Building on our success.

• Author: Corcoran, Timothy B.
• Position: LEADERS

I'll start my first column as your president by saying how honored I am to serve you. I've been a member of LMA since 1996, and I've never been more proud of our association of professional legal marketers than I am today. We've come a long way, but so much opportunity lies ahead.

In 2013, LMA had the highest-ever attendance at the annual conference and our membership grew by 11.5 percent to nearly 3,600 members, reflecting both our market's emergence from economic turmoil and an increased appreciation for the value LMA provides to its members. We also saw the addition of a new special interest group (SIG) and LMA conference dedicated to pricing, project management and practice development. Regional conference attendance and member engagement were also largely improved, based on my personal observations around the country. But we must do more.

In my new role as your president, I've already encountered a recurring conversation, namely whether LMA is specifically delivering sufficient value to . The challenge is simple. Whether one is a webmaster, PR expert, data steward, CMO, small firm marketer, pricing analyst or one of many other categories, it appears that LMA meets some, but not all, of your educational programming and networking requirements. A few members have proclaimed to me that because there are "only a few" sessions devoted to their particular area of specialty, they won't be attending the annual conference. My first reaction: Why is this a surprise? My second reaction: Then let's do something about it!

LMA serves more than 3,000 members across a wide spectrum of disciplines. This cross-functional approach has served the profession and the association well for...