It’s
a
new
day
at
8am.
That’s
true
generally,
but
in
this
case,
we’re
talking
about
tech
provider
we
used
to
call
AffiniPay.
Fresh
off
its
name
change,
the
company
hosted
its
inaugural
user
conference
last
week
in
Austin,
Texas.
While
everything
is
usually
bigger
in
Texas
—
the
wide-open
skies,
the
slabs
of
slow-cooked
brisket,
the
scale
of
the
failed
education
system
—
8am’s
Kaleidoscope
conference
clocked
in
on
the
cozier
side.
But
that’s
the
nature
of
first-time
shows.
There
will
always
be
a
slice
of
the
prospective
audience
who
sits
it
out,
keeping
their
powder
dry
until
they
hear
back
that
it’s
really
worth
it.
It
was
worth
it.
One
would
be
hard-pressed
to
point
to
anything
that
betrayed
a
rookie
conference.
A
convenient
venue,
excellent
food,
superb
panels,
and
an
exhibitor
layout
that
maximized
visibility
without
feeling
like
running
a
gauntlet.
In
a
subtle
stroke
of
genius,
the
programming
broke
from
the
customary
cookie-cutter
schedule
and
embraced
breakout
sessions
of
varying
lengths.
Some
subjects
just
don’t
merit
an
hour,
but
that
doesn’t
make
them
less
important.
Kaleidoscope
had
a
“content-first”
approach
to
panel
selection
and
built
a
schedule
to
accommodate
that.
From
ethical
approaches
to
texting
clients
to
using
AI
to
automate
small
firm
legal
marketing,
the
panels
covered
a
wide
range
of
practical
topics.
Even
the
one
mistake
that
anyone
could
point
out
—
a
recurring
typo
on
some
of
the
signage
—
morphed
into
8am’s
opportunity
to
hand
out
more
swag.
They
couldn’t
even
make
a
mistake
without
turning
it
around.
Olympian
Gabby
Thomas
headlined
the
second
day
of
the
show.
Celebrity
speakers
tend
to
lean
into
tortured
metaphors
to
connect
their
careers
back
to
the
legal
industry.
Instead,
Thomas
saw
an
opportunity
to
talk
about
her
own
profession
and…
ran
with
it?
Which,
paradoxically,
made
it
far
more
relevant
to
the
job
of
lawyering
than
any
square-peg-round-hole
analogies.
Describing
the
life
of
an
elite
track
star,
she
stressed
that
the
average
spectator
watching
at
home
doesn’t
understand
that
everyone
in
those
high-profile
races
are
all
nearly
identical
in
ability.
Success
on
that
stage,
Thomas
explained,
comes
down
to
small
adjustments
for
fractional
gains.
And
a
heavy
dose
of
perspective
that
you
can’t
control
the
competition,
but
you
can
control
your
own
process.
That’s…
pretty
good
advice
for
running
a
legal
practice.
And
especially
important
to
lawyers
willing
to
keep
an
open-minded
approach
to
legal
technology.
Securing
that
fractional
improvement
—
either
in
the
substantive
practice
of
law
or
in
taking
some
of
the
administrative
tasks
off
your
plate
—
is
largely
a
function
of
tech
adoption.
Figuring
out
which
tech
is
the
challenge.
Thomas
provided
some
insights
there
too,
explaining
that
she
breaks
down
races
into
micro-moments,
visualizing
everything
from
the
walk
up
to
where
exactly
she
wants
to
be
positioned
on
the
blocks
to
where
she
wants
to
be
at
the
finish
line.
Legal
tech
is
moving
at
a
breakneck
pace,
and
if
Biglaw
firms
with
dedicated
tech
professionals
struggle
to
stay
on
top
of
it,
how
can
solo
practitioners
fit
it
into
the
already
overloaded
schedule?
One
solid
strategy
—
which
I
outlined
on
one
of
the
panels
I
sat
on
at
the
show
—
is
to
stop
trying
to
find
the
one-size
AI
solution
and
begin
researching
products
that
target
specific
use
cases.
To
borrow
from
the
visualization
discussion:
map
out
the
day.
Take
some
time
to
consciously
consider
the
steps
in
all
those
workflows.
Now,
where
do
you
see
opportunities
to
automate
that,
in
a
way
that
you
find
professionally
comfortable?
Thomas
also
talked
about
the
next-level
analytics
she
gets
about
every
running
movement,
but
stressed
that
while
she
considers
it
all,
she
won’t
accept
changes
that
she’s
not
comfortable
with.
The
tasks
you’re
ready
to
turn
over
to
technology
might
not
be
where
everyone
else
is…
and
that’s
fine.
But
figure
it
out.
Silicon
Valley
may
run
on
groupthink
—
and
these
days,
that
groupthink
is
mostly
very
weird
—
but
legal
technology
doesn’t
have
to.
There’s
plenty
of
room
to
disagree,
especially
given
how
quickly
the
landscape
is
evolving.
I
joined
several
other
legal
tech
writers
in
a
live
version
of
our
weekly
webcast
and/or
podcast
on
the
main
stage
and
we
had
several
actual
arguments
about
the
future
of
the
billable
hour
and
whether
or
not
“agentic
AI”
is
an
empty
buzzword
(it
is).
And,
of
course,
there
was
plenty
of
talk
about
the
8am
product
too
(which
Stephen
Embry
covered
in
more
depth
here).
And
partner
demos.
And
all
the
stuff
a
user
would
expect
of
a
conference.
A
user
show
is
a
delicate
balance
between
sales,
in-person
customer
service,
actionable
general
knowledge,
and
entertainment.
8am
—
and,
more
to
the
point,
the
various
companies
who
now
all
live
under
the
8am
banner
—
have
been
in
this
business
a
long
time.
But
with
Kaleidoscope,
the
company
signaled
that
it’s
ready
to
move
into
a
new
vector
of
client
engagement.
Beyond
just
providing
a
quality
suite
of
products,
the
company
wants
to
move
into
becoming
a
staple
appointment
on
their
clients’
calendar.
I
mean,
if
the
conference
was
good
enough
for
John
Steinbeck,
it
should
be
good
enough
to
bring
out
even
more
users
next
year.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.