearly a decade of friendship and volunteer leadership together, but what trends they see in marketing, communications, and thought leadership in these neverending pandemic days. John, who also has worked as a practicing attorney and as a newspaper editor, will offer his observations on the intersectionality of legal and media and the opportunities represented for marketers therein. John and Roy are both only children who also have strong ties to the medical profession AND they both tend to enjoy the occasional shenanigan (or eight), so this conversation is sure to be heartfelt, free-ranging, and raucous!
Join our team of hosts: Jessica Aries, Tahisha Fugate, Andrew Laver and Roy Sexton , each week, as we talk to the leaders in the legal marketing community.
Legal Marketing Coffee Talk is brought to you by: By Aries and Kates Media.
Thank you to my fabulous Clark Hill colleague Megan McKeon for joining Rob Kates and me on Kates Media: Video Production’s “Legal Marketing Coffee Talk,” sponsored by Jessica Aries’ By Aries. Thanks again to Katelynn Audrey Wynn McGuire for the wonderful promotional support.
We cover a LOT! 🤣 The relative merit of phone calls, being trapped in Facebook jail, the perils of pool repair, the joys of home associations, and the highs and lows of geriatric pet ownership.
MORE importantly we discuss trends in legal marketing and business development, the crucial differences between those two disciplines AND their complementary nature, how data drives smart decision-making and efficient resource deployment, how the Legal Marketing Association and a commitment to mentoring benefits firm culture, and more.
Shout outs in today’s show to Susan Ahern, Guinevere Lehman Anderson, Marceline Johnson, John Byrne, Timothy Corcoran, Anne Gallagher, Brenda Plowman, Jill Mason Huse, Kelly MacKinnon, Nancy Myrland, Brenda Pontiff, Amy Payton Verhulst, Gina Furia Rubel, Heather Morse-Geller, Gail Porter Lamarche, Gail Paul, Susie Sexton, Connie Harris, James Fisher, Eric Lewandowski, Nancy McKeon, Patrick Fuller, Jay Harrington, Glen Hanson, HunTees, Marlon Brando, and more.
Postscript …
That’s me! Always on the cutting edge! LOL. Thanks for the shout out (below), Nancy Myrland of Myrland Marketing and Social Media. She writes, “‘Should You Give Stories A Chance?’ A LinkedIn notification related to Roy Sexton yesterday (discussed in this 2-minute, 22-second episode) is what caused me to record this episode.”
I admit I keep using the damn things as another piece of real estate, wondering if anybody’s paying attention. So she nailed exactly my psychology as a user in her assessment!
Rob’s original doggo Oliver – April 1 was his “gotcha day”
Eversheds Sutherland’s Dominic Ayres – as well as my precious mom Susie Sexton! – joined us to chat today about business development and client engagement in this new age.
We had a rich and robust conversation about the power of client teams, bringing humanity into your conversations with clients, anticipating their needs through empathy, being aware of social issues and expectations, the importance of diversity and inclusion in those conversations, and proper data and reporting being essential to the process.
Shout outs in the show to Brenda Pontiff, Timothy Corcoran, Mari Hutchinson, Don Sexton, Stefanie Marrone, Nancy Slome, Joe Biden, trains, Star Wars, beloved dogs, kids, Legal Marketing Association – LMA International, and Greatest Showman.
Enjoy!
Show description: This week our guest on Legal Marketing Coffee Talk is Dominic Ayres, the Senior Client Development Manager – Industrials Sector at Eversheds Sutherland. He and Roy Sexton will discuss the approaches Dominic and Eversheds have taken to supercharge client development in these quarantine days. Dominic will address Eversheds’ Global KAM with its greater focus on protecting and investing resources in a smaller set of clients.
Dominic and Roy will also talk about developing content with which clients actually want to engage, getting closer to the clients in ways meaningful to them, firms becoming more than just “external lawyers” but connected advisors, and the rapidly evolving value and roles of Business Development and Marketing professionals in those processes.
They may also talk about what it’s like to work from home with three little ones in England during this pandemic, Dominic’s love of Star Wars and superheroes, building a home gym in one’s garage, and playing Greatest Showman dress-up with one’s children.
LMA’s Got SKILLS! What fun tonight, and, for those who missed the Legal Marketing Association – LMA International annual conference talent show, the performances from #legalmarketing luminaries Jason Klika, Heather Layfield McCullough, Jim Jarrell, Jim Durham, Lauren McNee, Richard Hefner, Brenda Pontiff, Matt Parfitt, and Renee Branson were divine! Congrats to our winner – voted on by the audience – Jason! Highlights included glorious vocals, evocative poetry, whimsical interpretive dance routines, soothing instrumentals, grand comedy, soothing bedtime stories, a sh*t-ton of Sondheim, ridiculous costumes, and some very cute dogs. Heaven!
Divine Renee Branson viewing from home. Wisely drinking.
Thank you to an incredibly patient team, including Kristy Perkins, Malaika Palmer, Christina Abes (and my fearless engineer husband John Mola) who worked through my various and sundry tech issues and general hysteria earlier in the afternoon. Such grace, calm, and talent! Thanks to our conference co-chairs Kristen Bateman and Jonathan Mattson and LMA president Jill Mason Huse for their faith in me, for their encouragement, and for allowing me to let my freak flag fly (photographic evidence aplenty).
Thanks for this screen grab, Renee!
This is a helluva community! I am grateful to have been embraced by such kind and talented humans, and, as we noted tonight, our personal “brands” should celebrate every aspect of our personalities, talents, and interests. Thank you to HQ’s Danielle Holland , Kat Seiffert , Kristin Frankiewicz and team for their tireless support and promotion.
Congrats to friends Nathalie M. Daum, Adam Severson, and Despina Kartson who were inducted into LMA’s Hall of Fame tonight. So well-deserved! (VIDEO HERE.) Sally Feldman noted, “Congratulations to all of the inductees on this recognition, to Jennifer Manton and Jeanne Burger Hammerstrom for being such gracious co-hosts and Rob Kates for a great production.” Truth!
Unwinding after the big show!
The LMA Hall of Fame recognizes lifetime achievement of individuals in the legal marketing industry and their outstanding contributions to the association. Members of the Hall of Fame have a demonstrated history of career achievement, sustained commitment to the advancement of the profession, and significant contributions to LMA, as well as conduct themselves with professionalism among their peers.
Thank you, Lauren McNee, for this screen grab!Someone left the snowman in the rain. (Think “MacArthur Park.”) Thank you, Carman Janenne Akins, for this melting Olaf pic!