Many years ago when I was the Construction Law Practice Group Leader at my firm, we had a practice group retreat at a ranch about an hour from Dallas. After dinner, one of my junior partners, who had been drinking a great deal, paid me what he believed would be the ultimate insult.

He said:

Have I ever told you I hated going to events and conferences? I only went if I was speaking, and I always tried to arrange my presentation so it was before the cocktail party.

Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t. I remember when I was asked to speak at a Maryland Bar Association Annual Meeting

A lawyer I coach recently asked:

I have a quick question for you: do you have any blog posts or other guidance on a suggested method for reaching out to people who are contacts of colleagues, but not very close (the kind they met at a conference once), to try to get a meeting or

A lawyer I am coaching sent me an email about an event she would be attending.

I’ve some exciting news. I’m planning to attend the AAA Asssociation Annual Meeting in a couple of weeks. A current client of the firm is also attending the event and has offered to introduce me around to her contacts.