I didn’t do a lot of posting to my blog in 2016, so I thought I’d do a 2016 wrap-up post to point you to the writing and other work I published in other places.

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I met a good friend this morning for coffee/tea (I’m a tea person or, some might say, I tea fanatic). I mentioned that 2016 was a year where I felt that I hadn’t done a lot of writing, even though I knew that I probably had, because I hadn’t done much blogging. I decided that, rather than focus on what I hadn’t done, I should give myself credit for what I had accomplished. I suggest that you consider doing the same.

What surprised me was how much it all added up to, even though it’s scattered all over the place. There’s a lot that I think is especially good, so let me point you to it.

Articles

My favorite article of 2016 was an article called “Six Ways to Jump Start Your LinkedIn Network” that I co-wrote with Allison Shields. We published as an experiment in two parts on LinkedIn and then as a single article on Law Technology Today.

My most recent article is a TechReport that summarizes the results of the ABA’s annual technology survey. My article focuses on cloud computing.

I was also involved in writing a great series of monthly “roundtable” articles on technology topics on Law Technology Today. They are now conveniently collected here.

It was a low-key year for my “Kennedy on Tech” column in the ABA Journal. Two articles – Use this simple exercise to solve the tech problems bugging you and Voice-responsive programs can assist–but not replace–human help. Older columns can be found simply by searching on my name on the ABA Journal site.

Gwynne Monahan and I recently co-authored an article on the probable impact of blockchain technology on the legal profession that will be published in January. It’s a unique perspective and I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction to it.

As I checked into what I had written, I also noticed a few things that I wrote in connection with presentations that I hadn’t gotten around to publishing. For example, there’s a substantial FAQ on LinkedIn profiles that Allison and I prepared for a webinar that we need to get published as an article.

Oh, and Tom Mighell and I busily at work on a new edition of our collaboration tools and technologies book.

Podcasts

Tom Mighell and I are inching closer to the 200th episode landmark of The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast on the Legal Talk Network. I consider the podcast as my primary creative outlet on legal technology topics these days. It certainly has my best ideas, insights and analysis, all made better by the interaction with Tom and Tom’s great perspectives. I understand that this episode was the most popular in 2016, but I will remember this year as being the one where Tom and I tried to cover the newest technologies – AI, bots, blockchain, internet of things, machine learning, Slack and more. New episodes every other week.

In other years, I’ve had the opportunity to be interviewed on other podcasts. 2016 was not a year when I had the chance to do that. I’d like to do some more of that in 2017.

Webinars

I got the chance to do a few webinars in 2016. The good news is that they are available for replay.

In October, wAllison Shields and I presented “Power Up Your LinkedIn Profile” for the ABA’s Legal Career Center The video replay is still available here for replay and it’s free. There’s also an extensive set of answers to questions we got during the presentation but didn’t have time to answer on the broadcast.

I also created a new general audience presentation this year called “Looking for Evidence in New Tech Places,” which focuses on what lawyers and other legal professionals need to know about new technologies and what evidence might arise in connection with new technologies. Even more important, it suggests what clients should expect from their lawyers. You might have seen the recent story about police trying to get ambient recordings from an Amazon Echo in a murder case – that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Info on that webinar can be found here.

Video and More Audio

I did some experimenting with video in 2016. With Adriana Linares, I co-hosted a new livestreaming show at the ABA TECHSHOW. That was a ton of fun and we have a lot of great guests. The episodes are available on the Legal Talk Network here.

I also sat in on some Legal Talk Network live recordings to interview guests at TECHSHOW.

I also got to share a lot of my best job hunting and career tips on a videocast with Franklin Graves as part of a series on “How I Graduated from Law School with a Job” that’s available on YouTube here. I really enjoyed doing that one.

Public Speaking

I took a breather from public (as opposed to private) speaking in 2016 as I explain in the next section. I recently spoke to a group at work and realized how much I’m missing doing regular public speaking. Consider me available in 2017.

Teaching

In fairness, a lot of my speaking time and energy went into a class on IP licensing and drafting I taught at Washington University Law School in the spring semester. I really enjoyed that. I had a great group of students, but it’s a ton of work. And it was the equivalent of about 3 hours of public speaking a week – probably the reason I took a break on other public speaking. I’m taking a break from teaching the class in 2017.

LTRC

I’m currently the chair of the board for the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center. We’re busily at work creating even more great content for that site as we work on trying to make it the premier resource on technology for the legal profession. Watch that space.

WRAPPING IT UP

Hey, that was a great exercise. I now feel like I had a very productive 2016. People used to refer to me as being a “prolific” author. I’m definitely not creating at the same pace that I once did, and I definitely prefer to work with one of my awesome writing partners when I do write for publication. That makes things easier and definitely improves the quality.

I was listening to a podcast recently where the discussion focused on how some people seem to be able to create a lot of great content. The word “prolific” might have even been used. One of the people on the podcast said that it all came down to time management – that people who create a lot of content are really good at time management, because it’s definitely not the case that they just have lots of spare time.

A light went on for me.

One of the last things that I consider myself really good at is time management, especially in what was an extraordinarily busy year for me. But the fact is that I must be.

So, this exercise had three great results.

  1. It helped me celebrate what I had accomplished rather than to dwell on what I perceived that I hadn’t accomplished.
  2. It helped me realized that I had under-appreciated time management skills.
  3. It produced a blog post that points you to a lot of great content that I sincerely hope that you will find useful.

Best wishes for 2017!

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (https://denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

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