Shhh!! Keep your voice down. You’ll need to stay very quiet as we zoom-in on a watering hole for close-ups of the struggle for survival. This month, we hope to spy big game, deep in the steaming jungle of streaming media in the legal community. Thanks for tuning in again as we explore law-related “webcasts” — audio/video over the World Wide Web. If we’re patient — and stand very still — we may catch sight of a behemoth taking the plunge. But first ...
THIS JUST IN
Most video made available on the Internet in the early days of streaming was, shall we say, not pretty. Cameras in the hands of techies and the ubiquity of talking heads, combined with the need to encode for slow dial-up modems (reducing the screen to small and grainy), was a formula that reliably yielded webcasts that were not just ugly, but dreary, too.
Two such examples were recently retired from the website of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. The two videos, complete with blue screen and fuzzy talking heads, consisted of un-edited podium footage on “Venture Capital Investing In The Post Boom Market” and the “Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).”
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe also cleaned house recently, removing a one-minute downloadable welcome message from Chairman Ralph Baxter.
Out with the old, in with the new?
WHAT’S ON TONIGHT?
Returning to our live coverage in the heart of the jungle, impressive recent improvements draw our attention once again to Morrison & Foerster, whose streaming audio interview series we visited several months back (Mofo Talk Radio, 6-03 Bridge). The firm has recently unveiled a robust new offering of a dozen webcasts, including two short attorney recruitment videos and a collection of audio+slides seminars.
“Chairman Interview”
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button]](aw_images/playbttn.gif)
http://www.mofo.com/career/overview.cfm
(Click the photo at upper right.)
In a 6-minute RealPlayer close-up, Chair Keith Wetmore discusses the firm’s culture and future, stressing: A+ aspirations, collaborative structure, openness and civility within the firm, level communication and unified billing.
“Minority Recruiting”
http://www.mofo.com/career/diversity.cfm
(Click the photo at upper right.)
Partner Arturo Gonzalez, delivers a short, sincere interview about diversity and his experience of the firm. (RealPlayer, 3:47)
These two recruitment videos are both nicely filmed, and offer genuine insights into the culture of the firm. The use of video (versus audio + slides) helps create a connection with the speaker and maximizes the emotional content.
“MoFo Seminars”
http://www.mofo.com
(Click ‘Webinars’ at the bottom right of any page.)
This timely and informative archive includes a dozen audio webcasts (recorded live) that range in length from one to five hours. No video here; these are audio + slides webcasts using the Veracast webcasting service. Veracast offers some good features: very legible, graphically appealing slides; an index which allows jumping between subtopics; and the ability to skip at will forward or backward between slides. A media player is required; each webcast may be played with Realplayer or Windows Media Player.
Three webcasts offer MCLE Workshops for 1-hour credit each:
- Prevention, Detection, and Treatment of Substance Abuse
- Legal Ethics for In-House Counsel
- Elimination of Bias
The other webcasts in the MoFo Seminars archive include:
- 2004 Recent Developments in California Labor & Employment Law
- Internal Investigations: What Every In-House Lawyer Needs to Know
- CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 - Congress Puts State Anti-Spam Laws Back in the Can
- MoFo Annual Securities Enforcement Seminar
- Sarbanes Oxley Seminar
- Protecting Directors: Responding to the Upheaval in D&O Insurance
- Restricted Stock Plans: The Changing World of Equity Compensation
- Doing Business in China-Structuring Investments and Protecting Your Intellectual Property
- Doing Business With Japan
I was impressed to note that, besides English, the website (but not the webcast series) is available in Chinese, Hebrew, and Japanese.
BENEFITS
Amanda Duckworth, Chief Marketing Officer, just 8 months on the job, has spear-headed a dramatic boost in the firm’s use of webcasting. “I bring some of this from my previous position, head of marketing at an investment bank. We found [webcasts] to be enormously useful. The application of the technology may be somewhat new, but let’s not overstate the case. In many ways, they are an extension of the old conference call which people have been using for decades as a way of gathering people to deliver information. The benefit, of course, is that they add a new dimension over the conference call, which is the ability to simultaneously present slides ... and also [in video webcasts] the talking head — you can actually see the presenter. You get the visual, with the audio, and the real benefit being the slide material, the actual content, which may be presented graphically. And we can archive them, so that if people can’t attend an event of ours because it conflicts with their schedule, they can work it into their very own schedule.”
“We are doing [seminar webcasts] first and foremost to get greater leverage out of the events that we sponsor.” Asked if the new effort was her brainchild , she replies modesty “Yes, but I don’t think I should get too much credit for it. I think it’s really a pretty standard operating procedure these days for most professional service firms.... I had utilized the technology for years over at my former employer (and, frankly, at my employer before that) and so it was an obvious thing that we needed to be doing here.”
REACHING OUT TO EXTEND CONVENIENCE
When asked about goals, Ms. Duckworth talks about webcasts as an outreach mechanism. “It’s really to extend the reach of events that we’re doing. There’s an enormous amount of time and money put into each of our events. And if you consider that, on average, you can get anywhere between 75 and 150 people to show up at these events, if you can double or triple it because you give people the opportunity to participate at their convenience as opposed to yours, then you’re getting much greater leverage of your marketing dollars.... It is often easier for people to participate from the convenience of their desk than actually having to leave the office and go somewhere.”
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Ms. Duckworth explains that “One of the key planks of our marketing effort here, is ‘thought leadership’. The firm needs to be seen by key decision-makers as expert in the various practice groups this firm has strength in. And one way of achieving that is to speak out early on emerging legislation, trends, case matters, etc. And so, seminars, speaking engagements, and direct mail pieces all execute against this over-arching strategy — and webcasting simply provides a new distribution channel.”
QUICK RESPONSE
The firm’s ability to webcast puts them in a posture to respond quickly to breaking news. “We did a webcast very early in January around the new CAN-SPAM law. There was a huge need to know among our clients, and frankly probably even some prospects, and we were able to do this very contemporaneously around the passage of the law. It would probably have been impossible to stage a seminar with that kind of turnaround time. And we were able to get over 400 people to participate in the live webcast. Again, I think it speaks volumes about the convenience issue and, in this particular instance, the sheer impracticality of being able to schedule a physical event. Now, could we have done it by conference call — yes, but you wouldn’t have had the added benefit of the slides. And, in fact, it becomes interesting because at a certain size the cost basis of doing a conference call becomes more expensive than doing a webcast.”
FEEDBACK
The numbers tell the tale: The convenience of webcasting can double or triple the audience. Ms. Duckworth adds, “On the CAN-SPAM law webcast, the partners got some pretty amazing emails saying this was terrific, thumbs up ... the event was incredibly informative and timely.”
How is MoFo measuring success? The webcast service provides details on who participates and how long they listen. “And we get anecdotal feedback from clients. At some point if we felt a need, we might go out and actually do some direct response surveys.... But for the time being, I think, the feedback is sufficient to know that there is a market for it.”
IN-HOUSE TRAINING
Does MoFo use webcasts in-house? “They can be of enormous use for ongoing education purposes and sharing of practice group information, but there is another less expensive alternative for big law firms: Video conferencing is probably more economical, simply because we already have that equipment.”
LIVE VS. CANNED WEBCASTS
The MoFo offerings demonstrate both types of webcast — live and “on-demand” (pre-recorded). Audio for the seminar coverage is recorded live (unedited with occasional flubs, as you might expect) and then made available from their website. The two recruiting video webcasts, on the other hand, are short polished pieces edited to concentrate the information and emotional content.
Ms. Duckworth says “Both seek to communicate messages about the firm, but obviously different types of messages. In the case of Keith’s [Chairman Interview] and Arturo’s [Minority Recruiting interview], it’s a very direct message about diversity and culture at MoFo. It’s a little more indirect with the seminar type of webcast, because really we’re presenting information about a wholly unrelated subject to Morrison & Foerster, but indirectly trying to showcase the firm’s smarts and intelligence and insights on emerging issues. Both have a role.”
ADVICE TO OTHER LAW FIRMS
“We need to learn better how to merchandise. Making [a webcast] available in and of itself is not enough. You’ve got to tell people it’s available. And maybe tell them more than once.”
THE FUTURE
“We anticipate doing webcasting as a standard feature of our seminars on a go-forward basis. And capitalizing on very timely news ... webcasting gives you the ability to capsulize and communicate timely information. We’ll be looking for more opportunities like that.”
Too many webcasts, not enough time.
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