Trademarks in Virtual Worlds
The Power of a Handshake
June 09, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Social media is a necessity for networking in the digital age.
From microblogging on Twitter to posting on Facebook to making connections on Linked In, social media allows us to exponentially expand our network with a few keystrokes.
Sometimes the old-fashioned way works, too. Nothing replaces face-to-face conversation, handshakes, and body language.
When I attended the International Trademark Association Annual Meeting last month in Seattle, I was part of a group approximately 7500 strong. Like other trade association conferences, the pace is challenging.
From early morning to late night, I created new connections, reinforced existing relationships, and cultivated new business. I met people at workshops, seminars, and after-dinner parties in a continuous loop during the course of a few days.
And the conversations all began with a handshake.
I got an assignment to write an article about legal writing through a chance meeting with an editor from Marcasur, a Latin American intellectual property law magazine. She asked about Write This Way 2.0 and the conversation ended with the assignment.
I learned about an article in need of an author for The Trademark Reporter, INTA's scholarly journal. Topic -- Trademarks in Virtual Worlds. My discovery came through a conversation with a friend at a Mariners game. My friend is a premier intellectual property litigator and a member of the editorial staff at The Trademark Reporter. I immediately volunteered to write the article about this relatively new phenomenon.
A couple of hours before the Mariners game, I attended a cocktail hour for the media. Since I had an extra ticket in my block of tickets for the game, I invited a law firm marketer whom I met at the cocktail hour. He and I are having lunch today to discuss a potential web site copywriting project involving one of his international intellectual property law firm clients.
At the same cocktail hour, I met a British legal journalist who later agreed to be a member of the writing workshop I will moderate at the INTA 2010 Annual Meeting in Boston.
I also connected with an already existing contact who graciously arranged to send the materials for the Write This Way 2.0 CLE workshops to the decision makers at her downtown Manhattan law firm. Getting in front of the decision makers is the first step to creating new business. To be fair, our conversation in Seattle took place via E-Mail, however, we first met a couple of years ago at a legal seminar -- not by following each other on Twitter, friending each other on Facebook, or joining each other's network on Linked In.
To be sure, those actions have a definite place in networking. One ignores social media at his or her peril in the digital age.
But don't discount the power of a handshake.
david@davidkrell.com
Social media is a necessity for networking in the digital age.
From microblogging on Twitter to posting on Facebook to making connections on Linked In, social media allows us to exponentially expand our network with a few keystrokes.
Sometimes the old-fashioned way works, too. Nothing replaces face-to-face conversation, handshakes, and body language.
When I attended the International Trademark Association Annual Meeting last month in Seattle, I was part of a group approximately 7500 strong. Like other trade association conferences, the pace is challenging.
From early morning to late night, I created new connections, reinforced existing relationships, and cultivated new business. I met people at workshops, seminars, and after-dinner parties in a continuous loop during the course of a few days.
And the conversations all began with a handshake.
I got an assignment to write an article about legal writing through a chance meeting with an editor from Marcasur, a Latin American intellectual property law magazine. She asked about Write This Way 2.0 and the conversation ended with the assignment.
I learned about an article in need of an author for The Trademark Reporter, INTA's scholarly journal. Topic -- Trademarks in Virtual Worlds. My discovery came through a conversation with a friend at a Mariners game. My friend is a premier intellectual property litigator and a member of the editorial staff at The Trademark Reporter. I immediately volunteered to write the article about this relatively new phenomenon.
A couple of hours before the Mariners game, I attended a cocktail hour for the media. Since I had an extra ticket in my block of tickets for the game, I invited a law firm marketer whom I met at the cocktail hour. He and I are having lunch today to discuss a potential web site copywriting project involving one of his international intellectual property law firm clients.
At the same cocktail hour, I met a British legal journalist who later agreed to be a member of the writing workshop I will moderate at the INTA 2010 Annual Meeting in Boston.
I also connected with an already existing contact who graciously arranged to send the materials for the Write This Way 2.0 CLE workshops to the decision makers at her downtown Manhattan law firm. Getting in front of the decision makers is the first step to creating new business. To be fair, our conversation in Seattle took place via E-Mail, however, we first met a couple of years ago at a legal seminar -- not by following each other on Twitter, friending each other on Facebook, or joining each other's network on Linked In.
To be sure, those actions have a definite place in networking. One ignores social media at his or her peril in the digital age.
But don't discount the power of a handshake.
Don't Tell Me, Show Me
May 20, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Last night at The Triple Door, I experienced the real-life power of technology. Having ditched my flip-up cell phone for a Blackberry Curve 8330 less than a week ago, I am still familiarizing myself with this powerful device and enjoying every minute of it.
The power of technology emerged when a fellow INTA Annual Meeting attendee asked me about Write This Way 2.0.
Rather than launch into my 30-second elevator speech, I took out the Blackberry, used the Browser function to get to my web site, and showed her the Write This Way 2.0 blog and web site along with my Twitter posts at davidkrell.
You're a good writer! she said.
It's a real-life example of the adage Don't tell me, show me.
In the old days, back in the beginning of the month, I would have E-Mailed her a link to my web site later in the evening or this morning. Now, instant communications.
The power of technology goes beyond texting, uploading photos, or taking pictures of yourself at Safeco Field and uploading it to your Facebook page.
At the beginning of the year, I sought to learn more about how to harness that power. My new year's resolution was to get over my quasi-phobia of technology and become immersed in the digital culture. I accomplished my goal in three steps.
First, I learned from an expert.
In February, I had the opportunity to take digital guru Shelly Palmer's Get Digital class. During the span of four hours over two nights, I learned through Shelly's real-life anecdotes how to keep pace with technology or be left behind professionally, socially, and personally.
Second, I learned from an expert.
I took a web site building class for novices at Tekserve, an authorized Macintosh sales and repair store in Manhattan. The instructor patiently listened to our concerns, answered our questions, and calmed our fears.
He suggested that I buy the RapidWeaver program when I explained my goal -- build two web sites. The first web site would have a blog with a bio page about me and an About Us type of page explaining my business. That's this web site.
The second web site would have a blog, a bio page, and 50-100 long-form articles. That's Television Archives -- Our Television Heritage.
I can honestly say that the two-hour class did not make me an adept digital guru who can immediately create web sites with ease. But it gave me enough to get started -- How to create a link within your site to another site. How to create a blog. How to download extras from Google Gadgets. For example, the Churchill Quote of the Day is a gadget provided by Google for web site owners.
Third, I learned from an expert. Initially, I encountered frustration by my lack of knowledge, familiarity, and ease with technology. But I figuratively glued myself to my seat, read the manual several times, and found that continuous trial and error eventually leads to trial and success. However, there comes a point where you have to call in the pros from Dover. When I did hit the proverbial wall, I found a Rapid Weaver expert at digitaLife Productions who revealed solutions during the course of a two-hour session.
Within two weeks, this web site was born. Because I had already been through the process once, the second web site took significantly less time to build the framework but more time to install the massive amount of content. Several of the articles only existed on hard copies, so the transfer was time-intensive. Six weeks later, Television Archives -- Our Television Heritage was born.
My embrace of technology continues at the INTA 2009 Annual Meeting. Not an extremely difficult task given the many sessions dedicated to the subject.
Attending Trademarks in Virtual Worlds inspired a conversation with a friend from The Trademark Reporter. The conversation led to my agreeing to write an article about the subject.
Industry Breakout: On the Internet -- Trademarks and the Web 2.0 gave a real-life example of the challenges in selecting domain names, purchasing keywords, and protecting intellectual property on the web.
And today, I am looking forward to the 11:45 am session Latest Developments in Internet Law and the Impact of Blogging on Trademarks.
david@davidkrell.com
Last night at The Triple Door, I experienced the real-life power of technology. Having ditched my flip-up cell phone for a Blackberry Curve 8330 less than a week ago, I am still familiarizing myself with this powerful device and enjoying every minute of it.
The power of technology emerged when a fellow INTA Annual Meeting attendee asked me about Write This Way 2.0.
Rather than launch into my 30-second elevator speech, I took out the Blackberry, used the Browser function to get to my web site, and showed her the Write This Way 2.0 blog and web site along with my Twitter posts at davidkrell.
You're a good writer! she said.
It's a real-life example of the adage Don't tell me, show me.
In the old days, back in the beginning of the month, I would have E-Mailed her a link to my web site later in the evening or this morning. Now, instant communications.
The power of technology goes beyond texting, uploading photos, or taking pictures of yourself at Safeco Field and uploading it to your Facebook page.
At the beginning of the year, I sought to learn more about how to harness that power. My new year's resolution was to get over my quasi-phobia of technology and become immersed in the digital culture. I accomplished my goal in three steps.
First, I learned from an expert.
In February, I had the opportunity to take digital guru Shelly Palmer's Get Digital class. During the span of four hours over two nights, I learned through Shelly's real-life anecdotes how to keep pace with technology or be left behind professionally, socially, and personally.
Second, I learned from an expert.
I took a web site building class for novices at Tekserve, an authorized Macintosh sales and repair store in Manhattan. The instructor patiently listened to our concerns, answered our questions, and calmed our fears.
He suggested that I buy the RapidWeaver program when I explained my goal -- build two web sites. The first web site would have a blog with a bio page about me and an About Us type of page explaining my business. That's this web site.
The second web site would have a blog, a bio page, and 50-100 long-form articles. That's Television Archives -- Our Television Heritage.
I can honestly say that the two-hour class did not make me an adept digital guru who can immediately create web sites with ease. But it gave me enough to get started -- How to create a link within your site to another site. How to create a blog. How to download extras from Google Gadgets. For example, the Churchill Quote of the Day is a gadget provided by Google for web site owners.
Third, I learned from an expert. Initially, I encountered frustration by my lack of knowledge, familiarity, and ease with technology. But I figuratively glued myself to my seat, read the manual several times, and found that continuous trial and error eventually leads to trial and success. However, there comes a point where you have to call in the pros from Dover. When I did hit the proverbial wall, I found a Rapid Weaver expert at digitaLife Productions who revealed solutions during the course of a two-hour session.
Within two weeks, this web site was born. Because I had already been through the process once, the second web site took significantly less time to build the framework but more time to install the massive amount of content. Several of the articles only existed on hard copies, so the transfer was time-intensive. Six weeks later, Television Archives -- Our Television Heritage was born.
My embrace of technology continues at the INTA 2009 Annual Meeting. Not an extremely difficult task given the many sessions dedicated to the subject.
Attending Trademarks in Virtual Worlds inspired a conversation with a friend from The Trademark Reporter. The conversation led to my agreeing to write an article about the subject.
Industry Breakout: On the Internet -- Trademarks and the Web 2.0 gave a real-life example of the challenges in selecting domain names, purchasing keywords, and protecting intellectual property on the web.
And today, I am looking forward to the 11:45 am session Latest Developments in Internet Law and the Impact of Blogging on Trademarks.