At the end of ILTACON 2022, I reached out to many of the people I met with for their observations about the conference and covered some of them yesterday. Here are more crowdsourced ILTACON 2022 observations!

Again, I’m publishing more crowdsourced ILTACON 2022 observations in the order they provided them to me.

“ILTA truly is a peer-to-peer organization and ILTACON22 truly was peer powered as it said on the giveaway coffee mugs. The excitement about being back together was evident from the opening reception and it wasn’t just the party … people were genuinely excited to see their peers again and interested in how they were doing. Hands down, the best atmosphere at any conference I’ve attended from first day to the last.”

Tom O’Connor, Director, Gulf Coast Legal Technology Center

“I attended ILTACON 2022 from start to finish and was impressed at how well it recaptured its pre-COVID character, albeit with fewer educational sessions and greater focus on vendors.  Bolstered by lovely weather favoring the many social events (like DISCO’s fireworks show above the Potomac), it was just plain fun to be back.  Mirroring the national conversation, ILTACON 2022 upped the ante on social justice topics and emerging technologies (like AI and blockchain) still generating more heat than light.  Ediscovery dominated the show floor and branding opportunities, but was nowhere near the educational focus of ILTAs past.  The clear message to Big Law? Ediscovery is something you buy, not something you do.”

Craig Ball, ESI Special Master and professor of Electronic Evidence at the University of Texas School of Law

“It was great to see so many passionate folks from all disciplines come together again after 3 years and seemingly pick up where things left off.  The one common thread that seemed to come up in nearly all of my conversations was efficiency.  The WFH challenges we’ve all dealt with certainly underscored the importance of doing more with less and something I see continuing to strengthen in the years to come.”

Alex Chatzistamatis, CTO, Ligl

“Everyone was just so giddy to see each other face-to-face and exchange awkward hugs! (we still welcomed fist bumps) It’s the ILTA community at its best in vetting products and sharing knowledge. Always superb educational sessions over all the 18 conferences I’ve attended (I was a LawNet guy) although I thought it was light this year on the litigation support / e-discovery content – don’t know if that’s because it’s all commoditized and accessible by now, or maybe everyone’s just bored with the topic (I’m biased but education is still so essential, just ask Mr. Jones).”

Brett Burney, Principal at Burney Consultants LLC and eLaw Evangelist at Nextpoint

“The conference showed that the legal industry is ripe for innovation and there are a number of exciting organizations that are building technology to suit all parts of the corporate and law firm environment. While there’s no one-stop-shop for legal technology yet, technology has come a long way and is continuing to advance rapidly.”

Katie DeBord (VP of Product Strategy) and Kristin Zmrhal (VP of Product Strategy), DISCO

“ILTACon was back in full force this year.  The sessions were incredible and many workshops were offered. (Kudos to the conference committee and ILTA’s Denise Ash for putting together such a stellar line-up!)  The conference was sold out with approximately 3,000 attendees.  It was so great to see everyone in person!”

Julie K. Brown, Director of Practice Technology, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

“Although they said there were over 3000 people in attendance, the halls and exhibit area didn’t seem to be full. I did notice more technology providers focused on contract management and CRMs were exhibiting as well as a focus on AI throughout sessions and personal conversations. The keynote by Hon. Tanya R. Kennedy was by far my favorite session of ILTACON as she talked about DEI and how ‘I can show you better than I can tell you.’ This and the number of sessions on DEI were what most resonated with me throughout a week, a week that marked the 102nd anniversary of women’s suffrage movement and Women’s Equality Day.”

Maribel Rivera, VP at ACEDS and Marketing Consultant

“I serve on the communications committee for ILTA’s Partner Advisory Council (PAC) and a very helpful thing that exhibitors and sponsors can do is complete the post-conference survey that will hit inboxes and the business partner egroup on August 31st. Responses are anonymous but for those that wish, there is a spot where a person can voluntarily put their contact information. The survey results will be provided to ILTA staff and board members in order to help prepare for 2023.”

Amy Juers, CEO, Edge Marketing, Inc.

“During my whirlwind week at ILTACON22, three main themes stuck out: Camaraderie cannot be fully duplicated virtually, automation (for big and small tasks) may be overtaking AI as the latest buzzword, and everyone is still struggling with talent retention and hiring.”

Stephanie Clerkin, Director of Litigation Support at Korein Tillery

Thanks to all who gave me more crowdsourced ILTACON 2022 observations – you saved me writing two posts this week! 😀

So, what do you think? Do you wish you had more crowdsourced ILTACON 2022 observations? Me too! And please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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.