The Technology Curve
May 20, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
This morning, I posted a blog entry entitled Don't Tell Me, Show Me. The entry concerns the power of technology.
Walking over to the Washington State Convention & Trade Center for the last day of the INTA 2009 Annual Meeting in Seattle, I realized that a brief corollary merits attention.
Technology increases, expands, and democratizes access to information -- how we receive it, distribute it, and store it. The ever-expanding spectral curve of access is tremendous. The dangers, however, are sometimes ignored, dismissed, or outright rejected.
A curve's not a curve without a downside, declared Machiavellian advertising legend Miles Drentell in the 1980's-90's yuppie drama thritysomething.
Miles' quote applies in this digital era of instant communications.
We post items about everyday occurrences on Facebook -- what we're thinking, what we're doing, where we're going. And photos complement our statements.
We post our thoughts in briefer form on Twitter. This micro-blog restricts us to 140 characters or less.
And we post our views, recounts of experiences, and opinions on blogs in whatever length we wish.
The danger is that we spend so much time writing about our lives at the expense of living our lives.
Summer is fast approaching. It's an opportunity to enjoy the weather, disconnect from the Blackberry or iPhone for a few hours, and reconnect with friends, family, and colleagues.
Here are my steadfast resolutions for the summer.
Get together with some friends for a baseball game, barbecue, or happy hour without checking E-Mail.
Read a best seller on a Sunday afternoon instead of texting, E-Mailing, or web surfing.
Take a re-energizing walk during lunch hour without talking on the Blackberry or iPhone.
I'm inspired. Thankfully, I can use my Blackberry Curve 8330 between INTA Annual Meeting workshops to find the Mets schedule, learn about this month's best selling novels, and research potential walk routes with GPS.
david@davidkrell.com
This morning, I posted a blog entry entitled Don't Tell Me, Show Me. The entry concerns the power of technology.
Walking over to the Washington State Convention & Trade Center for the last day of the INTA 2009 Annual Meeting in Seattle, I realized that a brief corollary merits attention.
Technology increases, expands, and democratizes access to information -- how we receive it, distribute it, and store it. The ever-expanding spectral curve of access is tremendous. The dangers, however, are sometimes ignored, dismissed, or outright rejected.
A curve's not a curve without a downside, declared Machiavellian advertising legend Miles Drentell in the 1980's-90's yuppie drama thritysomething.
Miles' quote applies in this digital era of instant communications.
We post items about everyday occurrences on Facebook -- what we're thinking, what we're doing, where we're going. And photos complement our statements.
We post our thoughts in briefer form on Twitter. This micro-blog restricts us to 140 characters or less.
And we post our views, recounts of experiences, and opinions on blogs in whatever length we wish.
The danger is that we spend so much time writing about our lives at the expense of living our lives.
Summer is fast approaching. It's an opportunity to enjoy the weather, disconnect from the Blackberry or iPhone for a few hours, and reconnect with friends, family, and colleagues.
Here are my steadfast resolutions for the summer.
Get together with some friends for a baseball game, barbecue, or happy hour without checking E-Mail.
Read a best seller on a Sunday afternoon instead of texting, E-Mailing, or web surfing.
Take a re-energizing walk during lunch hour without talking on the Blackberry or iPhone.
I'm inspired. Thankfully, I can use my Blackberry Curve 8330 between INTA Annual Meeting workshops to find the Mets schedule, learn about this month's best selling novels, and research potential walk routes with GPS.
INTA, Networking, and Baseball
May 19, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
A ticket to the Mariners vs. Angels game last night. $58.75.
A cab ride from the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (WSCTC) area to Safeco Field. $10.
Teaching the rules of baseball to British INTA attendees, continuing a tradition of going to baseball games during the INTA Annual Meeting, and catching up with old friends...priceless.
When I decided to come to the INTA Annual Meeting as a blogger and member of the media, I checked the Mariners schedule. Yesterday, I wrote about the background of my baseball and INTA tradition at my media blog -- Television Archives: Our Television Heritage.
Luckily, the Mariners have a homestand coinciding with the conference. So, I bought a block of eight tickets. I took four and a friend took four. Between us, we invited four British attendees new to the game. What a pleasure it was for me to tell them about the beautiful, deep, and rich history of the game and see it through their eyes.
My passion for baseball history inspired me to tell them anecdotes, benchmarks, and turning points concerning the national pastime.
Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in 1947. The heartbreak felt in Brooklyn fifty years after the Dodgers bolted for Los Angeles. The fairly recent trend of corporations paying for naming rights of stadiums.
A quick explanation of the rules over dinner and brief reminders at the game were also in order.
My anticipation heightened during the week before INTA. I read a collection of Damon Runyon's articles from his sports writing days entitled Guys, Dolls, and Curveballs. I recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about the rich lineage of baseball.
One of my fellow Mets fans joined us at the game -- Jonathan Moskin of White & Case. This is the second time I've had the opportunity to see a baseball game with Jonathan with a legal conference as a backdrop. Jonathan co-chaired a USPTO Boot Camp conference I produced in Alexandria in September. The night before the conference, a group of the speakers and I enjoyed a Washington Nationals game.
Jonathan and I talked about The Trademark Reporter where he is a Senior Editor. Jonathan is looking for someone to write a law review type of article about trademarks and virtual worlds. Earlier in the morning, I attended the Trademarks in Virtual Worlds panel discussion, though the panel devoted precious little time to the subject and more time to revenue growth, copyright infringement cases, and companies using the virtual world technology to promote goods and services.
One trademark issue that arose from the panel and appears to be a central focus is the definition of 'use' in the concept of a virtual world. Jonathan emphasized this point as we watched Torii Hunter club a bases-loaded double to clear the bases in a five-run Angels fifth.
Instinctively, I volunteered to write the article. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith talks about an 'invisible hand' guiding the markets. Is there an 'invisible hand' guiding my INTA 2009 Annual Meeting experience? Read on.
At yesterday afternoon's INTA Press Reception, I met a lovely woman who is a reporter for Intellectual Asset Management. I learned about her experiences in sifting through the numerous press releases and marketing materials of law firms that pitch stories to her. I soon realized that she would be a terrific intellectual asset in her own right to a writing workshop that I am moderating at the 2010 INTA Annual Meeting. Pending approval from her boss, she will be on the panel.
In this new age where law firms have marketing plans, logos, and slogans, a media expert in the trenches who decides what stories get coverage will be a great complement to the lawyers in the trenches of courtroom battles, negotiating settlement agreements, and drafting briefs.
I didn't have to wait long to brief the person responsible for managing the 2010 workshops -- Brian Daniel of CRA. Brian was one of my invitees. I also had the pleasure of catching up with Brian and learning more about the intricacies, traditions, and unwritten rules of the home of his beloved Cubs -- Wrigley Field.
I briefed him on my potential new addition to the writing workshop panel that already features people I know, trust, and respect -- Kelly Slavitt, Trademark Counsel at General Electric and Bob Latham, Partner at Jackson Walker.
Bob and the Jackson Walker business development team brought me to the firm's Texas offices last year during this same pre-Memorial Day week to conduct my CLE writing workshop for the firm's associates. That wonderful experience inspired me to further develop Write This Way 2.0 as a CLE class to teach attorneys how to refine their written communications skills across the board -- briefs, contracts, memoranda, client communications.
Oh yeah, the Mariners lost to the Angels of Anaheim 10-6. Well, technically, they are the Angels of Los Angeles. It's all about the branding, isn't it?
david@davidkrell.com
A ticket to the Mariners vs. Angels game last night. $58.75.
A cab ride from the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (WSCTC) area to Safeco Field. $10.
Teaching the rules of baseball to British INTA attendees, continuing a tradition of going to baseball games during the INTA Annual Meeting, and catching up with old friends...priceless.
When I decided to come to the INTA Annual Meeting as a blogger and member of the media, I checked the Mariners schedule. Yesterday, I wrote about the background of my baseball and INTA tradition at my media blog -- Television Archives: Our Television Heritage.
Luckily, the Mariners have a homestand coinciding with the conference. So, I bought a block of eight tickets. I took four and a friend took four. Between us, we invited four British attendees new to the game. What a pleasure it was for me to tell them about the beautiful, deep, and rich history of the game and see it through their eyes.
My passion for baseball history inspired me to tell them anecdotes, benchmarks, and turning points concerning the national pastime.
Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in 1947. The heartbreak felt in Brooklyn fifty years after the Dodgers bolted for Los Angeles. The fairly recent trend of corporations paying for naming rights of stadiums.
A quick explanation of the rules over dinner and brief reminders at the game were also in order.
My anticipation heightened during the week before INTA. I read a collection of Damon Runyon's articles from his sports writing days entitled Guys, Dolls, and Curveballs. I recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about the rich lineage of baseball.
One of my fellow Mets fans joined us at the game -- Jonathan Moskin of White & Case. This is the second time I've had the opportunity to see a baseball game with Jonathan with a legal conference as a backdrop. Jonathan co-chaired a USPTO Boot Camp conference I produced in Alexandria in September. The night before the conference, a group of the speakers and I enjoyed a Washington Nationals game.
Jonathan and I talked about The Trademark Reporter where he is a Senior Editor. Jonathan is looking for someone to write a law review type of article about trademarks and virtual worlds. Earlier in the morning, I attended the Trademarks in Virtual Worlds panel discussion, though the panel devoted precious little time to the subject and more time to revenue growth, copyright infringement cases, and companies using the virtual world technology to promote goods and services.
One trademark issue that arose from the panel and appears to be a central focus is the definition of 'use' in the concept of a virtual world. Jonathan emphasized this point as we watched Torii Hunter club a bases-loaded double to clear the bases in a five-run Angels fifth.
Instinctively, I volunteered to write the article. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith talks about an 'invisible hand' guiding the markets. Is there an 'invisible hand' guiding my INTA 2009 Annual Meeting experience? Read on.
At yesterday afternoon's INTA Press Reception, I met a lovely woman who is a reporter for Intellectual Asset Management. I learned about her experiences in sifting through the numerous press releases and marketing materials of law firms that pitch stories to her. I soon realized that she would be a terrific intellectual asset in her own right to a writing workshop that I am moderating at the 2010 INTA Annual Meeting. Pending approval from her boss, she will be on the panel.
In this new age where law firms have marketing plans, logos, and slogans, a media expert in the trenches who decides what stories get coverage will be a great complement to the lawyers in the trenches of courtroom battles, negotiating settlement agreements, and drafting briefs.
I didn't have to wait long to brief the person responsible for managing the 2010 workshops -- Brian Daniel of CRA. Brian was one of my invitees. I also had the pleasure of catching up with Brian and learning more about the intricacies, traditions, and unwritten rules of the home of his beloved Cubs -- Wrigley Field.
I briefed him on my potential new addition to the writing workshop panel that already features people I know, trust, and respect -- Kelly Slavitt, Trademark Counsel at General Electric and Bob Latham, Partner at Jackson Walker.
Bob and the Jackson Walker business development team brought me to the firm's Texas offices last year during this same pre-Memorial Day week to conduct my CLE writing workshop for the firm's associates. That wonderful experience inspired me to further develop Write This Way 2.0 as a CLE class to teach attorneys how to refine their written communications skills across the board -- briefs, contracts, memoranda, client communications.
Oh yeah, the Mariners lost to the Angels of Anaheim 10-6. Well, technically, they are the Angels of Los Angeles. It's all about the branding, isn't it?