Denver, CO and Atlanta, GA — September 2, 2010 Copper Conferencing, a leading provider of audio conferencing and webinar services to the legal community, introduced Copper Legal, a full suite of audio conferencing, web conferencing and online account management for law firms and their legal administrators.   Visit www.copperlegal.com.

Copper Legal addresses the growing need of law firms to manage and recover costs, create efficiency among the administrative staff and find creative ways to develop greater contact with potential clients. Law firms, like many businesses today, must find ways to grow their businesses while closely monitoring costs needing to accomplish more with fewer resources.  “As we have become more educated to the challenges law firms and their administrators face in the current economy, we have continued to refine our conferencing services to be more relevant to the industry,” said Carolyn Bradfield, CEO of Copper Conferencing.

Connect To Copper, the online account management tool for firm administrators and legal assistants, streamlines the time that administrators must spend in managing conferencing users and allocating calls to the appropriate cost center or client matter number.  Features have been added specifically for law firms including the ability to email conferencing account information to attorneys at the touch of a button, to manage recordings online and to get invoicing reports electronically.

“We have increased our understanding of the administrative needs of law firms through our sponsorships and visits with members of the Association of Legal Administrators.  Those relationships have helped Copper understand their challenges and create technology to match their needs.”

Copper Legal provides a full suite of audio and web conferencing services for the day-to-day needs of the firm.  Using Copper Legal’s webinar services, law firms can offer CLE seminars, and offer educational webinars to clients, colleagues, the general public or to specific market segments. For more information about Copper Legal, visit www.copperlegal.com.

With Copper Legal, we make it easy for busy legal administrators to manage conferencing, monitor costs and increase their productivity. As part of Copper Legal, our comprehensive and easy-to-use customer portal, Connect To Copper, is a one-stop resource for conference call account management.  With real-time access to activate or deactivate moderators, view usage, listen to and download recordings or view and pay invoices, administrators can work more efficiently and effectively.

Copper Conferencing will be showcasing Copper Legal at two ALA regional conferences this fall.   Ms Bradfield will be attending Copper’s booth at the ALA Region 4 conference October 1-2, 2010 at the Four Seasons Resort & Club Dallas at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.  Sara Stilson, Director of Sales for Copper Conferencing, will be attending the ALA Region 5 & 6 conference September 30 – October 2, 2010 at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, California.  Stop by and see Copper at either show or click here to schedule an appointment with Carolyn or Sara.

About Copper Conferencing
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado with a major communications center in Atlanta, Georgia, Copper Conferencing provides audio conferencing and web conferencing services to small and medium-sized businesses. Copper’s Conference Coaches™ provide expert guidance of enhanced conferencing services. From On Demand reservationless audio conference calls, to highly interactive webinars and special teleconference event calls, Copper Conferencing helps businesses save time and money while improving productivity. Copper’s conferencing services are backed by fully managed, carrier-class platforms to power communication for thousands of customers. For more information about Copper Conferencing, www.copperconferencing.com or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.

Copyright  2010 Copper Legal and Connect To Copper are trademarks of The Himark Group, LLC dba Copper Conferencing

Press Contact:

Alycia Maier-Turner
Copper Conferencing
303.952.4308
pr@copperconferencing.com

Webinar Title: New Resume, New Career: Career Connections and Transitions
Presented by Catherine Jewell
Date: Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Time: 2pm ET / 12pm MT

Do you wish your resume generated more interviews? In this exclusive webinar, Catherine Jewell reveals how you can sharpen and focus your resume to win more interviews.

This fast-paced webinar will cover:
• Giving your resume a facelift in 30 minutes or less
• Customizing your resume for the job you want
• Positioning your background for the job you are seeking
• Five questions to uncover your special assets
• Packing your resume with measurable career successes

Whether you have been in the job market for a while, or are just considering a change, be sure to attend this webinar. Catherine suggests you bring a copy of your current resume, so you go home with new language to put to use right away.

This is an hour well spent for anyone interested in giving your resume that extra “pop” or planning on a career change. Register today!

Who Should Attend: Students, Recent Graduates, Human Resources, Managers, Employees, etc.

Register here: http://www.copperconferencing.com/go/985d6

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

Carolyn Bradfield

Last week, I flew to Denver then to Houston and then to Atlanta.  Because I run a conferencing company, I know the value of using audio and web conferencing to minimize the need for these types of trips.  But sometimes, you have to go pay a personal visit.  During the summertime, you pay a high financial as well as a personal price to get on an airplane.

Maybe it’s just because I’m older and my kids are older.  I just get terribly annoyed with the way families travel these days.   They clog up the airports with their strollers, their stuff and their kids.  They slow things way down at the ticket counter, through the security line and getting onto the airplane.  Now I know everyone deserves a vacation, a family trip or time to see the relatives.  But I beg you to please respect those of us who need to travel to make a living.

If you are not a frequent traveler, then here are some hints for those of you lugging your kids off to Disney World or to see grandma:

Pack lighter
You see families lugging toys, stuffed animals, pillows and giant sized diaper bags through the airport and wonder how they will manage this load of stuff.  Leave some of this stuff at home.  If you really need it at your destination, visit Goodwill or Wal-Mart, buy the extra stuff and donate it before you go home.  Better yet, send money ahead and have the grandparents do some pre-visit shopping.

Dress for the airport
You are going to have to strip down to go through security and so are your children.  When they have tennis shoes with complicated laces, it slows up the process.  Consider a cheap pair of flip-flops to get through the airport.  Stuff those jackets, jewelry and belts in your carry-on bag before you get to security.

Set your kids expectations in advance
If they are old enough, tell your kids the process they will go through in the airport.  Let them know what they are responsible to carry, how they will have to stand in line and what is expected of them as they go through security.  Let them know what type of behavior is acceptable in the airport and how to behave in their seat on the airplane.

Be prepared
Invest in a travel folder and put your documents and identification where they are in one place and easy to get to.  Long before you get to the security officer, have this folder in hand and ready to give to them.  If you think your kids will be bored, have plenty of things to do and snacks packed in advance.

Remember, they are not as cute as you think they are.
I’m sure you have the cutest kids in America.  However, business people don’t really want to engage with them.  If they kick our seat or if they turn around to wave at us, we’ll be polite, but we really just want to be left alone.  It’s not cute when they horse around with each other in line either.  I know that you think they are cute, but don’t look to us frequent travelers to validate that.

The business traveler often grinds it out in the air week to week and we are just looking for a peaceful ride to wherever we are going.  We have kids of our own and are not just mean and grumpy people.  Respect our space, learn the rules of the road, be prepared, manage your kids and we can all fly the friendly skies together in peace.

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a provider of easy-to-use audio conferencing and web conferencing communication tools. You can try Copper’s affordable web and audio conferencing services — and get a discount for using our nationwide Local Dial-In network. Just sign up now.

Carolyn Bradfield

The older you get, the more nostalgic you get.  Normally, I’m not given to looking back, but sometimes I just can’t help it.  This summer, my small high school in LaGrange, Georgia is holding a multi-year class reunion.  It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of these, but this one is appealing because I get to visit with more people I went to school with.

This is going to tell you how old I am and how much of a small Southern town I come from.  We had one movie theater, one hamburger place and one pizza place.  You couldn’t buy alcohol because the county was dry and our schools weren’t integrated until I was a junior in high school.  The big activities were driving around (gas cost $.25 a gallon), going to the movies once a week, and “parking.”  (Don’t ask me about parking!).

Those were simple times where we had to make our own fun, find things to keep us engaged and navigate through some profound changes in society.  During high school, I saw the end of the Vietnam War, the end of school segregation and the beginning of the drug culture.   Times will never be as simple, as clear and as innocent as they were back then.

I’ve been in the conferencing industry for 20 years and I have to acknowledge the end of an era for a technology and a company I was very fond of.  A small group of entrepreneurs founded a company in the ‘90’s called Evoke that built the best mousetrap I’ve ever seen in conferencing.  They automated an audio conference call where you never had to worry about making a reservation or that there wouldn’t be space available for your call.  They added a simple web interface to control your call that was a forerunner of the way we all use web conferencing today.

The founders (Paul and Todd) always saw themselves as a web conferencing company, raised millions of dollars in the investment world and launched a competitive strike against the incumbent WebEx.  What they failed to realize is that in reality they had built a better mousetrap for audio conferencing by streamlining how a call was managed and conducted.  Their technology was way ahead of its time and the rest of the industry followed their lead.

WebEx proved to be the giant in the web conferencing industry, and Evoke who became Raindance, never gained enough traction to be huge and make their investors rich.  In 2006, the management team at Raindance finally gave up and sold to their company to industry giant InterCall.

Sometimes, as in this case, the bigger company fails to recognize that what they bought extends beyond the revenue and profits.   Raindance had an incredible corporate culture, young and talented employees, an advanced technology and data system, a well-developed web product, and loyal customers.  InterCall, in their infinite wisdom, decided to dismantle all of it.

On September 1, 2010, the audio conferencing technology that was simple to use, always reliable and so advanced is being turned off.  Because InterCall never recognized its uniqueness, its potential and its possibilities, they ignored it, favoring a system that is more complex with lots of moving parts.  They spent tens of millions of dollars trying to customize a data collection and billing system when the one they purchased had much of the components of what they needed.

There are still a number of customers that use the Raindance platform and they are going to be in for a shock to their system.  Everything about their conferencing experience is going to change and not necessarily for the better.

It’s the end of an era in the conferencing industry and I’m sad about that.  I think the customers are going to find that being given lots of billing choices, more features than they will ever use, and a system that is not nearly as streamlined and elegant is going to be a step down in the way they do business.

Paul and Todd, thank you for what you brought to the industry, to the type of company you created and the culture that you promoted.  Thank you for thinking outside the box and creating a better way to do business.

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a provider of easy-to-use audio conferencing and web conferencing communication tools. Copper also provides wrap-around services including online account, invoice and recording management. You can try Copper’s great web and audio conferencing services — FREE. Just sign up now.

Over the past two or three decades, Denver has reinvented itself from an industrial town to a bustling metropolitan area.  Long gone are most of the warehouses that filled downtown and the options for recreation have increased in range and numbers.  Many of the warehouses have been converted into spectacular living spaces with shops below giving Denver a very viable community within the downtown district.  And so as not to forget the cultural changes, Denver has invested millions in the convention center, theaters, museums, zoo, parks and shopping areas to ensure that not only residents feel compelled to stay but tourists and locals desire to dine, play and stay in the city.  They’ve also invested in a first-class airport to ensure that passengers are easily able to get to Denver and that airlines want to fly through Denver International Airport (DIA).

With all this, one has to wonder why, why those in decision making positions chose to put two of the most unusual, and quite possibly, most inappropriate pieces of art in prominent locations at DIA. Anyone who has flown into DIA and driven away from the airport knows the spectacle of the giant blue rearing horse with demonic red eyes.  For those of you not familiar with this obnoxious and somewhat disturbing art-rocity, the blue horse is 30-feet tall and is located on a hill to greet people as they arrive at the terminal building. An interesting and somewhat creepy fact is that during the creation of the statue, the head of the horse fell on the sculpture and killed him.

Okay, so I’ve never actually seen it disintegrate a car, but from the conversations I’ve had with many, many people, it would not come as a surprise if the eyes of the status suddenly came to life and did emit beams of light that destroyed with amazing precision.  You think I’m kidding but I’ve met several people who upon seeing the carefully placed status ask why someone (anyone) would pay for such a disturbing public work of art.

So this begs the question as to why someone (or a city such as Denver) would then commission and pay for a status of Anubis, god of the dead, to be placed in a similarly prominent position at a public airport?  What are these people thinking?

Oh yes, I know that Anubis is one of the Egyptian gods of the dead and that his primary duties included helping in cemeteries and mummification, ushering people into the underworld and monitoring the Scales of Truth to protect the dead from deception and eternal death.  I also recognize that still today parts of Egyptian culture Anubis is very important.

But really, what were these people thinking? Did they stop to think about the affect on travelers that a 26-foot statue of Anubis, god of the dead, would have on travelers or the unsettling message that it sends?  Even local media outlet Fox 31 weighed in on the installment.

Kim Posey interviewed travelers at DIA who weren’t thrilled.  Read her entire article entitled “Blucifer’s New Buddy:  God of the dead arrives at DIA.”

Why do I care? Well, I arrived yesterday at DIA and had some time to kill before being picked up.  Grabbed my bag from baggage claim and decided to make my way out to the south end of the terminal where there is some outdoor seating.  The 7-ton Anubis with its jackal head and golden cuffed biceps and ankles gazes in at the passengers as if waiting to usher their poor departed souls to the nether regions.  I had wondered where the statue of Anubis was located.  I wonder no more.

Alycia Maier-Turner is the Director of Marketing for Copper Conferencing a provider of Earth-friendly communication tools – audio and web conferencing. Copper also provides wrap-around services including online account, invoice and recording management. You can try Copper’s great web and audio conferencing services — FREE. Just sign up now.

Webinar Title: Stand Out by Building Your Brand – How to Brand Yourself to Success!
Presented by Valerie Sokolosky
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010
Time: 2pm ET/ 12pm MT

Description:
Branding is not just for products anymore. YOU are a brand.
Personal branding has become a MUST, not a maybe, if you want to progress in your career or transition into another one, build your own business, add value to your company and stand out from your peers and competition. Personal branding show your uniqueness, your value, your goals… it’s the reason people choose you above your competition.

Five Key Things You Will Have Accomplished by the End of the Session:
• Understand your unique promise of value
• Identify your personal attributes
• Understand the VP’s of Brand You
• Learn ways to “stand out” and be outstanding!
• Learn the value of Social Networking

If you are serious about your career and are ready to proactively manage it then this program is for you! Join Valerie for an interactive 60-minute webinar.

Register here: http://www.copperconferencing.com/go/c9d24

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

Carolyn Bradfield

Although this may tarnish my CEO image, I still really like the Oprah Winfrey show.  I was having withdrawal symptoms when she announced that my daily fix of advice, information, and emotional moments would end this year.  However, I’m feeling better that she is starting her own network in the fall.

On last Friday’s show, Oprah announced that she was teaming up with Mark Burnett (Survivor and The Apprentice) to hold a nationwide hunt for someone to host a reality TV show on her network.  I’m now in TV heaven.  I love reality shows, watch them all, and have tried to be on both the Amazing Race and Survivor.  I can’t get anyone to partner with me for the Amazing Race and I think I’ve aged out for being competitive on Survivor.  (My video wasn’t interesting enough and I looked too much like Tina Wesson who had won the previous year)  However I think I could host my own reality show.

My bet is that when Oprah and Burnett show up in Atlanta this summer, they are not only going to be looking for talent, but also for a concept.  At the risk of one of my readers taking my concept, I thought I would share it on the blog, then ask for you to respond to it so that I have time to refine it.  (Yes, I am going to the audition in June!)

One of the things I know how to do well is to start a business from scratch, grow it and make it successful.  Success to me means that it performs well financially, gives a great return to investors, has a strong value system, and promotes a positive work climate.  In the last 20 years, I have done this at InterCall, Quorum, InterAct, Phoenix Outdoor and now Copper Conferencing.

Now to the reality show concept.  Think hybrid between The Apprentice and The Shark Tank.  On the Apprentice, two teams execute business tasks, generally for a corporate client, a team winner is declared and the “The Donald” fires someone on the losing team.  Projects range from creating radio ads, to opening a restaurant to designing a corporate apartment.  The Shark Tank had a series of entrepreneurs who would go in front of a panel of celebrity investors who would hear their idea, and then offer them an investment in return for some percentage of the company.  The entrepreneur would have to either accept or reject the offer.  Even though most needed the money, not everyone accepted having someone own a large part of their business.

I would like to take several companies and have a team work with each of them over the course of a season to help them grow and improve their business.  Projects may include revamping their products, improving sales, running their operation better, improving employee morale and creatively pushing the envelope.  At the end, the business that has shown the most improvement, based on the judgment of a panel, would receive a monetary award to invest back in the business.

Each week’s tasks would be focused on something specific:
•    Teams get a budget to help improve employee camaraderie and morale.  Who does the best with a small amount of money?
•    Teams must launch a new product that complements their existing product line.  What is the product and the plan for launch?

Get the picture?  You would have an intimate look in the way a small business runs, the ability to watch the interpersonal dynamics of the management team, then see creative ways they have solved their business problems.

So blog readers, what do you think?  Burnett’s shows have some things in common:  challenges, overcoming personal conflict and personality differences to achieve a goal, and a “jury” or “panel” to decide the winner.  One could start with multiple management teams, whittle down the teams to those that are most deserving, then follow those teams as they compete for those investment dollars.

Weigh in……June is just around the corner.

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a provider of Earth-friendly communication tools – audio and web conferencing. Copper also provides wrap-around services including online account, invoice and recording management. You can try Copper’s great web and audio conferencing services — FREE. Just sign up now.

Webinar Title: Stand Out by Building Your Brand – How to Brand Yourself to Success!
Presented by Valerie Sokolosky
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010
Time: 2pm ET/ 12pm MT

Description:
Branding is not just for products anymore. YOU are a brand.
Personal branding has become a MUST, not a maybe, if you want to progress in your career or transition into another one, build your own business, add value to your company and stand out from your peers and competition. Personal branding show your uniqueness, your value, your goals… it’s the reason people choose you above your competition.

Five Key Things You Will Have Accomplished by the End of the Session:
• Understand your unique promise of value
• Identify your personal attributes
• Understand the VP’s of Brand You
• Learn ways to “stand out” and be outstanding!
• Learn the value of Social Networking

If you are serious about your career and are ready to proactively manage it then this program is for you! Join Valerie for an interactive 60-minute webinar.

Register here: http://www.copperconferencing.com/go/c9d24

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

Webinar Title: How Public Speaking is the Best Marketing Tool for Entrepreneurs
Presented by Marquesa Pettway
Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Time: 2pm ET/ 12pm MT

Description:
Do you use public speaking as a business growth tool?
Are you an entrepreneur looking to market yourself?
Marquesa Pettway guides you through how to use public speaking to attract multiple ideal clients at one time. In addition, Marquesa will show you how to add speaking to your existing business model for positioning, branding, additional income streams and improved sales.

During this must see webinar, you will learn:
• How to add public speaking to your business
• How to overcome your fear of public speaking
• Client attraction strategies from the platform
• How to add speaking to your business model for increased sales

Register here: http://www.copperconferencing.com/go/fefe3

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

Alycia Maier-Turner

Do you have a favorite recipe? A recipe that personifies where you grew up?

Where ever you call home, you’ll definitely want to find out more about these delicious dishes and what makes Copper Conferencing‘s team such an outstanding group of people.  From pork steaks to cupcakes, these recipes are delicious.  I’ve been lucky enough to see and test out all the tasty treats.

Over the next several months, we’ll be introducing you to different Copper Conferencing team members and their recipes. Be sure to come back often.  Meet someone from Copper and get a great recipe in the process.

Meet Walter Green and his Honey Pecan Pork Chops

Walter is one of our Sr. Sales Executives.  He assures me that noone has ever disliked his Honey Pecan Pork Chops and that served with fresh baked sweet potatoes and buttered broccoli, they are a treat not to be missed.  You can contact Walter directly at wgreen@copperconferencing.com.

Meet Amanda Kubicek

Amanda is our webinar guru.  Her voice may be familiar to anyone who has attending our free Business Webinar Series.  Amanda wanted me to pass on that if you can’t find pork steaks in your grocery store, the butcher can cut them in a jiffy.  Got a question about our Business Webinars, contact Amanda directly at akubicek@copperconferencing.com.

Meet Brittany West

Brittany is part of our sales team, manages key accounts and calls Atlanta home.  Brittany loves a sweet deal and her Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes are delish!!  Brittany is happy to answer your questions, just contact her at bwest@copperconferencing.com.

Meet Carolyn Bradfield

Many of you may already have “met” Carolyn by reading her ever lively CEO Blog posts.  For those of you who have yet to meet Carolyn, she’s a dynamo.  And given how busy she is, it’s a wonder she has time to cook even this easy and delightful Zucchni Pie.  Carolyn is always happy to talk to customers, prospects, business partners or anyone interested in the conferencing industry.  Reach Carolyn at carolyn@carolynbradfield.com.

We hope you’ll try our employees recipes, and when you’re ready, try Copper’s web and audio conferencing too.. It’s easy. Just sign up for a free audio conferencing or web conferencing account today. Sign up today!

Alycia Maier-Turner, Director of Marketing for Copper Conferencing, and the rest of the Copper team are always cooking up something.  “It’s just so much fun.”

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