Doing a Raindance: The Legal Sales and Service Organization Conference 2010

If you’re responsible for business development in your law firm or your own practice, whether a lawyer, managing partner, marketing or business development professional, attending the Raindance Conference should be on your to do list, in my opinion.

What is Raindance? It is an annual educational conference presented by the Legal Sales and Service Organization. It is exclusively dedicated to all things business development and process improvement. I attended the LSSO Raindance Conference for the first time in 2008 and believe that it was probably two of the most valuable days in my professional development over the course of 15 years in the legal marketing industry. This year I’ll be attending the conference and will cover the content here on VMO and on Twitter.  (Disclosure: LSSO has graciously given me press pass privileges to attend. I’m not being paid. I’m covering all travel expenses.)

Here are the top five reasons why Raindance was valuable to me and may be valuable to you:

  1. FOCUSED–Raindance does not serve a broad group with many agendas. It is a focused immersion into the components that make business developers and business development projects successful. The sessions are designed to build upon each other leaving you with a cohesive knowledge base.
  2. EDUCATION–Raindance is not about parties. It is not a boondoggle. It’s about the business of professional development and business education.  Every session is a priority. The presenters are selected according to their distinct and valuable knowledge base. The presenters know why they were there–to teach, not just “share.” Many of the sessions are interactive and make learning more tangible. (I was able to remember what I was learning in a practical context and apply it to my business with specificity.) All sessions were high quality. The presenters are typically readily available after the sessions and during the luncheons and breaks. It is a holistic educational experience.
  3. PEOPLE–Networking at Raindance is very manageable because the intimacy of a smaller setting puts you among people with similar professional development goals. It’s a good example of old fashioned community. Getting face time with colleagues as well as introductions to new people allow you to form meaningful new relationships that become valuable resources. Conversations are about what your are learning.  The connections you make at Raindance will stay with you all year long.
  4. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT–This is a sophisticated group of thought leaders; typically senior level people with responsibility for delivering real results in biz dev. Both attendees and presenters are the kind of people you want to surround yourself with if you’re seeking serious professional development. The conference may be especially valuable for professionals, both marketers and lawyers, who are new or junior to law firm biz dev. I wish I would have had this resource as I was coming up the ranks.

If you do decided to attend, make sure to touch base with me! If you can’t attend, follow along here on the VMO and Twitter #LSSO10 or @legalsalesorg. The conference is June 9-10 in Chicago at the Mid-America Club at 200 E. Randolph Street. More information can be found on the Website at www.legalsales.org or you can register at West Legal Ed.

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2 Comments

  1. says: Raja

    Thank you very much Jayne for the informative post. I am considering to attend it this year. If you are there it would be great to greet and catch up.

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