Sneak peek … our LMA Southeast Region fam asked me to send a video (since I can’t be there in person) offering my thoughts on “harmony” … the beautiful Legal Marketing Association #LMASE23 conference theme.
Here’s my response. Rainbow sequins and all. And, yes, there’s a song. Have you MET me?! This time Harry Nilsson’s “Swee’pea’s Lullaby” from the 1980 movie musical Popeye.
I’m a genx fanboy … what can I say? But the lyrics seemed fitting.✨
At the the LMA Midwest Conference, Pitchly’s Director of Partnerships, Vik Nair, led a panel called, “You Bought It, Now What?” all about the next steps marketers need to take after they select technology.
“With such a strong lineup of thought leaders on the panel, incredible takeaways were inevitable, and Vik wanted to make sure that anyone who couldn’t attend didn’t miss out.”
Panelists:
EXCERPT: “To ensure ongoing technology adoption, creative and consistent communication is key. The panelists recommended strategies such as success stories, statistics showcasing the software’s impact, interviews with super-users, and executive advocacy. These methods not only inform and educate staff but also inspire and motivate them to make the most of the technology.
“Roy E. Sexton emphasized the need for open and transparent communication to build trust and enthusiasm among the team.”
“A Quiet Thing” by Kander and Ebb, from a musical called “Flora the Red Menace” (Liza Minnelli’s Broadway debut), is a song that has been special to me for 25 years. My mom loved it, and I sang it in my very first one-man cabaret show at Wabash College. LOOOOONG ago. Think “Just Jack!” with fewer production values.
This was captured at our recent LMA Midwest Region Conference – #LMAMW23 – by co-chair Joanna Beckett. I’m so grateful to have this clip. I know it’s a bit unusual to offer opening remarks that include a show tune at a business meeting … but have you met me? This is a song that always resonates with me in moments of reflection. I’ve just got a few months left in my Legal Marketing Association – LMA International presidency, so I’m a bit in my feels … as the kids say.
As I noted right before I broke into song in broad daylight, I never had voice lessons. I didn’t sing in high school choir. But when I was in college, I suddenly found myself craving all the music my parents Don and Susie Sexton listened to when I was growing up: Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis, Lena Horne, Doris Day. And I would go to the Walmart or Target in Crawfordsville, Indiana (we only had two stores … lol) and grab any CDs I could find. Columbia House helped too! I may still owe them for some of those discs, come to think of it. And I’d pop the shiny objects into my Discman that plugged into a tape deck in my swanky 1986 Buick Century and sing WAY out loud as I drove. Those artists “taught” me how to sing.
A few years later, I was cast as one of the leads in The Fantasticks. My mother, who DID have formal vocal training, told me years later that she was terrified over what was about to unfold. She said that once I opened my mouth and let out a warble, she knew I was going to be ok.
And I think I love singing for the very reason that it’s always been mine. No one forcing rules or expectations on me. Just doing it the way that feels natural to me. It refills my well and brings me joy. Not sure if it does the same for the audience, but that doesn’t stop me. Everyone needs something like that in their lives.
So thank you to LMA Midwest Region President Jennifer Gessner Shankleton for letting me share the stage with her this week and to co-chairs Lexie Blaner and Joanna for the EXCEPTIONAL work on this sold out event. It meant a lot to come full circle to the region where I started my LMA life for my last public appearance as the international president. As I joked from the stage, I think I’ve only made about 3.5 public appearances in this role as I mostly just want to stay in my basement!
Additional clips courtesy Sarah Ryan 💕
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song
In this town, don’t we love it now?
Everybody’s waiting for the next surprise
—“This is Halloween,” from The Nightmare Before Christmas
October: a time of crispness in the air, crunchy red leaves underfoot, scrumptious cider and doughnuts, college homecoming football games, pumpkin spice everything — and Halloween.
I was that kid whose parents crafted bespoke costumes I had to explain to everyone my age. Imagine showing up at school dressed like Clark Kent (pic #1) Charlie Chaplin, Jacques Cousteau or Schneider (pic #2) from “One Day at a Time.” Yep, that was me. Everyone else had those awful plastic superhero masks that cut into your face, and I was dressed like obscure Hollywood actors and undersea explorers.
I suspect that is why this month holds so darn much nostalgia for me. And why this playlist might be the one I’ve been most excited to create. Enjoy these jamming “Happy Haunts” on Apple Music and Spotify!
October also means we are knee-deep in our incredible lineup of regional conferences. Two down (and SOLD OUT), four to go! Way to go, Southwest and Midwest Regions for knocking your events out of the park. The momentum is mighty for our remaining offerings.
Do NOT miss out on the fellowship, education, and fun ahead — click here to register for Northeast (October 19-20), Mid-Atlantic(October 26), Southeast (November 8-10), and West (November 13-14)!
As a sidenote, a few people have asked me if I am planning to attend XYZ regional conference. The answer? Nope. I did attend the LMA Midwest Region conference, but the truth is we have an incredible international board, beautifully geographically distributed. They all will be appearing — many even speaking — at their home region conferences. In my opinion, the celebratory focus needs to be on our incredible regions and all they do.
(Plus, I do have a day job, hubby and cute puppies who need me. 😉)
October 2-3 in the Windy City was grand. I joined my pal and LMA Midwest Region Prez Jennifer Shankleton on the mainstage to welcome everyone — no, no drag queens or disco showtunes THIS time! But there was a low-key musical surprise [CLICK TO VIEW “A Quiet Thing”] — right before phenom keynote Rich Bracken wowed us all.
This post from member Casey Harrison about the Southwest Conference (September 13-15) is a great reminder of why we do what we do. Give it a quick read, and I think you will smile. The Southwest Region kicked off our regional conference season in incredible style. SOLD OUT event, vibrant and so engaging. Whether you were there in person or saw the fantastic array of posts on social media, I think you will agree.
Let’s get ALL of these conferences sold out and end this year like the fireworks finale at Disneyland! Kudos to our regional presidents, regional boards, conference chairs and conference planning committees for their exceptional work and their dedication to the mission. You all inspire!
And thank you to HQ’s Ashley Stenger and her colleagues Ashley Nunzio and Eric Himsel for their hustle, heart and grace, burning the midnight oil behind the scenes to support it all so beautifully.
We work in demanding environments and this TED video resonated. For me, there were some a-ha moments of reflection regarding how I conduct myself as a leader at work and at LMA. I suspect you will feel similarly and hope you find this as helpful as I did. This video frames how we treat each other impacts the bottom line and how our well-being drives our behavior, all in one smart three-minute clip. And yes, there’s data to back it up.
A lot of heart, hard work and brilliance has gone into our regional events. We are so grateful to our volunteer leaders for everything they are doing. I’m excited to see the social media posts that will follow — truly a party that never ends!
Finally, I want to acknowledge the passing of industry legend Burkey Belser. In terms of design and positioning, he challenged the status quo and, quite frankly, rocked the legal world in the way we thought about advertising and imagery. You no doubt saw countless posts from leading lights who were influenced by him and whose careers he positively impacted. We must always honor those who came before us, as we are privileged to stand on the shoulders of giants.
I’ll share this link to one such post — the way Deborah McMurray framed her tribute spoke to me professionally and personally. She writes, “A visionary, pioneer, icon and iconoclast, he was a mentor to many legal marketers, including me. The positioning strategist that I am today is because I got to work with him, watching not what he did, but how he thought.” And that’s what true community is about.
(Don’t miss the P.S. below for the “suit” reference!)
Love you,
Roy
President, 2023 LMA International Board of Directors
Roy E. Sexton
Director of Marketing
Clark Hill
A few weeks back, I went a-wandering to grab lunch at this Indian food truck I’ve spied a few times — Paradise Street Eats & Biryani. I love Indian food and, given my recent bout of COVID and the rampant increase of cases, I’ll be eating outside for a while until it snows. And then I’ll be in my basement.
Anywho…I walked back to the office on a different path and passed a store, Hot Sam’s Detroit.
This suit was on a clearance rack out front. It spoke to me. Love the color. Love a bargain. Love… being impulsive. I grabbed it and walked inside. I was in AWE of this place. Every bit of clothing was pure joy. I’ll likely go back, a lot.
I walked up to one of the dapper gentlemen running the store, and said, “How much is this?” Happy with the price, I said, “I’ll take it.” As I waited to check out, we made some small talk. And here’s where my exuberance failed me.
I said, “This is such a cute store!” “Cute store,” he replied with a tone that suggested that wasn’t a desirable adjective.
“Oh, I’m my mother’s son. That’s a high compliment for us!” Now feeling like I stepped in it, I added (unhelpfully), “How long have you been here?”
He replied drily, “Since 1921.”
Now I’m feeling the flop sweat on my brow and kicked into overexplaining mode. “Well, I was just trying the Indian food truck.” He added, “It’s really good.” I replied, “So I don’t normally come down this way. And I’m from Indiana originally. But I’ve lived here for 25 years. I do live in Ann Arbor though. But I come to Detroit a couple days a week.”
At this point, he was getting pretty amused at this nut buying the suit in his store. He handed me his card. It read: “Tony Stovall, CEO/Co-Owner, Hot Sam’s Detroit.”
He added with grace and good humor, “Check us out on social media. And learn about who we are and what we do.”
I said, “I sure will!” and took my Indian food and beautiful new suit, exclaiming, “I’ll be back.”
And then I did what he asked and realized how sometimes we know absolutely nothing. Sometimes we should pause and listen and learn to appreciate the history and good work around us. Similarly, I’ll leave you to it to learn more. But DO take a moment and check out their website: https://hotsamsdetroit.com/.
Elegance personified. Community engagement. Leadership. Authenticity.
Ain’t nothing “cute” about that. That’s pure fire. And I’m proud to be a transplanted Detroiter — even if I do say well-meaning stupid things sometimes!
File under: well-meaning things we say/do that land with a thud!
Facebook VIDEO: https://fb.watch/5VdOeTARJ0/
YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PgWNbKBiX-g&feature=youtu.be
I have to say I am pretty damn proud of today’s show. Thank you, Terry Isner and Greg Griffin, for suggesting this and helping map out the approach and, Rob Kates, for being utterly amazing. In addition to Terry, we had gracious, candid, funny, loving guests in Keith Wewe and Amber Bollman. And my brilliant ma Susie Sexton is now EVERYONE’s ma. I’m so proud of her.
And our engaged and supportive commenters and friends Deborah McMurray, Heather Morse-Geller, Vivian Gorin Hood, Marcia Delgadillo, Tahisha Fugate, William Fitzgerald who kept the party going and helped us feel confident and loved every minute.
Yes, we laughed and shared deep truths. And there was singing. From I Will Survive to MacArthur Park, Don’t Leave Me This Way to Part of Your World. But, and I will only speak for myself, I suspect there will always be a part of any #LGBTQ+ professional worried about reception and approval and support. I know it felt very special to feel all of those things today. One hundred fold. #pride #loveislove #family 🌈
Our friend and fellow LMCT host Tahisha Fugate wrote, “Today’s episode of Legal Marketing Coffee Talk was one for the books. Do yourself a favor and catch the replay. The stories, the transparency, and of course the entertainment were phenomenal! You’ll also want to add a few songs to your playlist. … A special thanks to our wonderful host Roy Sexton and guests Keith Wewe , Amber Bollman, Terry M Isner and Roy’s mom (my favorite social mom).”
Terry wrote: “This was a big first for me, I am very comfortable being me, but never really discussed being me publicly like that, lol. … I love that the conversation has started and that our small community of legal marketing brothers and sisters are all in to create a community of acceptance and inclusion. … PRIDE is about everyone being proud to be themselves. 🐝 U but remember to 🐝Kind to everyone along the way.”
Happy Pride Month!🌈
If you missed this week’s Social and Digital Media SIG webinar recapping our takeaways from #LMA16, the recording is now posted here: http://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1174915/B5ECC687155CBA1462A3D24E464C0D94. (You have to “register” to watch.)
Thanks to the incomparable Megan McKeon for joining me on this presentation! And listen for shout outs to Nancy Leyes Myrland, Lindsay Griffiths, Tasneem K. Goodman, Jabez LeBret, Jonathan Fitzgarrald, Heather Morse-Geller, Melissa Thomas, Amber Bollman, Bree Harms, Jim Jarrell, Gina Rubel, and more …
“As the influence of social and digital media continues to evolve and cross-over into all aspects of marketing the legal profession, legal marketers continue to become less generalized, and more focused on specific areas of expertise. These varying focuses and roles, result in differing approaches to the social and digital media in our profession. In other words, what a business development professional finds valuable about a digital media presentation, may differ from that of a marketing technologist. As such, the Legal Marketing Association Social Media SIG invites you to attend our LMA Annual Conference Recap Webinar involving in-house legal marketers from various areas of our profession to discuss their favorite digital and social media programs from this year’s conference. Discussion topics include key takeaways from our favorite sessions, general discussion of the hot topics you may have missed, and the impact of the 2016 LMA Annual Conference programming on our behavior as legal marketers.”
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Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital).
In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan.
My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
(Originally written for and posted on Legal Marketing Association Social and Digital Media Special Interest Group blog. This piece is summarizing two sessions I attended at the 2016 annual conference in Austin, Texas.)
In her blog entry “Referrals and First Impressions: How Technology Has Changed Them” (summarizing a recent Legal Coffee Break podcast by GNGF founders Mark Homer and Jabez LeBret), Lindsay Griffiths, Director of Global Relationship Management at International Lawyers Network, writes …
When a prospective client Googles you, and the only thing that comes up is a bio that is outdated, with a few lines about your practice, the year you graduated law school and passed the bar, it won’t matter if you are the smartest and most talented lawyer in the world. The firm’s website and your social media profiles are designed to support the word of mouth referral and their decision to hire you, to provide a level of comfort that we all seek when looking online for information these days – that feeling of “oh yes, I’m making the right decision in trusting this person with my business.”
What Lindsay has captured here is a key theme that resonated repeatedly for me during the recent Legal Marketing Association Annual Conference (LMA16) in Austin, Texas. The notions that digital and social media somehow exist in a vacuum and are to be discussed as some glorious abstraction or, worse, funky sideline experiment are defunct (not that they ever had any validity to start). We don’t have a special task force for “telephone usage” or “the art of cocktail conversation” (though, in fact, those are not terrible ideas, come to think of it). Social/digital presence is now essential to the business development and marketing conversation, from prospect research through lead generation, from ongoing client engagement to every facet of brand management. Let’s face it. Our digital footprint is often the first thing anyone sees about us these days.
That said, this blog entry, which started life as an assignment to summarize one social media-leaning presentation at LMA16 is going to be a mash-up of takeaways from two utterly unrelated sessions, sessions which nonetheless showed the essential value of digital and social as a matter of accepted course in the world of legal marketing.
Jonathan Fitzgarrald, Equinox Partners, presented “ROI: Measuring So You Can Better Manage,” an effervescent boot camp on law firm managing up and leaning in and breaking out. In the surest sense of “getting more flies with honey,” Fitzgarrald returned frequently to the truism that what you can’t measure doesn’t matter – and more to the point, if you don’t know what matters to your clients, no measurement in the world will help you. And if you are still encountering difficulty selling the importance of digital client engagement to law firm leadership, follow this recipe …
As social media has evolved from being a standalone topic to a vital communications/ engagement tool, discussions of use, value, measurement were woven throughout many LMA16 presentations across varied topics. Nowhere was that truer than in Tas Gooman and Jabez LeBret’s “Your Honor Awards Meet PechaKucha,” with presentations by Jann E. Dudley of Archer Norris; Daryl Drabinsky of DLA Piper; Sarah Fougere, of Oblon, McClelland, Maier, & Neustadt; Morgan Hall from McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland; and Andrea (Crews) Maciejewski from Levenfeld Pearlstein.
In fact the very presentation-style of the session reflected how social media has impacted our speaking styles and absorption of information. What is PechaKucha you ask? It’s a timed presentation – six minutes and your slides keep moving whether you are ready or not – requiring the speakers (in this case the 2016 Your Honor recipients) to focus on the key narrative points: what they did, how they did it, and what results they achieved.
Here’s the thing. Nearly every one discussed how social media/digital was essential to their strategy: targeting messages by audience segment, creating agility and ability to customize what is viewed/received, and offering bigger impact for lower costs. Some of the most memorable tips …
Based on these various ideas ping ponging around my brain (thanks, LMA16!), here are the challenges I see going forward …
And remember that the first handshake your attorney may have with a potential client is more likely than ever to occur in cyberspace.
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Roy Sexton is Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Trott Law, P.C., a Michigan-based real estate law firm serving the mortgage industry (www.TrottLaw.com). A graduate of Wabash College, he holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and an MA in theatre from the Ohio State University. He has nearly 20 years of experience in strategic planning, business development, marketing and communications, having worked previously at Deloitte Consulting and Oakwood Healthcare.
He is a published author with two books of arts criticism Reel Roy Reviews, compiled from his blog of the same name (www.ReelRoyReviews.com). He is an at-large member of LMA’s Midwest Board, serves on the state Board of Governors of the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association, and is a co-founder and board member of Ann Arbor’s Penny Seats Theatre Company. He is active in the Social & Digital Media SIG and is on the advisory board for Strategies. You can reach him by emailing rsexton@trottlaw.com or via the following social media channels:
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Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital).
In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan.
My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
I just returned from Austin, Texas where the annual Legal Marketing Conference was held. An amazing and eclectic city hosted an even more amazing and eclectic bunch of smart cookies, who shared their knowledge and insight freely, fiercely, graciously, profoundly.
If one could bottle the wit and wisdom in that hotel over the past three days, we could solve every world crisis, laughing and smiling every step of the way.
Yours truly was included in a number of session summaries posted by LexBlog (www.lxbn.com) throughout the event. You can check them out here …
Above the Law covered the conference here, and wonderful colleague Heather Morse offered her ode to LMA here. Check out these conference tips from talented legal PR expert (and attorney herself) Gina Rubel. You can also sign up for our LMA Social Media Special Interest Group wrap-up webinar here.
Yes, there was no end of fun to be had as well, which you might detect from these photos (cheeky hats courtesy of Jonathan Fitzgarrald) …
(And, I promise … I’ll get back to movies soon.)
Join us Wednesday, April 20 for the Social Media SIG’s recap of the Annual Conference! (Registration Link)
As the influence of social and digital media continues to evolve and cross-over into all aspects of marketing the legal profession, legal marketers continue to become less generalized, and more focused on specific areas of expertise. These varying focuses and roles, result in differing approaches to the social and digital media in our profession. In other words, what a business development professional finds valuable about a digital media presentation, may differ from that of a marketing technologist. As such, the Legal Marketing Association Social Media SIG invites you to attend our LMA Annual Conference Recap Webinar involving in-house legal marketers from various areas of our profession to discuss their favorite digital and social media programs from this year’s conference. Discussion topics include key takeaways from our favorite sessions, general discussion of the hot topics you may have missed, and the impact of the 2016 LMA Annual Conference programming on our behavior as legal marketers.
Learning Outcomes:
Featured Speakers:
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Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.