The final day of TECHSHOW was a half-day schedule. Although it would have been fun to attend the sessions covering iPads and apps, I opted to attend some practical, business related classes.
The presenters must have known that it was going to be a tough draw competing against the Apple love fest as the title of the first seminar was “Finance Ain’t Sexy, But It’s Darn Sure Necessary.” One of the more interesting tips I learned in this first session was the use of Professional Employer Organizations in meeting the human resource needs of a small law firm.
The second session offered “30 Time, Billing and Accounting Tips and Tricks.” Several of the tips dealt with making it easy to get paid by using Square for the iPhone or new apps being developed that allow for text message approval of payment. Another tip was to consider assessing an administrative fee upon opening a file to cover copies, postage, faxes, etc. rather that billing these out over the course of the case.
Finally it was time for the most popular session of TECHSHOW, “60 Sites in 60 Minutes.” Some of the sites mentioned include: Shoeboxed (business receipt tracker), Hipmunk (travel site), Attorney at Work (practice tips), Pamela for Skype (record Skype calls), Scr.im (create links for email address to keep private), and Topicmarks (summarize text documents). A complete list will be available on the ABA Techshow website.
After the conference ended, I had some time to kill before boarding a plane for home. I grabbed my luggage, hailed a cab and headed over to U.S. Cellular Field to watch the Chicago White Sox take on the Oakland A’s. I arrived at the ballpark and found a place to check my big, flowery suitcase during the game and bought a ticket behind home plate. I had to leave during the seventh inning stretch to catch a ride to the airport and ended up watching the White Sox lose in extra innings from the bar in the airport.
I finally arrived home to a very-glad-to-see-me Hot Mama and three sleeping kids. I tried to wake the girls but they were too out of it to notice my return. They were excited to see me the next morning as I helped them get ready and drove them to school. Back to reality.
