SAVE THE DATE
Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

LOCATION
Hilton Minneapolis
Address: 1001 S Marquette Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403
Phone: (612) 376-1000

REGISTRATION



SCHEDULE

7:15am - 8:00am                     Registration and Breakfast
8:00am - 8:15am                     Opening Remarks
8:15am - 9:15am                     Keynote: Rick Rigsby    
9:15am - 10:30am                   Business Partner Exhibit Time + BREAK
10:30am - 11:30 pm                Breakout Sessions
11:30am - 12:00 pm                Lunch
12:00pm - 1:00 pm                  Keynote: Elizabeth Ries
1:00pm - 2:30pm                     Business Partner Exhibit Time
2:30pm - 3:30pm                     Breakout Sessions
3:30pm - 4:30pm                     Community Service Event
4:30pm - 6:00pm                     Happy Hour + Prizes

KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

Rick Rigsby - The 21st Century Leader

In a global landscape characterized by constant change, today’s business leader is obligated to leverage existing demands with a greater commitment to professional development or risk becoming ineffective, obsolete and eventually replaced.

Dr. Rick Rigsby’s brilliantly crafted speech is a prerequisite for today’s revolutionary business environment. Dr. Rick challenges leaders to excel at enhancing skill sets required by a new generation of employees. Rick argues that dynamic and effective leadership today must expand its focus to include technological expansion, knowledge acquisition, diverse demographics and increased globalization.

Dr. Rigsby will empower you to discover how a leader’s journey to superior performance is reserved for the leader who is intentional, strategic and above all, willing to grow!

Click here to view Rick's bio.

Elizabeth Ries - Goal Setting

Don't let your goals keep you from living your life. Elizabeth spent the early years of her television career constantly waiting for the next thing. The next promotion, a better contract, the bigger market. It wasn't until she finally stopped looking ahead and started looking at the present that she finally found the most fulfilling work of her life. Elizabeth will motivate you to search for that perfect balance of always striving to be better while still living in and loving the present.

Click here to view Elizabeth's bio.

BREAKOUT PRESENTATIONS

Morning Breakout Sessions

Human Resources Track
Mastering the Art of Influencing Difficult Conversations - presented by Julie Holunga & Margee Fawley
Difficult conversations tend to be avoided because professionals shy away from the uncomfortable, and a fear of polarizing relationships. But avoidance is not a recommended road to success. Participants will learn strategies and tactics to engage in productive conversations to address challenges and deepen relationships. They will understand where and why they avoid difficult conversations. And they will leave with an understanding of how they can engage in productive and effective conversations to make their professional – and personal – lives more joyful and decrease stress.

Information Technology Track
Tech Simplicity is the Key - presented by Bill Ramsey & Phil Hampton
As technology has evolved over the past few years, some tech hardware and apps have become so complicated to render them almost useless for regular users.  Bill and Phil have always employed the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle when choosing which technologies to deploy.  The focus of this presentation is on new and re-imagined gadgets, tips, tools, and apps that are simple to use and actually make work/life more efficient and enjoyable.  Hi-tech doesn’t have to be “over your head” with the latest innovations that enable you to master the tech, instead of tech becoming your master.  Bill and Phil always surprise with their latest finds from cool new apps to totally outrageous gadgets that you will want to try.

Self-Improvement Track
Calling BS on Busy - presented by Andrew Mellen
Forget multi-tasking and other gimmicks—there are no shortcuts to good time management. Without focused efforts, the 7 Deadly Time Thieves® will continue to run your day, undermining your best efforts at getting thing done.

Address interruptions, overcommitting, poor planning, multitasking, email, meetings and procrastination, and see remarkable improvements fast.

By shifting your attention from the problem to the solution, you’ll leverage your mindset to achieve exceptional results with less stress. With a few practical, sustainable tools and techniques, you will gain an hour or more every day for the rest of your life.

General Track
Microsoft Excel: Tips, Tricks & Hidden Gems  - presented by Jeff Schoenberger
As Microsoft users and Microsoft 365 subscribers, you’re on the cutting edge. You use this integrated solution to create work product and are more productive than ever. But, are you truly making the most of what’s available in this powerful software you already own and use every day?

Join Affinity Senior Consultant Jeffrey Schoenberger as he shares a fast-paced session with you packed full of Microsoft Excel Tips, Tricks and Hidden Gems. You’ll go beyond the basics of the software you use daily and discover some hidden potential. Jeff will be bringing the best gems and tips found by Affinity’s legal data nerds together to help you fully leverage all that it can do.

Afternoon Breakout Sessions

Human Resources Track
Recruit & Retain: Unlock Human (conative) Superpowers - presented by Kim Brown
Recruiting and retention remain top priorities, which impacts our firms at all levels. While research and assessment tools have focused on the brain’s cognitive (IQ/skills) and affective (EQ/emotion), the conative (instinctive) aspect of the brain and skilled coaching are underutilized tools for understanding and unlocking human performance.

We will demonstrate how conation and strategic coaching are utilized in organizations to recruit and retain talent and create strategic teams to improve performance and cohesion.

Information Technology Track
Cyber Risk Management and Compliance: What Every Administrator Needs to Know - presented by James Harrison
Law firms and legal managers must begin to think differently about cybersecurity.  It’s not just an IT problem to be solved.  It’s a significant business risk with massive consequences that need to be managed well by firm management.  Expect growing scrutiny of your firm’s data security and privacy practices from clients, regulators, and cyber insurance providers.  In this session you’ll not only learn about the latest threats to law firms, you’ll gain a better understanding of what good cyber risk management looks like including your leadership role within your firm.  Mr. Harrison will take you through a hands-on exercise of assessing your firm’s current risk and compliance status.  You’ll leave with simple steps you can take now to successfully guide your firm towards better cyber risk management.

Self-Improvement Track
The Mind, Body and Soul of Self-Confidence - presented by Judy Hissong & Debra Elsbury
Body language, self-talk and core values are three legs of the confidence stool. In this session, you’ll explore how to maximize all three to increase your self-confidence by taking a deep dive into each of these using experiential exercises and somatic awareness. You’ll leave the session feeling refreshed and ready to build more confidence in your career and your life.

General Track
Microsoft Outlook: How to Better Manage Your Workload with Email and Task Management - presented by Jeff Schoenberger
Legal professionals today receive between 120 – 150 emails a day, most of which contain tasks that we must organize, manage, and execute related to multiple matters and cases. In this interactive session, you will learn how to efficiently process emails and tasks in a way that those items never get lost and build a master task list that captures everything that you must do using the tools provided by Microsoft Outlook to manage tasks. Finally, we will teach you a method for daily planning and weekly planning that will vastly improve your life and level of organization.

Affinity Senior Consultant Jeffrey Schoenberger will help you regain control of your day with this fast-paced session full of Microsoft Outlook techniques. You’ll go beyond the basics of the software you use daily and discover some hidden potential. Jeff will be bringing the best tactics and tips found by Affinity’s legal data nerds together to help you fully leverage all that it can do to better manage your workload.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Card Signing! During the conference this year, all attendees (including business partners) will be invited to sign various types of greeting cards that will be distributed to nursing homes, the VA hospital, shelters, etc. that can be distributed by their staff.  We will have at least 500 cards - birthday, holiday, Hanukkah, get-well, thinking-of-you cards, etc. to sign!  Cards, stickers and pens will be provided – we just need you to sign, apply some stickers to the card and put the cards into envelopes. This will be a quick and easy project and we will appreciate everyone’s help!

Cell Phone Collection - Do you have old cell phones, iPads, iPods sitting in a drawer at home or work?  Let us help you with that!  At the conference this year, we will have a box to collect old cell phones (any cell phone, regardless of the age), iPads and iPods for Sojourner Project.  Phones in good shape can be used for 911 phones and even broken phones can be turned into cash through their partner SmartPhone Recycling.  Sojourner’s mission is to provide emergency shelter, support and legal advocacy services to those victimized by domestic violence and other forms of interpersonal violence.  For additional information about Sojourner house, please check their website  https://www.sojournerproject.org/about 

 SOCIAL MEDIA

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