ILTACON starts in less than a week – this Sunday, August 11! So, here is Part 1 of your ILTACON 2024 preview for this year’s conference!
Earlier today, Dawn Hudgins, Senior VP Service Delivery, and Joy Heath Rush, CEO of ILTA, conducted a pre-conference press briefing with information for this year’s conference – and beyond. Here are some of the highlights that were provided by Dawn and Joy this morning as part 1 of your ILTACON 2024 preview:
- At this point, there are 3,906 formal attendees registered for ILTACON 2024, close to the record of just under 4,000 which occurred in 2019 (the last conference before the pandemic). So, this could be a record attendance year by next week.
- 1,749 of those are full-week member registrants, which is over 300 more than the record already.
- Registrants are coming from 29 countries, including an increased contingent from Asia and Africa, making the “I” in ILTACON more international than ever.
- There are 211 exhibitors this year, not counting Startup Hub participants. 55 of those are first-time exhibitors. By comparison, there were only 195 exhibitors in 2019.
- Speaking of Startup Hub, there will be 26 companies participating this year. While that is less than the 29 companies that participated last year, Dawn and Joy stated that’s because ILTA changed its requirements for participating this year to make it more restrictive and legal tech focused. 56 companies applied.
- 944 legal and tech professionals submitted an application to speak this year, WAY more than the 701 who submitted one last year. 336 of them were selected to speak in 84 educational grid sessions (including me!). In addition to the educational grid sessions, there are other sessions as well, including company updates, tech survey briefings, etc.
- ILTA expects 1,500 gallons of coffee to be served during next week’s conference!
ILTA will also include “click” buttons on badges again this year to enable you to track the people you meet and will have places “all over the property” to turn in just the “click” button without having to turn in the whole badge.
In light of the harassment issues at recent conferences, ILTA is also increasing emphasis on safety and security (which they’ve already done for the last seven years), including more signage, the fact that you’ll need a government ID to get your badge, requiring all attendees to acknowledge their anti-harassment policy, and an emergency hot line number (which also includes if you get lost in the massive Gaylord Opryland complex).
Speaking of the Gaylord Opryland, there’s actually a navigation guide app you can download to your phone to help you find your way around the massive complex. As Joy stated: “Trails of breadcrumbs are not practical for 4,000 people”.
True that. And better get used to it – including this year, ILTACON will be at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville in three of the next four years (next year’s return to the Gaylord National in National Harbor, MD being the lone exception).
As I mentioned last week when I released the word cloud for this year’s ILTACON, I’ll be covering the conference as press again this year and I’m excited to be a panelist in the session After the Gold Rush: Will AI Destroy the Profitability of eDiscovery? on Wednesday, August 14th at 2pm. I’ll be presenting along with David Stanton, Partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Chantelle Jalland, Managing Director at J.S. Held! Join us for some bold predictions on how AI will impact the eDiscovery market!
So, that’s Part 1 of your ILTACON 2024 preview! Tomorrow, I will highlight some key sessions to check out. Don’t miss it!
Important Note: Harassment, including sexual harassment, continues to be a problem at conferences, and in society in general. Here is a recent post I published regarding incidents that occurred at this year’s Legalweek conference that also has resources with more information (suggestions for additional resources welcome). Let’s make conferences and our workplaces safe for everyone.
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So, what do you think? Are you planning to attend ILTACON 2024? 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 authors and speakers themselves, 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.