EVOLVE
2026:
true
to
its
mission,
it
maintained
its
identity
as
a
smaller,
more
intimate
conference
that
encouraged
networking
and
relationships
just
like
its
predecessors.
That,
in
and
of
itself,
made
for
some
interesting
interactions
between
attendees,
vendors,
and
even
writers
like
me.
Like
the
late
afternoon
when
a
vendor
saw
me
trying
to
balance
carrying
a
bunch
of
swag
with
all
my
other
stuff.
She
grabbed
a
bag
from
an
adjoining
vendor
table
and
chased
me
down
to
give
it
to
me
to
help.
All
in
all,
I
would
say
it
was
a
success
and
well
worth
coming
back
to.
But
that’s
not
to
say
there
weren’t
a
few
things
that
could
have
been
better.
The
Pace
For
example,
the
conference
proceeded
at
a
breathless
pace.
Three
full
days
of
content
from
morning
to
night.
Even
with
breaks
the
pace
was
pretty
exhausting.
That
plus
the
fact
that
the
only
formal
evening
network
reception
took
place
after
the
first
day
made
it
seem
like
a
pretty
heavy
working
conference.
That’s
not
necessarily
a
criticism;
people
come
to
conferences
to
learn
and
work,
so
packing
a
lot
of
content
to
enable
attendees
to
get
their
money’s
worth
is
not
necessarily
bad.But
looking
out
at
the
snow-covered
Rocky
mountains
with
little
time
to
enjoy
them
was
a
bit
of
a
bummer.
The
Missing
Piece
Because
the
primary
ILTA
audience
is
made
up
of
those
who
serve
lawyer
business
owners,
there
was
an
inevitable
us
versus
them
undercurrent
at
some
sessions.
A
substantial
amount
of
content
was
directed
toward
how
attendees
could
convince
the
lawyers
for
whom
they
work
to
do
what
they
think
the
lawyers
ought
to
be
doing.
How
to
approach
them.
How
to
convince
them.
How
to
manipulate
them
to
move
from
point
A
to
point
B.
Implicit
in
this
was
the
suggestion
that
they
know
more
than
the
lawyers
about
what’s
good
for
them.
That
undercurrent
is
understandable,
occurs
at
lots
of
legal
tech
conferences,
and
is
often
well
deserved.
But
missing
from
many
of
these
conversations
is
the
senior,
experienced
lawyer
to
provide
the
perspective
of
what
it’s
like
to
practice
and
the
business
pressures
they
face.
Granted,
there
were
some
lawyer
panel
presenters,
but
these
were
mostly
younger
lawyers,
not
equity
partners.
I
know.
It’s
hard
to
get
these
lawyers
to
take
time
to
speak.
But
it
is
nevertheless
an
often-missing
voice
in
the
room.
The
Audience
Paradox
Of
course,
having
planned
large
conferences
myself,
I
know
how
hard
it
is
to
connect
with
an
audience
with
a
broad
range
of
experiences
and
knowledge
about
things
like
AI.
Some
attendees
are
high
up
on
the
learning
curve.
Some
are
just
learning
what
ChatGPT
is.
As
a
result,
it
would
have
been
nice
to
have
some
skill
levels
attached
to
the
course
descriptions
so
attendees
could
better
determine
whether
and
what
to
attend.
In
addition,
assessing
content
always
has
to
take
into
account
the
audience.
EVOLVE
attendees
are
mainly
IT
professionals
or
other
legal
professionals
and
not
lawyers.
That
skews
the
content
that
is
offered.
The
Content
But
still,
I
have
mixed
emotions
about
the
content.
Some
of
it
was
very
good.
The
opening
Zach
Abramowitz
keynote
on
which
I
reported
was
excellent
and
framed
a
lot
of
ongoing
issues
with
AI.
But
the
closing
keynote
by
a
non-legal
celebrity
was
a
bit
disjointed
and
missed
the
mark.
In
between,
I
found
the
content
on
the
AI
side
a
little
spotty.
But
I
should
quickly
point
out
though
that
I’m
pretty
knowledgeable
about
AI
and
attend
a
lot
of
legal
tech
conferences.
So,
I’m
a
bit
jaded.
Even
so,
there
did
seem
to
be
a
lot
of
repetition
of
things
said
at
every
other
conference
and
too
much
making
the
simple
complicated.
It
also
seems
we
should
be
beyond
talking
so
much
about
things
like
how
to
prompt
and
what
mundane
and
repetitive
tasks
AI
can
do.
We
should
be
beyond
talking
about
how
to
get
general
information
out
of
GenAI
and
doing
simple
exercises
in
front
of
a
group.
Instead,
it’s
time
we
move
on
toward
learning
how
to
get
it
to
do
the
things
that
it
does
the
best.
We
need
to
be
talking
more
about
how
GenAI
will
impact
our
profession
and
where
it
is
going.
These
are
the
critical
questions
that
need
exploring.
Indeed,
someone
asked
me
outside
the
presentations
where
I
thought
we
would
be
with
AI
in
three
years.
That’s
a
hard
question
and
one
I
would
have
loved
to
hear
some
experts
talk
about
since
it
impacts
things
like
long-range
planning.
It’s
easy
now
to
address
things
like
prompt-writing
issues.
It’s
much
harder
to
address
future
impact
and
preparation.
It
reminds
me
of
a
humorous
paraphrase
of
the
John
F.
Kennedy
quote
in
his
famous
going
to
the
moon
speech.
That
speech
was
a
challenge
to
face
and
do
things
that
are
difficult,
like,
at
the
time,
a
manned
mission
to
the
moon.
The
humorous
paraphrase:
we
do
these
things
not
because
they
are
easy
but
because
we
think
they
are
easy.
That’s
not
to
say
that
there
weren’t
some
really
excellent
sessions.
I
wrote
about
one
panel
that
delved
into
why
law
firms
are
having
such
problems
with
adapting
to
AI
and
responding
to
client
pressures.
That’s
the
kind
of
issue
worth
discussing.
On
the
cyber
side,
however,
there
were
much
more
technical
and
informative
sessions.
These
sessions
dealt
with
practical
problems
the
IT
folks
face.
There
was
even
a
creative
session
on
dealing
with
the
emotional
toll
of
a
data
breach.
Having
been
through
some
data
breach
situations,
I
know
how
incredibly
stressful
and
exhausting
they
are
for
all
concerned.
It
was
nice
to
see
a
panel
recognize
and
offer
help
on
how
to
deal
with
that.
The
Vendors
I’m
glad
that
ILTA
kept
the
vendors
in
the
convention
center
hallways
adjacent
to
the
presentation
rooms
instead
of
placing
them
in
a
cavernous
exhibit
hall.
Being
in
close
proximity
to
the
vendors
adds
to
the
intimacy
of
the
conference
and
encourages
interactions.
You
had
to
walk
past
the
vendors
to
get
to
the
presentation
rooms,
to
grab
coffee,
breakfast,
and
lunch,
and
even
to
use
the
restroom.
That
meant
you
started
to
recognize
faces
and
build
more
of
a
rapport
than
you
would
otherwise.
It
was
less
salesy
and
more
relationship
building.
Less
“hey,
look
at
this”
and
more
“good
morning.”
The
Venue
I
have
to
admit
I
am
not
a
particular
fan
of
the
Gaylord
properties.
They
are
usually
cavernous
and
complicated
to
navigate.
They’re
usually
far
away
from
things
like
downtowns,
interesting
sites,
or
restaurants.
The
Gaylord
in
Nashville
is
a
prime
example.
But
I
was
pleasantly
surprised
by
the
Denver
Gaylord.
It
was
open
and
airy.
It
was
easy
to
get
around
and
it
flowed
well.
The
food
was
not
bad.
And
even
though
it
was
some
distance
from
Denver,
the
mountain
views
were
spectacular.
I
would
certainly
look
forward
to
coming
here
again,
though
next
year
EVOLVE
moves
to
Savannah,
Georgia,
which
is
a
pretty
cool
venue.
The
Bottom-Line
Vibe
Let’s
face
it,
conferences
live
and
die
on
their
vibe.
Their
energy.
The
feeling
attendees
and
vendors
have
toward
what
is
going
on.
Perhaps
because
EVOLVE
has
been
a
smaller,
more
focused
conference
where
there
was
more
time
and
space
for
interactions,
conversations,
and
networking,
it
has
captured
an
all-important
and
unique
vibe.
This
year’s
conference
was,
however,
larger:
in
fact,
ILTA
proudly
proclaimed
that
there
were
over
500
attendees,
a
record.
As
a
result,
this
year’s
conference
did
have
a
slightly
bigger
and
faster-paced
feel.
Maybe
it’s
also
because
there
were
so
many
sessions
over
so
many
days.
Maybe
it
was
because
there
was
only
one
opportunity
for
everyone
to
attend
an
evening
networking
event
where
there
is
more
time
to
talk.
Despite
all
that,
it
did
still
maintain
its
small
conference
vibe.
I
met
a
lot
of
people
and
had
a
lot
of
good
conversations.
I
got
to
meet
and
talk
with
several
vendors
in
a
relaxed
setting.
The
opening
keynote
itself
made
attending
worthwhile.
The
sessions
were
by
and
large
practically
oriented
and
focused.
While
I
might
have
wished
for
slightly
different
content,
the
presenters
were
prepared
and
did
a
good
job.
All
in
all,
it
was
a
great
conference
in
a
great
venue.
My
only
hope
is
that
ILTA
does
not
try
to
transform
EVOLVE
into
the
spring
version
of
its
sprawling
late
summer
flagship
conference.
As
long
as
ILTA
sticks
with
its
original
mission,
it
will
be
the
kind
of
conference
that
I
will
plan
to
attend
year
after
year.
Good
job,
ILTA.
Stephen
Embry
is
a
lawyer,
speaker,
blogger,
and
writer.
He
publishes TechLaw
Crossroads,
a
blog
devoted
to
the
examination
of
the
tension
between
technology,
the
law,
and
the
practice
of
law.