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"I work at ALM. We are..."
I returned on Friday from LegalTech West Coast, another successful event with happy exhibitors and enthusiastic attendees. Henry Dicker and his team did their usual great job (thanks!). And I got to meet an interesting group of advertisers and other ALM partners/potential partners with whom we can work in the future.
While in Los Angeles, I also visited the legal search recruiters who were having their annual NALSC conference at the same time as LegalTech. They were a pretty upbeat group considering how badly the economy has treated that industry during the past 18 months. Quite a few spoke optimistically about the future, with some claiming to have a number of searches underway now. Here's hoping that optimism translates into new business for ALM, where the recuiter advertising category has been, shall we say, a little anemic since 2007.
I used the flight back to catch up on my reading, including this blog post from Social Media B2B which asked, "What is your B2B company all about?".
http://socialmediab2b.com/2010/06/b2b-company-description-keywords/
It got me thinking about how we describe ourselves and the work we do -- and whether we need to evolve those descriptions as the company and its business focus changes.
So here's my question. When you are at a party or are introduced to a stranger, and the time comes for you to describe your work and where you do it, what do you say? How do you describe ALM to those unfamiliar with us -- do you say we are a newspaper and magazine company (which makes us sound print-focused)? Do you say we are publishers (which makes us sound old-fashioned)? Do you talk about our digital media offerings and our events? Or do you focus on the markets we serve -- legal and real estate -- and our position as a leading provider of research and information about those markets?
Or have you found a much cleverer way to describe who we are when asked by someone you have just met?
I'd love to know what you say when asked -- without the PR jargon. Put your answers into the comment area below. "I work at ALM. We are..."
Comments
When I meet people who aren't in the legal sector and are probably not readers of our products, I usually say I'm a reporter at the New York Law Journal, a trade newspaper focused on courts and lawyers. In that context, I sometimes do not mention ALM, since I am just talking about my paper. But when I do, I usually refer to ALM as the owner of several legal news publications.
Posted by: Nate Raymond | June 28, 2010 11:53 PM
I work for ALM, a media company serving the legal industry. Specifically, I help leading law firms connect with buyers through our print, online and in-person news and information channels.
Posted by: Jennifer Jones | June 29, 2010 9:20 PM
I work for ALM. It's a legal media company. Newspapers, books, websites -- basically any type of literature, event or course that a lawyer needs, we have.
(I actually use this since most people I talk to about my job haven't heard about ALM.)
Posted by: Joseff Betancourt | June 29, 2010 10:27 PM
I normally say I work for the New York Law Journal. I think people know the individual papers (NYLJ, National Law Journal, TAL) as oppose to ALM. ALM only comes up when I am giving out my email address, in which case I simply say alm as in america legal media to make sure people understand the email address.
Posted by: Noeleen Walder | July 1, 2010 12:39 AM