Attending
the
inaugural
Kaleidoscope
conference
in
Austin
last
week,
I
couldn’t
shake
a
strange
feeling:
I’d
been
here
before.
That
was
impossible,
of
course,
as
this
was
8am’s
very
first
customer
conference.
But
the
energy,
the
setup,
the
vibe
all
felt
uncannily
familiar.
It
was,
as
Yogi
Berra
might
have
said,
déjà
vu
all
over
again.
The
two-day
event
was
the
first-ever
customer
conference
put
on
by
the
company
8am.
If
you
have
no
idea
who
or
what
8am
is,
don’t
feel
out
of
the
loop.
The
name
is
barely
three
weeks
old
–
the
new
brand
identity
announced
Aug.
19
by
the
company
formerly
known
as
AffiniPay.
That
company
is
the
parent
of
a
group
of
products
related
to
payments
and
practice
management
for
lawyers
and
accountants.
They
include
the
payments
platform
LawPay,
the
practice
management
platform
MyCase,
the
personal
injury
platform
CasePeer,
and
the
immigration
lawyers
platform
DocketWise.
Further
reading:
At
Its
Inaugural
Kaleidoscope
Conference,
8am’s
CPO
Announces
AI
Tools,
Platform
Integration
and
More.
Time
for
An
8am
Conference
Producing
these
types
of
customer
conferences
is
becoming
increasingly
common
for
legal
tech
companies,
much
as
it
is
for
their
general
tech
counterparts,
and
so,
for
8am,
it
was
only
a
matter
of
time
(no
pun
intended)
before
it
staged
one
of
its
own.
The
second
day
keynote
featured
an
inspiring
and
entertaining
conversation
between
Olympic
sprinter
Gabby
Thomas
and
8am’s
chief
legal
officer
Catherine
Dawson.
Even
so,
to
both
go
through
a
major
rebrand
and
put
on
a
major
conference
within
the
span
of
two
weeks
is
no
small
feat,
and
the
company
deserves
credit
for
successfully
pulling
off
both.
It
is
worth
noting
that
a
customer
conference
is
not
just
some
sort
of
corporate
vanity
project.
In
my
experience,
a
customer
conference
can
offer
many
legitimate
benefits
to
both
the
customers
and
the
company.
It
was
always
8am
at
Kaleidoscope.
For
customers,
they
get
opportunities
to
network
and
share
tips
with
their
peers
who
are
also
using
the
products,
and
to
get
direct
training
from
the
company
in
how
to
make
the
most
out
of
the
products.
For
companies,
they
get
opportunities
to
interact
with
and
better
know
their
customers
and
to
get
direct
feedback
from
them
on
what
they
like
or
do
not
like
about
their
products,
and
what
features
they
wish
to
see
added.
Small
But
Polished
All
of
that
said,
any
new
conference
has
to
start
somewhere,
and
that
somewhere
is
typically
on
the
smallish,
more
modest
side.
Such
was
this
conference,
when
judged
purely
by
attendance.
The
attendance
totaled
330,
but
that
number
included
75
8am
employees
(39
of
whom
were
presenters).
Of
the
remaining
255
non-employee
attendees,
some
were
from
the
12
partner
companies
that
exhibited
at
the
conference,
and
some
others
were
media,
consultants
and
various
others.
So
the
number
of
actual
customers
who
attended
was
probably
in
the
range
of
200-220.
I
got
to
be
part
of
two
panels.
The
first,
‘The
Future
of
Law:
Emerging
Trends
from
Legal
Tech
Experts,’
including
my
Legaltech
Week
colleagues
Niki
Black
as
moderator,
Steve
Embry,
Joe
Patrice
and
Stephanie
Wilkins.
In
the
second,
“Running
A
Business
in
the
Face
of
Unpredictability,”
I
interviewed
8am’s
chief
financial
officer
Christian
Fadel
and
chief
legal
officer
Catherine
Dawson.
When
you
consider
that
ClioCon
–
the
conference
of
one
of
8am’s
primary
competitors,
Clio
–
last
year
had
over
5,000
attendees,
including
2,600
in
person
and
the
rest
virtual,
Kaleidoscope’s
numbers
might
seem
small.
But,
as
I
said,
every
conference
has
to
start
somewhere.
And,
frankly,
numbers
alone
do
not
tell
the
whole
story.
The
fact
of
the
matter
is
that
Kaleidoscope
came
across
as
highly
polished
and
professional,
virtually
devoid
of
rough
edges.
From
the
venue
to
the
programming
to
the
food
and
socializing,
it
had
the
sheen
and
refinement
of
an
event
put
on
by
an
experienced
crew.
From
Boots
to
Bashes
LawNext’s
Ben
Ambrogi
chats
with
a
pedicab
driver
as
8am’s
SVP
of
application
engineering
Daisy
Itty
looks
on.
Among
the
nice
touches
that
made
this
feel
so
polished
and
professional:
-
A
diverse
and
well
thought
out
array
of
programming.
Thankfully,
this
was
not
all
AI
all
the
time.
While
that
topic
was
certainly
covered,
programs
spanned
a
variety
of
subjects
of
interest
to
solo
and
small
firm
lawyers
(along
with
some
for
the
company’s
accounting
customers). -
Free
cowboy
boots!
Free
Tecovas
cowboy
boots
were
promised
to
the
first
50
registrants.
It
seemed
as
if
more
than
50
ultimately
were
able
to
take
advantage
of
that
offer.
Either
way,
Tecovas
was
there
on
site
in
a
“boot
corral”
to
fit
attendees
with
their
new
boots.
And,
yes,
I
now
count
myself
among
those
who
are
cowboy
boot
enabled. -
A
second-day
keynote
featuring
a
conversation
with
2024
Olympics
gold
medal
sprinter
Gabby
Thomas,
who
was
both
entertaining
and
insightful. -
The
return
of
the
pedicabs.
Last
year
when
ClioCon
was
in
Austin,
8am
(then
still
AffiniPay)
made
an
inspired
guerilla
marketing
move
by
providing
branded
pedicabs
to
whisk
ClioCon
attendees
to
its
own
alternative
party.
At
Kaleidoscope,
the
pedicabs
were
back
to
take
attendees
out
for
a
night
on
the
town. -
Support
for
charity.
An
8am
Cares
table
at
the
conference
raised
over
$10,000
for
the
Ronald
McDonald
House
charity. -
Various
networking
events,
including
a
closing
night
party
at
an
Austin
club
with
live
music
and
line
dancing.
Those
of
us
attending
as
media
also
appreciated
the
dedicated
media
“green
room”
where
we
could
work
on
our
stories,
as
well
as
the
dedicated
podcast
room,
complete
with
professional
audio
and
video
equipment
and
the
technicians
to
make
it
all
work.
Where
Was
‘I’?
However,
that
is
not
to
say
everything
was
perfect.
If
there
was
one
standout
glitch,
it
was
the
case
of
the
missing
“i.”
Graphics
throughout
the
conference,
including
the
stage
backdrop
during
many
of
the
presentations,
boldly
proclaimed,
“Become
a
visonary.”
Unfortunately,
some
poor
graphics
person
had
lacked
the
vision
to
see
the
missing
letter.
But
the
company
turned
adversity
to
opportunity,
exploiting
the
omission
with
humor
and
humility,
and
giving
the
opening
keynote
speaker
Leslie
Witt,
the
company’s
chief
product
officer,
her
Oprah
moment.
“What
I’d
like
you
to
do,”
Witt
invited
the
keynote
audience,
“is
take
a
look
underneath
your
seat,
and
for
one
lucky
person,
you
may
find
something
there.”
Sure
enough,
one
person
did,
and
what
he
found
was
the
missing
“i”
–
or
at
least
a
facsimile
thereof
–
winning
him
a
gift
certificate
of
$600.
Chief
Product
Officer
Leslie
Witt
got
her
Oprah
moment
thanks
to
the
missing
“i”
in
“visonary,”
which
you
can
see
on
the
backdrop
behind
her.
A
greater
oversight,
to
my
mind,
was
the
lack
of
healthy
food.
I
get
it,
this
was
Texas,
and
Texans
like
their
meat
–
especially
their
barbecue.
But
we
live
at
a
time
in
which
many
people
–
I
among
them
–
try
to
eat
healthy.
Against
my
better
judgment,
I
was
compelled
to
sample
a
donut.
Food
was
ample
in
quantity,
with
breakfast
and
lunch
provided
as
well
as
mid-morning
and
mid-afternoon
snacks.
But
the
meals
had
only
limited
options
for
vegetarians,
and
the
snacks
favored
donuts
and
cookies
over
healthful
alternatives.
(I’ll
admit,
trapped
in
this
health
food
desert
with
no
easy
way
out,
I
was
forced
to
sample
said
donuts,
which,
for
something
that
was
poisoning
my
body,
turned
out
to
be
surprisingly
tasty.)
CEO
Unable
to
Attend
One
other
element
missing
from
the
conference
was
its
chief
executive
officer
Dru
Armstrong.
In
a
pre-recorded
video
at
the
conference’s
opening,
she
welcomed
attendees
and
then
said,
“I
wish
I
could
be
there
with
you
this
week,
but
I’m
unable
to
attend
because
of
some
personal
circumstances.”
I’ve
had
the
opportunity
to
interview
and
speak
with
Dru
on
many
occasions,
and
I
can
tell
you
she
is
the
kind
of
dynamic
leader
whose
presence
would
have
been
a
further
boost
to
the
conference.
Her
absence
cast
a
slight
pall
over
the
otherwise
buoyant
atmosphere.
Based
on
what
I
know
of
Dru,
those
personal
circumstances
must
have
risen
to
the
level
of
Texas
wild
horses
to
have
kept
her
away.
Related:
On
LawNext:
AffiniPay
CEO
Dru
Armstrong
on
the
Intersection
of
Fintech,
Legal
Tech
and
AI.
Getting
Back
to
Déjà
Vu
All
of
that
said,
the
success
of
a
conference
ultimately
has
little
to
do
with
the
attendance
numbers
or
the
food
choices
or
the
polish
of
the
production.
What
makes
or
breaks
a
conference
is
the
intangible
energy
that
pervades
it
–
the
vibe,
if
you
will.
And
here,
for
me,
is
where
that
sense
of
déjà
vu
kicked
in.
The
reason
I
felt
at
Kaleidoscope
as
if
I’d
been
there
before
was
because
I
had
once
been
somewhere
with
a
very
similar
vibe,
the
very
first
ClioCon
back
in
2013.
Even
though
ClioCon
is
now
one
of
the
largest
legal
tech
conferences
in
the
world,
it,
too,
started
small,
and
the
parallels
between
it
and
Kaleidoscope
were
many.
The
exhibitors’
area
put
every
vendor
on
equal
footing
with
a
uniformly
sized
booth.
That
first
year
of
ClioCon
had
roughly
the
same
attendance
as
this
first
year
of
Kaleidoscope.
It,
like
Kaleidoscope,
fit
within
a
fairly
modest
space
within
a
fairly
small
hotel.
It,
like
Kaleidoscope,
had
just
a
handful
of
exhibitors,
with
small,
uniform
booths
arranged
in
an
open
hallway
area.
But
even
with
those
modest
beginnings,
ClioCon
always
stood
out
–
and
the
reason
it
stood
out
was
its
energy,
its
vibe.
As
I
wrote
after
the
second
ClioCon:
“The
solo
and
small-firm
lawyers
at
this
conference
…
all
seemed
charged
about
their
practices
and
their
prospects.
They
seemed
eager
to
take
in
new
ideas
and
brought
plenty
of
their
own
ideas.
As
much
went
on
outside
the
seminar
rooms
as
in
them.”
It
was
conference
that
was
modest
in
size,
but
big
in
impact.
And
that
it
why
it
has
continued
to
grow
year
after
year
to
the
colossal
conference
it
is
today.
In
much
the
same
way,
Kaleidoscope
felt
bigger
and
more
vibrant
than
the
attendance
numbers
would
suggest.
On
the
Cusp
I
am
sure
8am
has
no
desire
for
its
conference
to
be
compared
to
the
conference
of
one
of
its
major
competitors.
But
the
déjà
vu
I
felt
in
Austin
was
because
the
conference’s
overall
atmosphere
–
its
energy
and
vibe
–
was
strongly
reminiscent
of
that
very
first
ClioCon.
And
that
is
a
good
thing.
Josh
Carter,
senior
product
manager,
and
Lindsay
Bushong,
manager
of
solutions
consulting,
gave
a
preview
of
the
company’s
new
8am
IQ
generative
AI
features.
At
that
first
ClioCon,
there
was
a
strong
sense
that
we
were
at
the
cusp
of
something
big,
at
the
beginning
of
a
new
generation
of
law
practice
and
technology
for
solo
and
smaller
firms,
driven
in
part
by
the
advent
of
the
cloud.
And
at
Kaleidoscope,
there
was
a
similar
sense
of
being
on
the
cusp
of
something
new,
only
this
time
the
“new”
had
more
to
do
with
generative
AI
and
its
potential
to
transform
the
business
and
practice
of
law
for
solos
and
small
firms.
The
lawyers
and
law
firm
professionals
I
spoke
to
there
were
explicit
about
it:
Many
said
they
had
come
to
the
conference
specifically
to
learn
more
about
AI
and
what
it
means
for
them.
Some
told
me
they
were
just
starting
to
explore
AI,
but
eager
to
get
up
to
speed.
Even
beyond
AI,
there
seemed
to
be
a
strong
sense
of
excitement
among
attendees
about
technology
and
its
potential
impact
on
their
practices.
Kaleidoscope’s
first
outing
proved
that
8am
can
put
on
a
professional,
well-run
conference
with
an
energy
that
belied
its
modest
size.
The
company
is
already
planning
a
second
Kaleidoscope
next
year.
Much
to
my
regret,
it
will
be
in
Las
Vegas,
which
I
do
not
like
as
a
conference
location.
But,
location
aside,
if
it
continues
next
year
to
build
on
this
year’s
momentum,
this
debut
may
come
to
be
remembered
as
the
foundation
of
an
enduring
annual
event
on
the
legal
tech
calendar.
As
Yogi
Berra
might
have
said
had
he
been
there
last
week,
when
it
comes
to
Kaleidoscope,
the
déjà
vu
is
worth
doing
all
over
again.