February 3, 2010

Neal Awards Finalists Announced

This morning American Business Media announced the finalists in its annual Neal Awards competition, which recognizes the best in business journalism.  Our publications garnered 12 finalists from 6 of our publications, a terrific showing.  As Aric Press noted this morning, what makes our 12 finalists noteworthy is that they are spread among six ALM titles and across our print and online platforms.  "Even in a difficult year, or perhaps especially in a difficult year, it's heartening to see recognition of the excellent work that's done daily, weekly and monthly in our newsrooms". Neal Awards finalists can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/ygvy7oy Winners will be announced at an awards luncheon in New York on March 11th.  Congratulations to all of our finalists!  ...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 2:18 AM | | Comments (0)

February 2, 2010

LegalTech New York 2010

I realized today that this year I am attending my 12th LegalTech New York.  And while I really can't remember them all, this one does seem to have a special buzz about it.  The crowd has been huge and loud, just like always. And the exhibitors have pulled out the usual bells and whistles to try and catch the attention of those strolling the packed aisles, looking for the newest, latest and greatest in legal technology.  But there are also differences.  For instance, I see some exhibitors have gone back to hiring models to wear eye-catching outfits -- a couple were dressed as nurses, others as angels.  That's a good sign -- shows that those companies are willing to spend extra out...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 8:24 AM | | Comments (0)

January 26, 2010

How We Are Using Social Media

It's time to move to the next step in how we use social media at ALM.  Many of us have been experimenting, building Facebook fan pages for our publications, setting up LinkedIn Groups for our conferences and other products, and using Twitter to build traffic to our websites.  All good.  But not good enough. My concern is that we are still largely missing the point of what these social media platforms really offer us -- the chance for our readers and customers to build individual relationships with ALM staff members and one another, around subject areas where we can help guide and moderate.  Social media is not just another platform to spew out headlines and promote our goods and services, important though...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 6:52 PM | | Comments (1)

Digital Magazine Vision

Paul Braverman of The American Lawyer forwarded this video view of what it might be like to design and read a magazine on a new digital device.  I think it's worth a look at one vision of what our magazine future might be. http://www.bonnier.com/en/content/digital-magazines-bonnier-mag-prototype...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 6:48 PM | | Comments (0)

January 13, 2010

The Wonderful World of Apps

Yesterday I sat in a meeting with some of our editors and digital publishing pros where we discussed apps -- for the iPhone, the Droid and the Blackberry.  As many of you know, apps are now all the rage as a way to put content of various sorts into the hands of those with smartphones.  The widest array seem to be designed for the iPhone which has many, many thousands available through its store.  But it looks like the other platforms are committed to catching up. We agreed to quickly create some newswire-type apps for The Blog of Legal Times, law.com and the Amlaw Daily.  Frankly, I don't think we will make any money on those.  At best, we'll drive...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 9:51 PM | | Comments (2)

January 7, 2010

United Breaks Guitars

It used to be that customer service snafus were a private matter between the parties involved.  They either worked out the problem or they didn't.  But if the customer felt unhappy with the process, the best they could do was to vent to a few friends.  And, short of filing a lawsuit, that would be the end of it. Not anymore.  Living as we do in a Social Media world, it becomes much easier to vent to a larger audience.  I know this from first-hand experience.  As those of you who follow me on Twitter may have seen, I recently lost two suitcases when returning home from vacation.  By posting my frustration with the American Airlines baggage handling system (don't get me...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 8:23 PM | | Comments (4)

January 4, 2010

Welcome Back

I just emailed this note to the staff, but thought I would post it here as well.  Feel free to post comments or questions below.   Welcome back.  I hope you had an enjoyable break for the holidays and took the time to celebrate with your family and friends. As we begin the New Year, I thought a few words about what 2010 looks like from my desk and how we'll proceed would be in order.  It has been, as you know, a challenging 15 months at ALM and in the media industry since the downfall of Lehman Brothers and the downturn in both the general economy and, particularly, the markets we serve.  Nonetheless, through a great deal of sacrifice...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 11:07 PM | | Comments (0)

December 23, 2009

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone at ALM a joyful Holiday Season and very Happy and Healthy New Year!  May you have time to spend with family and friends, to read a good book and relax, and reflect on all that is good in your lives.  Best Wishes to All,   Bill...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 10:09 PM | | Comments (1)

It's Not Information Overload, It's Filter Failure

Clay Shirkey is a columnist, consultant, an adjunct professor at NYU, and a frequent commentator about the social and economic impact of the internet.  Whether you agree with him or not, he always seems to be one step ahead of most of the rest of us when it comes to understanding how new technology will change our lives.  I recently came across a talk he gave at the Web 2.0 Expo in NY about the problem of too much information and how we manage it.  His belief:  that there has always been more information out there than we can manage, that it's not a new problem.  The issue is only how we deal with it, and whether we have the right...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 12:53 AM | | Comments (0)

December 15, 2009

Meaningful Quotes Contest -- Results!

Last month the Marketing Department launched a contest for meaningful quotes that could be painted on some of the blank walls at our 120 Broadway office.  I know you've been waiting to hear the results -- and they have finally arrived.  The winners of a $100 gift card are: Wall: ALM Legal Intelligence  "The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual." -- Vince Lombardi Submitted by: KEVIN IREDELL   Wall: Events "A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all." - Michael LeBoeuf Submitted by: NATALIE WOOD   Wall: Finance "Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts." Edward R. Murrow Submitted by: IAN RITTER   Wall: Real Estate "Excellence is not a...

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Posted by Bill Pollak at 11:49 PM | | Comments (0)

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