Slow Your Roll

Tim Eigo, State Bar of Arizona
2019 Communications Section Chair


If your lawyer members remind you more of turtles than jackrabbits, you may be able to benefit from a trend in news-consumption preferences. That actionable nugget comes courtesy of great recent research on journalism, whose work – imho – overlaps significantly with the work of bar communicators. (In another part of my life, I have the privilege to head up a chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. We’re 110 years old this year – and registered at Target btw!).

News-consumption habits are worth examining by all of us who count “raising engagement” among our many duties. And many of us (OK, at least me) may occasionally grow frustrated by the characteristics of the copy we create and manage, largely due to the expectations of our lawyer audience. Detailed? Check. Cited? Check. Exhaustive and extensive? Check and check.

Even among the many excellent bar communications out there – and there are a lot – it’s hard to entirely #SquelchTheStodge. Few of our authors will write 100 words when they could write 650. Call the CDC, cuz it’s a malady that distinguishes the legal profession.

But what new research shows us is that many news consumers have grown weary of tiny tastes of text, bare squibs of coverage, and dropperfuls of data claiming to explain big stories. They want more. More depth, more detail, more – gulp – words!

In our meme culture (no judgment), NiemanLab reports, “There’s even an acronym for the increasingly prevalent desire to put an end to the endless streams of posts, stories and fast news: JOMO, or the ‘joy of missing out.’”

“So let me get this straight,” you’re asking me. “Are you saying that the acres of words we curate and write may be the preferred approach for growing portions of the U.S. readership tired of endless quick takes?”

Could be.

“OK, Tim, if that’s true, then, in 2019, attorney verbosity isn’t a bug, but a feature?”

Hmm, let’s not get carried away. But the recent NiemanLab story explored the “slow journalism” movement.

Nieman reports on the work of a few slow journalism startups that are aiming to provide content to an audience that has grown frustrated by the modern approach to news. As author Benjamin Bathke writes:

“Born out of the frustration at the quality of journalism from the mainstream press, slow journalism sprung into existence around 2011 with the launch of UK quarterly print magazine Delayed Gratification. Around a dozen or so new publications and books later, the rise of the dual consumer trend demanding a slower kind of journalism and actively looking to miss out is conspicuous. Now the question becomes: Can slow journalism serve as an alternate for news fatigue – and news avoidance? And can media startups capitalize on news consumers’ disenchantment with an offer people are willing to pay for?”

You may never have considered it, but all that content your bar provides may also be a welcome alternate to the news fatigue so many feel. And as we’re all seeking to locate reliable revenue streams, it’s worth asking: In associations who create content like Krispy Kreme creates donuts, should we consider audiences beyond our members? Could we select a few quality pieces from the mass of content at our disposal and share that out, either daily or weekly? Could a subscription service to your own bar’s detailed long-reads – curated down to a select few for every issue – be exactly what some community members are looking for?

Nieman says the motto of one of those journo startups is “We prioritize knowledge over speed.”

Sounds like a bar association to me. In a post-flash age, could associations be king? #NABEmore, amiright?

Anyhoo, read the complete Nieman story here: http://www.niemanlab.org/2019/03/slow-down-read-up-why-slow-journalism-and-finishable-news-is-quickly-growing-a-following/

And by the way, if we want others to support our content creation, be sure to support your local journalists. Find content you like, and pay for it, whether it’s a PBS station or a newspaper. The journalism profession – and our democracy – depend on it.

“If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, Any Road Will Take You There.”

Karen Korr
Full Korr Press (formerly San Diego County Bar Association)


A million years ago, in my first stint as a public relations consultant, my former boss used to use the Lewis Carroll quote above any time we were out pitching new business. Of course, his intention was to sell the potential client on a pricey communications plan (that I would ultimately end up writing), but now that I am back in the consulting world, I begrudgingly find myself using that same quote all the time.

In my (very recent) transition back to consulting, I have found that what bar associations and law firms want most it tactical direction – they want to know what is going where, when, what it is going to sound like, who is doing it, and how much time it will take. Awhile back, I wrote about my methodology for creating the San Diego County Bar Association’s Communications Plan (with a quick cameo by Richard Dreyfuss).

While I still generally use the same methodology and tactics, there are a few elements that I have recently added to the repertoire. I’ve listed them below, should they be helpful to you if/when you are working on your communications plan.

  1. Content Migration Flow: At the San Diego County Bar Association, one of our biggest challenges was managing competing priorities when it came to content. To help define what went where when, we devised a flow chart for each of our major content topics. For example, our “Ethics in Brief” column would appear in our weekly newsletter on Mondays, we would post it to Linked In on Tuesdays, and Tweet it out Thursdays. We created a distinct flow for our event marketing, technology columns, President’s Messages, law practice management information, member benefit partner promotions, and the rest of our regular content.
  2. Define KPIs: The “buzz” phrase in the business world currently is “KPIs.” For those who, like me until very recently, haven’t heard this phrase, it is shorthand for “Key Performance Indicators.” Generally speaking, the measurement piece of any project. With communications and marketing, it is sometimes difficult to know if our efforts make a real impact on numbers, or if our messages are solely serving to reinforce our brand. Regardless, all of my plans generally have some sort of number measurables so that we can accurately assess whether our efforts are working. Sometimes I measure success by web traffic, other times by social media engagement, and other times, by attendee numbers, and other times, only anecdotally or through accolades and/or engagement.
  3. Social Media Editorial Calendar: I put together a general outline for a social media calendar, usually mirroring or supplementing the editorial calendars of the organization’s publications (where applicable) and giving a general guideline for monthly themes and highlighting key events and dates. For example, if the monthly magazine is going to focus on technology in January, the editorial calendar includes planning for social media posts offering #techtips throughout January. Law Day and other annual events are also noted, giving the organization time to prepare for poss well in advance of major events.
  4. List of Awards and Sponsorship Opportunities: Special awards (think Top Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and “40 under 40” type of awards) are abundant in most local and many national legal and general interest publications. A list of awards that generate positive publicity helps to shine a light on some of the organization’s superstars while also garnering good press. Additionally, there are always key in-kind and financial sponsorship opportunities that can create greater visibility. There are also sponsorships for events and programs where your organization’s absence may be noticeable. Whether or not you decide to move forward with them is obviously dependent on multiple factors, however, listing them out or calendaring them puts the opportunities on the organization’s radar for possible future participation.

If you are just starting out on your communications plan, here are a few other resources and articles that may be helpful (also, you might want to ask for examples from other bars through our new e-communities):

The 16 Things Every Communications Plan Should Include

Building an Outcome Focused Communications Plan

Know Thy Objective

Penn State Strategic Communications Plan