Copper Conferencing will be in Boston on December 1, 2011, exhibiting and learning at the Firm Future Practice Management and Legal Technology Show.

We will  join our friends from the ALA (Association of Legal Administrators) and LMA(Legal Marketing Association)  at this event, and will be  showcasing Copper’s expertise in communications solutions for the legal industry. Find out more about Conduct, Copper Conferencing’s Webinar and Event Management tool, here.  Convey, Copper’s Business Knowledgebase, launches soon.  To post your business content, or find out more about becoming a provider, click here.

If you are to be in Boston on Dec 1 for this show, please be sure to stop by booth 131 to say hello.

To meet with Copper at the Show, email dmckerrow@copperconferencing.com or call 866.903.7521.

Join us in recognizing all tireless legal professionals during International PLMW 2011  October 3-7.  Having had the opportunity this year to get to know so many of these men and women in law firms across the country, we celebrate the work ethic, professionalism, and dedication they display each day.  You are APPRECIATED!!!!!

Copper Conferencing is a proud supporter of the ALA (Association of Legal Administrators).  Find out more at www.copperlegal.com or at 866-903-7521.

Carolyn Bradfield, CEO-Copper Conferencing

Over the last week, I’ve been reminded that life can be a series of close calls.   Think about what your life might be like if you had just picked the Power Ball numbers correctly.What if you had called just a little earlier for those tickets for the big football game?  But sometimes close calls can be exactly in the opposite direction.

Let’s start with the first close call.  Parker Metzler was born just a little over a month ago and by all rights he shouldn’t be here.  The pregnancy was great and his birth was normal.  There were no complications and he’s very healthy.  But, there was a close call 10 years ago that Parker will one day know about from his dad Brian that almost ended his life before it began.

10 years ago, fresh out of college, Brian was excited to take his first job with Morgan Stanley.  The economy was booming and a new crop of college recruits were being trained in New York to become financial advisors.  Brian was on the 66^th floor of World Trade Center II when a huge jolt shook his floor and he could see debris raining down past his window.   He, along with his fellow classmates, started making the long climb down the stairs, staring at cracks in the stairwell and into the faces of the firefighters that would never make it out.

In the lobby, announcements were made that it was safe to return to offices, but Brian had a sixth sense that this was not normal and begin walking back to his hotel, leaving his phone and back pack behind.  You know the rest of the story.  A few years later, as an MBA student in North Carolina, Brian was diagnosed with testicular cancer and again beat the odds to recover and later have little Parker.    For Brian, life gave him two close calls and he beat them both.

On Saturday, I got a call from one of Copper Conferencing’s Board members, Ed,  from a hospital in Reno, Nevada.  You would have to be living under a rock not to know that a terrible accident happened at the air show killing 9 spectators in the stands.  Ed was there with friends, sitting in the VIP section.  He and a friend looked up, saw the plane coming and started to run.  20 feet from where Ed was just sitting, the plane dove into the ground.

Ed’s didn’t come out unscathed.  He has a severed Achilles tendon, shrapnel in his calf and 50 stiches in his head.  Again, one of life’s close calls.  If he had not been looking up; if he had not had the instinct to run, then things may have been much different.

One of Ed’s first statements to me was, “I’m not dead”.  I was focused on Ed’s injuries and on his recovery time and Ed was affirming his life and the close call that spared him.  When I spoke with Brian after 9/11 and talked about his experience, I found that his perspective was much the same.  Yes, it was traumatizing and yes, it was terrible, but I got the sense that Brian was just grateful as Ed is that he wasn’t dead.

I admire both Ed and Brian for the way they have looked at two very horrible events.  It’s not with fear, nor regret, nor trauma, but with gratitude that they had one of life’s close calls and they had lived through it.

Since 9/11 and the cancer scare, Brian has lived his life admirably.  He married his sweetheart, Heather, graduated from an MBA program and charted a career in the financial industry, despite the poor economy.  And now, he’s been rewarded with Parker.  I hope he’ll teach Parker how to focus on the upside of a situation, not dwell on the tragedy.

What will Ed do with his gift?  Knowing him, he’ll continue to live life to its fullest, explore many more entrepreneurial activities and be the great person that I’ve always known him to be.  Ed, so glad that “you’re not dead”, and that you exemplify the perspective that I wish all of us could have on life’s close calls.

If you would like to schedule a meeting with Copper Conferencing during the conference, please email jspivey@copperconferencing.com or call 866-903.7521.

See you in Nashville!

Carolyn Bradfield, CEO

The conventional wisdom in America has been that bigger is usually better. Go into any fast food restaurant and you will be asked to “super size” your meal. Businesses consistently tout that they are the largest in their industry, that they are the number one provider, that they are BIG. But, does that really make them better?

Take the fast food industry. We are living in a nation of fat people. I know that is not a politically correct or popular statement, but the % of Americans that are obese or grossly obese is alarming. Super sizing a fast food entrée, getting a massive amount of food in your order, and having it served on a platter motivates the consumer to eat way more than they need to.

Let’s take the case of General Motors, the largest car company in the world. 2 years ago, they outgrew their ability to understand and manage their organization. They had redundant brands and operations, did not take advantage of the economies of scale and did not recognize that the consumer wanted quality and were willing to go elsewhere to get it. They teetered on the edge of bankruptcy and were only spared when the US government bailed them out and took a stake in their company. Remember the statement “too big to fail”. Today, they are smaller, have less brands, and are coming to the realization that they need to shed the “big guy” mentality.

In the business world, I think we are beginning to recognize that size isn’t what it used to be and that “bigger” comes with its set of disadvantages. In the technology arena, most of the small guys (and Copper is one of them) can create partnerships with bigger players to accumulate a suite of technology services it can offer to its customers. We’ve long gone past the notion that we have to “build it here”.

In the rental car business, Avis, who always played second fiddle to the giant sized Hertz had a genius advertising slogan “We try harder”. I think that is true about the small guy vs. the big guy. As a smaller company, a smaller technology provider like Copper, you have to distinguish yourself in other ways so the customer has an advantage in working with you vs. the giant organization that has many more people to throw at your account.

Smaller guys tend to be more responsive. They tend to be more personalized in the way they service an account. It’s like being in a small town where you know everyone’s name. There are certain advantages to picking up the phone and being able to reach a live person who knows you are and appreciates your business.

Remember that when you are the big guy, the one on the top of the mountain, the only direction you can generally move is down. If you look at the Fortune 50 over the last 100 years, many of those companies don’t exist, went out of business or fell on really hard times. That’s because they get fat, complacent, unresponsive, unmotivated and lose their drive and creativity.

The next time when you are evaluating who to do business with, think about whether in today’s marketplace, size really still counts in the same way it did in years past. In the conferencing industry, I can tell you that the answer is a resounding no. The largest conferencing company in the world is still InterCall. They are also the most reviled by their customers. They are known for their poor customer service, for their lack of response, and for piling on additional fees to cover for the customer base that walks out the door in disgust. They have been sued by their own customers who have questioned the ethics of adding fees that they didn’t agree to. (By the way, they lose most of these battles)

Copper Conferencing has no aspirations to be as big and it never loses sight that we have to earn our customer’s respect and trust every day. We never take that for granted. We’re the little guy and damned proud of it.

About Copper Conferencing
Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Copper Conferencing provides audio conferencing and web conferencing services to businesses in all industries. Copper’s Conference Coaches™ provide expert guidance in audio and web conferencing services and online account management. From On Demand reservationless audio conference calls to highly interactive webinars and special event calls, Copper Conferencing helps businesses save time and money while improving productivity. Copper’s audio and web conferencing services are backed by fully managed, carrier-class platforms to power communication for thousands of customers. For more information about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.

Copper Conferencing recently introduced Conduct to the marketplace, a comprehensive, simple and affordable event management tool. Enthusiastically received by the legal community, Conduct is the right solution to create and manage webinars. Soon-to-be-released is Connect, our Business Content Platform. Learn more at www.conductnow.com

Be sure to stop by Booth 807 to find out more and talk with the Copper team!

To schedule an appointment at the show, email bjbates@copperconferencing.com or reach him at 303.951.4177.

If you have used other services to host your CLE webinars, be sure to see Copper Conferencing at ACLEA’s 47th Annual Meeting in Boston July 30-August 2.  Copper Conferencing will be there to introduce our new service, Conduct, to ACLEA (American Continuing Legal Education Association)show attendees.  Conduct is designed to let you create a CLE webinar in minutes, promote it, register participants, accept payment, and notify and remind them to attend – all in a single technology.  Conduct changes the way you think about CLE webinars!

Conduct will:

• Significantly reduce your cost
• Streamline the entire process
• Deliver a high quality CLE event

Stop by booth #7 at the ACLEA show in Boston to see how Conduct can bring it all together for CLE webinars!

To schedule a meeting with Copper at the show, contact BJ Bates at 303.951.4177 or bjbates@copperconferencing.com

Carolyn Bradfield, CEO

They say that we lose over 1,000 World War II Veterans every day. Today is the day that one of those was my father, Tom Woosley who was 86 years old. He wasn’t sick; he had no lingering illness; he just walked into the hallway of his house and died.

Although my heart breaks at the loss, it’s not often that someone leaves this world with absolutely no regrets. He was one of those people. He grew up poor in Albemarle, North Carolina, the only child of a cook in a school cafeteria whose husband had left the family when he was very little. World War II came along and even though he could have gotten deferred, being an only son, he enlisted and flew in Japan as a radio operator on a B24 Liberator.

The GI bill gave him the only opportunity for a college education and he took advantage of it, graduating from college and graduate school in North Carolina. He went to work for General Motors, in their finance group GMAC, and spent his entire career loyal to the company, retiring early as GM right sized their workforce.

We moved to a sleepy small town, LaGrange in the 60’s, just after his beloved mother was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, dying in her mid sixties. There, he and my mother made lifelong friends and their life revolved around family, their church, and their friends. My dad retired early, but always gave back to the community, volunteering for Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity and for any cause that needed his help. He was a life long Rotarian and lived his life by their principles:
• Is it the truth?
• Is it fair to all concerned?
• Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
• Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

In his later years, he was called on to serve again, but this time for a cause closer to home. As my mother became forgetful, began repeating herself, and needed to retreat closer to home, he cared for her unselfishly and endured her repeated questions when others came to visit. Their routine became one of church, and occasional breakfast meetings with friends.

Every Saturday, they joined a group of friends at Charlie Joseph’s, a hot dog place in LaGrange, to visit, to think about what is going on in the world, and to check in with each other. This Saturday, Tom won’t be there, but the group will still convene, talk about good times and miss their friend Tom.

Tom left the world with good friends, with a son and daughter that he raised to be confident and principled, with a love of the Lord, and with no regrets. We should all be so blessed.

About Copper Conferencing
Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Copper Conferencing provides audio conferencing and web conferencing services to businesses in all industries. Copper’s Conference Coaches™ provide expert guidance in audio and web conferencing services and online account management. From On Demand reservationless audio conference calls to highly interactive webinars and special event calls, Copper Conferencing helps businesses save time and money while improving productivity. Copper’s audio and web conferencing services are backed by fully managed, carrier-class platforms to power communication for thousands of customers. For more information about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.

Carolyn Bradfield, CEO

Using technology to create operational efficiencies and contain cost continues to be a key focus of law firm administrators and operational managers in 2011. One of the most useful, but often underutilized technologies that firms are exploring is web conferencing often referred to as webinars.

Firms across the country use web conferencing to hold meetings between offices without the time and expense of traveling. They train their employees, review policy and procedure, and have operational discussions. Firm marketers conduct promotional webinars to highlight the firm’s expertise or hold continuing legal education classes to bring in a wider audience.

Although many ALA members are not IT specialists, managing technology often falls into their area of responsibility and the thought of managing webinars may seem like a daunting task. However, webinars are much easier to manage and less expensive to use than they ever have been. Here are some myths about webinars and the reality of how this technology works today:

Webinars require IT support.
Webinars are accessed without the need to install special software or have a different connection to the Internet. Unlike video conferencing that requires equipment, special network connections and room set up, webinars can be done from the privacy of one’s office. Adding video conferencing to the call is as simple as having a web cam on your PC.

It requires special training to do a webinar.
In the past, web conferencing technology was hard to use. The key web conferencing services recognized this and made their services much easier to set up, deliver and manage. Many of the services today offer online tutorials that make it easy to get started. Although web conferencing technology has many features for the advanced user, most individuals find that learning how to invite people, deliver a PowerPoint, chat and record will handle 90% of their needs.

It’s hard for people to access a webinar.
Getting past a firm’s firewall has been an issue for many webinar users in the past. Today, most services do not require a download to attend and have no impact on the firm’s firewall settings. If you can access Google, then you can get into a web conference call. It’s as simple as clicking a link, typing in your name, and joining the meeting.

Most webinars work with only certain types of PC’s.
In the past, unless you were on a windows-based PC, webinars wouldn’t work for you. Today, web conferencing services work with both PC’s and Macs, regardless of the operating system you use.

You can’t record a webinar meeting.
You can always record a webinar and keep the recording to use later. For example, if you do a training, you can record it and post it so others that couldn’t attend can view the recording. If you have purchased web conferencing from your audio conferencing provider, the technologies are integrated so the audio and web recording are synchronized.

You have to commit to a contract.
Although you can commit to a contract to receive a lower price, you can always “try it before you buy it”. Some webinar services will let you use the technology on a month-to-month basis without a contract.

Webinars are expensive.
Webinars can be very economical, especially if you use a reservationless audio conferencing service for the audio portion. You can purchase the technology on a per minute basis or pay for it with a fixed, flat monthly rate. Webinars get expensive when you use the event management tools within the web technology. However, those services are also available for much less money outside the web conferencing provider. Web conferencing requires no special equipment to use.

Webinars are hard to manage.
Conducting a webinar requires that you promote it, register people and send the login to them prior to the call. This can be easily accomplished with automated online event management services. During the webinar, the tools you use are easy to find and designed to help you manage and control the call.

If your firm looked at webinars in the past or if you have been afraid of the technology, there has never been a better time to look again. Webinars have gotten much more user friendly, easier to access, and easier to manage. They can help you save your firm travel time and expense and execute the services you need to provide your firm and their clients.

About Copper Conferencing
Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Copper Conferencing provides audio conferencing and web conferencing services to businesses in all industries. Copper’s Conference Coaches™ provide expert guidance in audio and web conferencing services and online account management. From On Demand reservationless audio conference calls to highly interactive webinars and special event calls, Copper Conferencing helps businesses save time and money while improving productivity. Copper’s audio and web conferencing services are backed by fully managed, carrier-class platforms to power communication for thousands of customers. For more information about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.

Carolyn Bradfield, CEO

Believe it or not, this week IBM is celebrating its 100-year anniversary. People familiar with IBM are not only struck by how long IBM has been in business, but by how the company has continued to reinvent itself over the years.

IBM started its corporate life making clocks and cheese slicers. When the Social Security Act became law, IBM created the punched-card tabulator to keep track of Social Security recipients. Over time, they invented the Selectric Typewriter, magnetic tapes, he memory chip, mainframes and personal computers. Today, IBM is known for its services and its software.

IBM has been one of the richest and largest companies in the world and one that has been on the brink of financial disaster. In 1962, Tom Watson, Jr., the son of IBM’s founder, spoke to an audience on the 50th anniversary of the company, startling them with the following statistic. Only two of the top 25 industrial corporations in the United States in 1900 were still on the top 25 list with 6 being absorbed, 2 disappearing and 15 slipping way far behind. Fast-forward to today and only 2 of the top 25 companies at the time of Tom Watson’s speech are still at top 25.

The founders of IBM believed that success was fleeting, but if they created a philosophy that worked they could sustain the company for the long haul. In the words of Tom Watson from 1962, here is that formula for success:

“I firmly believe that any organization, in order to survive and achieve success, must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all its policies and actions.”

You could infer that this statement refers to a value system, but beyond that, it speaks to what makes the company unique and how it wants to be viewed in the marketplace. IBM clearly wanted to be known as an innovator. They wanted to bring creative solutions to the marketplace that solved a problem and allowed their customers to be more productive. They wanted their customers to come to IBM for these solutions that they could get from nowhere else.

Copper Conferencing models that philosophy by having a defined corporate value system that is used to benchmark all decisions. At the core of that value system is the premise that the customer needs always comes first. We also want to be known as an innovator, creating an experience that makes life easier from the customer and that get only from Copper. We developed easy to use online customer management technology. We deployed a nationwide network of local dial in numbers to control cost. We just launched Conduct to make the promotion, management and delivery of webinars much easier and much less expensive.

“I believe that if an organization is to meet the challenges of a changing world, it must be prepared to change everything about itself… except those beliefs…”

IBM’s long corporate history reflects their willingness to change, to evolve and to reinvent itself, preparing the company to serve the marketplace as it evolves. Look at the progression of computing. IBM had tabulation machines, then typewriters, then room-sized computers, then computers that sat on the desktop and finally the software and services that drove the information age. There is no doubt IBM will continue to evolve. Their slogan, “Think” is what they do best.

Conduct is positioning Copper Conferencing to evolve, to redefine itself and to prepare for the changing needs of the marketplace. We are not just making webinars easier to manage and deliver, but we intend to serve the need to have a focused solution for business people to easily find business content that helps them “think” and evolve. We want to make sure that this content is not co-mingled with videos of laughing babies and twittering celebrities. This year is the year for Copper to evolve.

Congratulations IBM. 100 years of keeping true to your core beliefs, of creating a culture for success and having the courage to continue to evolve. We hope that companies will take a page from your playbook so they can survive, grow and thrive. Copper has certainly watched you and is following your example.

About Copper Conferencing
Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Copper Conferencing provides audio conferencing and web conferencing services to businesses in all industries. Copper’s Conference Coaches™ provide expert guidance in audio and web conferencing services and online account management. From On Demand reservationless audio conference calls to highly interactive webinars and special event calls, Copper Conferencing helps businesses save time and money while improving productivity. Copper’s audio and web conferencing services are backed by fully managed, carrier-class platforms to power communication for thousands of customers. For more information about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.