SMORS--Smart Marketing on Limited Resources.

• Author: Downey, Marguerite G.
• Position: Your Recipe for Success - Conference notes

In an effort to better support its members, the legal marketing association conducted a pre-conference workshop to specifically help firms working on a shoestring budget. On March 14, 2012, "A Recipe for ... SMORS--Smart Marketing On Limited Resources" offered professionals a rare opportunity to rethink their firm's financial allocation for business development. The goal of this new pre-conference program was to offer solutions for the legal marketer who has a small team.

Prior to the conference, American Conference Institute (ACI) surveyed the registered attendees so presentations could be designed to answer their specific needs (see Pre-Conference SMORS Survey Results sidebar on page 12 for details). With more than 70 percent responding to the survey, co-chairs Emily Krause, director of marketing for Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen P.C., and Tom Helm, business development director of Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers LLP, offered a list of ingredients that each speaker incorporated into their presentation (see SMORS Recipe sidebar).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

These SMORS sessions offered best practices, hands-on case studies and personal experiences that could be applied immediately upon your return to the office. The presenters spoke directly to the needs and interests of the attendees. The fundamental factor of the pre-conference program's success was that "SMORS packed a lot of goodness into a compact space, not unlike the delicious campfire treat," said Kristin Keen, director of marketing/business development at Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald LLP.

Ingredients for SMORS

Key takeaways from the more than eight hours of compelling programming included:

1. "Managing your Staff and the Workload--Inside Secrets to Getting it All Done," with Kathryn Whitaker, marketing director of Brooks Pierce and Dawn Gertz, chief marketing officer of Davis & Gilbert LLP

   During this session we learned about the best practices for prioritizing and managing multiple project timelines. Whitaker shared my personal favorite SMORS takeaway: Focus on your strengths and what you have to offer. Don't waste time thinking about what you lack.

2. "Leveraging Technology & Service Provider Relationships: Practical Tips for Maximizing Productivity and Profit within Smaller Marketing Teams," with Jill Clark Rako, CFMP, marketing and communications manager of Bricker & Eckler LLP, and Megan M. McKeon, senior marketing manager of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

   We uncovered specific case...