GoodwinConnect: a cross-department approach to corporate social networking and alumni programming.

• Author: Westfahl, Scott

Today's Web technologies can significantly improve a law firm's ability to build relationships and enhance its brand, business development and recruitment efforts. Social media is redefining how businesses and professionals distinguish themselves. Its effects are evident in nearly every industry--influencing both business strategies as well as how professionals develop and maintain relationships. In 2006, Goodwin Procter launched its LMA award-winning alumni website to strengthen its community and to accomplish several key business goals.

The Vision: Connectivity and the People

In 2005, Goodwin Procter's leadership committed to supporting the firm's alumni network with new technology. The vision was simple: Build a social networking solution that would increase connectivity and provide unique professional development and business opportunities for the firm's attorneys and alumni. Fundamentally, firm leaders knew that the firm's alumni remained very loyal and would enthusiastically welcome a technology platform to connect with each other and the firm.

Interestingly, the concept of building a stronger alumni network was not driven by the possibility of new business. Rather, there was a heartfelt sense that connecting the broader Goodwin community was intrinsically valuable because of the community's deep personal and professional relationships. It was all about the people--business would follow. To emphasize the value of this approach, project advocates relied upon exit survey data, showing that for nearly 90 percent of the firm's departing attorneys, "the people" were what they had most enjoyed at Goodwin Procter.

The Team: Cross-departmental with Diverse Goals and Perspectives

Because it was all about the people, the firm's attorney professional development leaders drove the effort to build Goodwin Procter's alumni website. They tied the effort directly to the project's primary goals: creating opportunities and enhancing the professional networks of Goodwin attorneys and alumni. In part, team leaders were inspired by the success of other professional service firms, such as McKinsey & Company, that had long leveraged technology to support their robust alumni networks.

Project leaders quickly realized that they needed to build a team of talented people from several administrative departments, especially marketing. As the team assembled, project priorities for each department were considered and integrated into overall goals. From the...