This week’s post for IPRO’s blog discusses the planned in-person legal tech conferences not only next week, but in the next few months as well, and whether we may be jumping the gun going fully back to in-person conferences.

Next week is ILTACON 2021, which will return as a hybrid conference this year after being conducted completely virtually last year, like just about all conferences after mid-March 2020.  The conference will include an in-person component (at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas), as well as livestreaming of several of the sessions to a virtual audience.  As I discussed last week on eDiscovery Today, ILTA is taking plenty of precautions for the in-person portion of the conference next week, requiring vaccinations and masks, limiting in-person attendees to promote social distancing and making it a hybrid event (so that those who don’t want to travel can still attend).

Despite that, we have seen some recent announcements that some planned in-person attendees are pulling out, citing the rise in COVID-19 cases again due to the Delta variant.  But I’m still excited to attend, as I’m covering the event as press and am moderating the session Better Together? E-discovery with Teams and Other Collaboration Platforms next Thursday at 11am PT with a terrific panel (more about that here).  I’m not worried about the conference itself – it’s the rest of the Las Vegas environment that convinces me I need to be careful.

Still, recent trends may be putting several other conferences that were planning in-person events this year back in jeopardy – I’ve counted at least four major conferences over the next five months planned to be entirely or partially in-person (including one I’m slated to speak at in my hometown of Houston).  While it’s August 2021, it’s starting to feel to many like March 2020 all over again and some may feel we’re jumping the gun on getting back into in-person events.

So, what currently planned in-person conferences are coming up?  You can find out on IPRO’s blog here. 😉  It’s just one more click!

So, what do you think?  Do you think we’re jumping the gun on getting back into in-person events?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.