“Show up every day and keep moving forward, my friends!” – Heather Reid. And indeed she and Carolyn Manning and Dominic Ayres did today on Legal Marketing Coffee Talk with Rob Kates and yours truly! There may have also been appearances by Cher, Elvis, Britney Spears, Homer Simpson, a blue cow, Baby Yoda, and Mr. Ed. 🙌
Mostly we had a warm, substantive, candid, joy-filled, inclusive chat about culture and communications and (to swipe the title of Dominic’s fab new book) “How to Advance Your Career in Professional Services Marketing: Be More Purposeful and Strategic with Your Career Direction.” (Which you can order … right here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PLR7322/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_7AW38R2HCE6Y2CKBZQWH.)
Along the way, we talked about the Legal Marketing Association – LMA International’s fab #LMA22 conference this March in Las Vegas, tiny dogs who don’t like snowmaggedon, failed guitar lessons, creative heirloom family quilt displays (thank you again, Shoppopdisplays!), the rogue habits of grooms and their wedding registries, and more!
Thanks to these viewers for the love, support, and engagement today: James Barclay, Amy Payton Verhulst, Tahisha Fugate, Nancy Leyes Myrland, Marcia Delgadillo, Don Sexton, Rich Bracken, Gail Porter Lamarche, Jay Linder, and Susan Hunt – with shout outs in the show to Susie Sexton, Heather Morse-Geller, Deborah Farone, Jessica Aries, Laura Toledo, and more.
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.
Legal Marketing Coffee Talk is ending 2021 with a bang!
Join us to celebrate the holidays, as Rob is joined by the whole gang of hosts with Jessica Aries, Tahisha Fugate, Andy Laver, and Roy Sexton, plus some of our fabulous By Aries social media team including Katelynn McGuire and Clara Bonilla plus a few special surprise guests.
Join us Thursday, December 16th at 3PM ET for fun and holiday cheer on our final episode of 2021 on …
I love my brilliant, kind, creative friend Gail Porter Lamarche. She shared her wisdom and wit with me and a strangely absent Rob Kates on Legal Marketing Coffee Talk today. We discussed the importance of authenticity, the magic of #music and fabulous parenting, the benefit to firms of marketers who engage the community, how much we love Legal Marketing Association – LMA International, the fabulous learning and connection at LMA21, the power of digital thought leadership, how to coach attorneys to network with intentionality, Norman Love Confections, Theatre Nova, taco Tuesdays, beloved furbabies, and more. And how proud we are of ass-kicking Laura Toledo!
Shout outs to beloved family, friends, and colleagues include Nancy Leyes Myrland, Gina Furia Rubel, Heather Morse-Geller, Lindsay Griffiths, Megan McKeon, Kelly MacKinnon, John Byrne, Ross Fishman, Don Sexton, Nancy Slome, David Ackert, Passle, James Barclay, Tommy Franz, Kevin Iredell, Maggie Stuart Watkins, Adrian T Dayton, and more!
Legal Marketing Coffee Talk is brought to you by: By Aries and Kates Media.
Clockwise from top left: Justin Scott Bays, Roy Sexton, Elizabeth Jaffe, Diane Hill, K Edmonds, John DeMerell, Kristin Clark
Just FOUR more chances to see SING HAPPY! http://www.theatrenova.org … Come hear the music play – through Sunday!
This celebration of the work of Broadway’s famous duo, Kander and Ebb, features a star-studded ensemble of singers, who take the stage with showstoppers from CABARET, CHICAGO, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, and many others. Directed by Diane Hill, with music direction by R. MacKenzie Lewis, SING HAPPY! is not just a musical revue. It’s a show that ultimately weaves a tale of strength and determination, one we can all relate to in these times.
AUDIENCES AND CRITICS ALIKE LOVE SING HAPPY!
From Pulp Magazine: While the show leads off with the encouraging “Sing Happy” from Flora the Red Menace, the show’s best moments are the wistful, introspective, and sad songs. The singers come and go throughout the 70-minute revue with no intermission. The tentative story they tell is one of guarded hope, which seems appropriate to our current situation.
Photo by Sean Carter
Director Diane Hill keeps it simple and the singers respond with performances that grasp the conflicting emotions that are at the heart of Kander and Ebb songs.
Photo by Sean Carter
John DeMerell brings a meditative quality to his rendition of “I Don’t Remember You,” a song about a once-close relationship that now seems lost forever. Justin Scott Bays brings more heat to a plaintive yearning for a lost love in “Sometimes a Day Goes By.” The two voices sing in counterpointed empathy.
Photo by Sean Carter
Perhaps the best-known song in this mood is the comic sad “Mr. Cellophane” from Chicago. Roy Sexton sings the mournful tale of a man who wonders how invisible he seems to be. Kander’s music is a shuffle and Sexton glides across the stage making like a sad, dancing clown.
Kristin Clark brings that wistful quality to “Colored Lights,” another song about what might have been.
Photo by Sean Carter
K Edmonds brings her big voice and expressive face to a rollicking showstopper from Chicago, “When You’re Good to Mama,” a warning to inmates about how things work on the inside.
Photo by Sean Carter
Elizabeth Jaffe has fun with a sassy celebration of a daytime lover in “Arthur in the Afternoon.”
Photo by Sean Carter
Theatre Nova is alive and it wants to stay alive and offer a chance for everyone to come and see fresh, new, exciting plays at a reasonable price. In the music and words of Kander and Ebb, “what good is sitting alone in your room, come hear the music play, life is a cabaret, old chum, come to the cabaret.”
“What a fabulous evening of song! The energy level was high and the numbers flowed seamlessly one to another. I especially enjoyed seeing Kristin and her mom sing together. So great to be back to live theatre, and I appreciate the precautions you’re taking to make everyone feel safe.”
Photo by Sean Carter
“The show was yet another reminder of all the fabulous talent we have in our area. Great Performances, wonderful show.”
“Delightful show! Heartfelt and accomplished singers. Enjoyed every song.”
Tune in Thursday, November 4th for a brand new Legal Marketing Coffee Talk featuring host, Roy Sexton, and his guest, Gail Lamarche, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A.
The incomparable, effervescent Gail Lamarche was one of Roy’s very first “LMA fairy godsisters,” adopting him when he was new to the Legal Marketing Association ten years ago. Their close friendship, love of laughter, and keen interest in the power of digital and social marketing will fuel what is sure to be a wide-ranging chat. Gail is Henderson Franklin’s Director of Marketing and Business Development. Over her 14 year career with the firm, she’s helped them see the value of social media. Gail is a guest blogger and speaks to various groups on the use of social media in professional services. Oh, and her signature gifts are the artistically edible Norman Love Confections … if you’re a good kid, maybe she’ll send you some!
Prior to joining Henderson Franklin, Gail worked in the marketing department of Devine, Millimet & Branch, P.A., a prominent New England regional law firm. Gail previously served on LMA’s Social Media Shared Interest Group Leadership Committee, and has presented at three of its national conferences. For over a decade, she also served as a member of the Southwest Florida Seminole Booster Club. Board of Directors. Blending her two passions, she has served on the Red Sox Celebrity Golf Classic Committee for over a decade, raising funds for the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.
Legal Marketing Coffee Talk is brought to you by: By Aries and Kates Media.
We had a wonderful opening weekend for Sing Happy! at Theatre Nova. My father’s *objective* review: “5 GIANT STARS!!!!! Not only are the voices terrific/ the song choices perfect/the pacing excellent/the entire cast is gorgeous❤️ If you miss this show you’ve missed the best Ann Arbor has to offer. Okay, I’m Roy’s dad but you do know parents can be real hard-sses😎on their kids.”
SING HAPPY! music by John Kander and Fred Ebb with musical arrangements by R. MacKenzie Lewis, a Theatre NOVA Fundraiser
A fundraiser for Theatre NOVA and presented in concert, Sing Happy! is a celebration of the work of Broadway’s famous duo, Kander and Ebb. An ensemble of singers will take the stage with showstoppers from “Cabaret,” “Chicago,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and many others while weaving a tale of strength and determination. Directed by Diane Hill, Music Direction by R. MacKenzie Lewis, Sing Happy! features Justin Scott Bays, Kristin Clark, John DeMerell, K Edmonds (The Revolutionists, The Devil’s Music), Diane Hill (The Lifespan of a Fact, A New Brain, Follies in Concert, Admissions, The How and the Why, The Stone Witch, The Totalitarians, and The Revolutionists), Elizabeth Jaffe (The Elves and the Schumachers), and Roy Sexton (Follies in Concert). LIMITED ENGAGEMENT
ONCE I got my internet (sort of) squared away, Rob Kates and I had a delightful chat with Legal Marketing Association – LMA International Executive Director Danielle Holland. There may be show-tunes.
We DEFINITELY discussed opportunities and challenges of leading in a crisis, the magic that is the LMA community, the power of building a great team, DEI, only child super powers, going to kindergarten in penny loafers, telephoto lenses, “sweep buses,” horse shows, marathons, Chicago fashion, cheerleading, gratitude, statement necklaces, and #LMA21 annual conference in two weeks.
Shout outs abound including Kelly MacKinnon, Jill Mason Huse, Brenda Plowman, Andrew Laver, Jaime Lira, Jessica Aries, Amy Payton Verhulst, Dianne Rychlewski, Cynthia Voth, Jay Majitov, Kelly Bache, Ashley Stenger, Gia Altreche, Gina Furia Rubel, “Sing Happy,” Theatre Nova, Diane Hill, Hudson, BarkBox, Adopt A Pet of Fenton, Michigan, and more. Enjoy!
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!
LMCT is back this week coming to you live on Wednesday with host Roy Sexton (ME!) and Megan McKeon, Director of Business Development at Clark Hill Law. Megan is Roy’s colleague (LMCT’s 1st co-coworker interview), and she is the immediate past president of the Legal Marketing Association’s Midwest Region.
Megan is a licensed attorney, has nearly two decades of experience in law firm marketing and administration, and she leads the strategic development and implementation of new business and client initiatives among the firm’s experienced business developers.
Megan and Roy’s long-time friendship and experience presenting together at LMA conferences make for a great working relationship and will deliver a candid, free-wheeling, and fun LMCT discussion of trends in the industry, the opportunities and challenges the pandemic presented, and hopes for the future of legal marketing.
Tune in this Wednesday, August 4th, at 3:00 PM ET on …
On today’s episode, we chat with the divine Roy Schwartz about his book Is Superman Circumcised?from McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers and the Jewish context for comic book icon Superman. Schwartz is an accomplished legal marketing professional, and he details how his appreciation of storytelling, graphics, character, and effective narrative have enabled him to help lawyers discover their business development super powers.
We *may* also talk (a lot) about comic books.
Rob Kates and I also chat with my mom Susie Sexton about fleas, the Olympics, and the joys of marriage. Other topics addressed in today’s show, in no particular order: Britney Spears, Bill Cosby, Jack Kirby, Stephen Colbert, cosplay, pool toys, Richard Donner, Christopher Reeve, Superman and Lois, writing, Halloween costumes, Schneider, and heaven knows what else.
Shout outs include Richard Pinto, Scott Neitlich, Merry Neitlich, Andrew Laver, Jessica Aries (happy birthday!), Kimberly Schwartz, and more!
Legal Marketing Coffee Talk is back this Thursday, and Roy Schwartz, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Vishnick McGovern Milizio LLP, will be our guest, hosted by Roy Sexton (ME!).
Roy Schwartz handles his firm’s marketing and business development strategy and operations, including market positioning and growth, lead generation, and practice building, and he is an accomplished author and culture critic, recently publishing Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero with McFarland & Company.
So, we’ll have two comic-book-loving “Roys” on the show, and they’ll discuss the intersection of a career in legal marketing, a passion for writing and cultural analysis, and an obsession with superheroes.
Legal Marketing Coffee Talk is brought to you by: Jessica Aries’ By Aries and Rob Kates’ Kates Media: Video Production. Thank you, as always, to Katelynn McGuire for the promotional support!
Reel Roy Reviews 