Kaleidoscope 2025: Short Sessions, Expert Panelists, And Lots To Talk About

As certainly one of my companions used to say, if I had extra time, I’d have written a shorter letter. That philosophy definitely appears on show as the primary  8am Kaleidoscope convention kicks off this week in Austin, Texas. If the previous is any indication, brief academic classes with professional panelists equals a tough hitting and dynamic convention.

For many who haven’t heard, 8am is the newly branded firm that encompasses the assorted authorized manufacturers of AffiniPay, which included LawPay, MyCase, Docketwise, Casepeer, and CPACharge.

I’ve handy it to 8am. Not many corporations would concurrently attempt to pull off a first-ever, state-of-the-art authorized tech convention and a rebranding on the similar time. 8am clearly loves a problem.

The Rebrand

Why the rebrand and a considerably cryptic identify, no less than on the floor? AffiniPay had clearly branched out into different companies past fee, so the identify change made some sense. A brand new identify that didn’t include a historic fee label gave readability to what the AffiniPay corporations have been really doing: offering all kinds of back-office instruments from consumption to billing to observe administration and extra. In order that half is sensible.

However the identify 8am? I’ve to say it had some folks scratching their heads. (To me, after I first heard it, I considered espresso.) As I perceive it, the identify was designed to replicate the concept most legal professionals and authorized professionals begin their day by engaged on all of the non-billable kinds of labor that needs to be executed to maintain the lights on. Therefore the identify 8am.

In fact, the primary response from many is WTF? However identify adjustments and rebranding are commonplace and this time subsequent yr, 8am will likely be a typical identify within the business to which nobody offers a second thought. Altering a reputation, rebranding, and choosing a reputation that has folks speaking isn’t all unhealthy.

It’s a far cry from altering what an organization stands for like Cracker Barrell lately tried to do. Or altering the product utterly like Coca-Cola did with new Coke, means again when. Come to think about it, the actual fact I considered espresso after I first heard the identify can also be not a nasty factor. Earlier than doing all of the again workplace non-billable stuff within the morning, most of us first seize a cup of espresso .

Having a reputation that precisely displays what you do and your focus allows you to higher compete. It reinforces to your workers what you’re about. You may not essentially have picked the identify on your firm however then once more, you aren’t 8am. Names matter. So, recover from it.

However let’s discuss concerning the convention.

Concerning the Convention

Greatest I can inform, 8am is patterning the convention a bit like its earlier stay webinars about which I wrote final March. The classes are all composed of a panel of consultants with a moderator armed with questions. What’s completely different concerning the format is that the questions should not tender balls. They’re designed to deliver out the experience of the panelists and, to some extent, incite debate and dialogue.

Questions like what are the downsides of sticking with an hourly billing mannequin? Or how can outdated pricing buildings restrict profitability, progress, or shopper satisfactions? Or will AI actually change how I observe legislation? Is AI extra more likely to develop entry to authorized service — or entrench two-tiered methods the place solely the wealthy get “human” legal professionals? Not straightforward questions. Not straightforward solutions.

Once more, finest I can inform, the panelists have been fastidiously chosen in order that they will discuss concerning the subject and reply to questions inside their space of experience. As 8am places it, the presentation will likely be “delivered in a novel professional and peer pushed surroundings.”

The Subjects

By means of disclosure, I’m on three panels. I’ve seen the questions and mentioned them with each the moderators and the opposite panelists so we’ll come locked and loaded. I can safely say the discussions gained’t simply be thought-provoking; they’re designed to chop via the noise on urgent points in authorized proper now.

So, what are the matters? I’m on one panel that may talk about rising points in authorized with my fellow contributors on the weekly LegalTech Week journalists’ roundtable. We don’t all the time see eye to eye, so it needs to be attention-grabbing. I’m additionally on a panel entitled “Adapting Your Billable Hour Mannequin” with Gabriela Cubeiro of 8am, the all the time attention-grabbing and insightful Kim Bennett, CEO and Co-Founding father of Fidu, and CPA Kelly Rohrs. Anytime you get a bunch like this collectively to debate how legal professionals invoice — or ought to invoice — for his or her companies, you’re going to get some attention-grabbing takes.

The ultimate panel I’m on is 30 use circumstances for AI in half-hour. That too needs to be a superb dialogue, not the least of which to see whether or not the moderator can maintain us three panelists to the time allotted.

Different equally fascinating discussions embrace administration and progress methods for solo and small companies, methods to use social media, the way forward for accounting, methods to flip invoices into income, moral consideration for the usage of chatbots, rising your group, mastering shopper communications, moral texting with purchasers (with the esteemed Mark Palmer), methods to keep away from the ten most expensive errors of companies, AI-enabled advertising (with ace marketer Gyi Tsakalakis), and rather more. I do know or know of many of the panelists and am assured that it’s going to be an attention-grabbing couple of days.

The Classes: Mercifully Quick

Additionally, in line with the earlier digital convention, the classes at Kaleidoscope 2025 are brief by authorized tech convention requirements. Apart from the Keynotes, one by Leslie Witt, 8am’s Chief Product Officer, and the opposite a dialog with Olympian Gabby Thomas, the classes are mercifully brief. Most are 30 to 45 minutes in size.

I say mercifully as a result of a shorter session makes the audio system actually deal with what’s essential and what’s not. What I mentioned concerning the stay webinar equally applies right here: an strategy the place audio system need to be concise and ship hard-hitting factors in a restricted interval is a refreshing change from the standard hour-long mundane and PowerPoint-heavy shows we usually see.

I’ve attended far more than my share of presentation the place the speaker introduction goes on for 10 or extra minutes, the speaker blabbers on and reads their wordy slides, and the viewers reads their emails. When a three-person panel solely has half-hour to make their factors, you higher hear, or you’ll miss it. And the panel higher be concise.

Thanks 8am

In a world of typically bloated authorized tech conferences, typically the most effective strategy is just exhibiting up at 8 a.m., able to work. (The convention kicks off at 8 a.m. with breakfast btw).