ABA Drops Tech Columnist After 15 Years Without Even Saying Thanks
Posted July 10, 2009, in About, Technology, Worst Practices by @ErikJHeels (permalink: http://erikjheels.com/?p=1941)
So you'll forgive me, I hope, for feeling slighted.
I always enjoyed reading Burgess Allison's Technology Update (TU) column and considered him a mentor. His column ran for 17 years (1983-2000).
It was Burgess who recruited me to be a columnist for Law Practice magazine (then called Law Practice Management magazine) at a time when the magazine had only had one columnist: him. And I don't think I'm putting words in his mouth when I say that Burgess viewed my nothing.but.net column as the successor to his Technology Update. He even picked the name! Nobody can live up to Burgess Allison's legacy, but I enjoyed the challenge.
And then I noticed that I had not received the magazine deadlines for 2009. My emails to the editorial board went unanswered. When I asked, point blank, if nothing.but.net was still in the magazine, I got my answer. By email.
The nothing.but.net column has been dropped after 15 years.
Burgess wrote TU for 17 years and got a roast from the magazine board for his sendoff.
After 15 years, I got an email.
FWIW, I also served on various ABA boards for 12 years, including six years on the magazine board.
You will forgive me, I hope, for feeling slighted.
Erik J. Heels is not a new media guru. Neither are you. On Twitter he is @ErikJHeels.
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Color me not surprised… While I've been finding that many ABA Members are great and understand tech, I'm not really too keen on the ABA themselves. They seem pretty woefully out-of-touch.
Wow. Of course, when I got dropped I never heard from them – only found out because I asked you. Three years on pub board, 12 years as a columnist, co-authored three books… Never heard a thing. Odd.
Goodbye and Thanks to ABA Fans of my nothing.but.net Column
Greetings,
Today I found out that the ABA has dropped my nothing.net.column http://erikjheels.com/?cat=19 after 15 years http://erikjheels.com/?p=1941.
The ABA, like all organizations, is imperfect. Membership is decreasing, opportunities for monetizing web content have been squandered, content has been deleted or hidden behind a pay wall (such as the "Technology Update" column by my de facto mentor Burgess Allison, who lobbied for my column – and named it – 15 years ago). I tried to be catalyst for change from within the organization. It was not always an easy job http://erikjheels.com/?p=599, but I cared enough to keep trying every year. My writing has been called provocative and irreverent. If my efforts ever offended you, I apologize. That was never my intent. I, too, am imperfect.
So thank you for your support through the years. It was comments from individual readers like you on my blog that kept me going. If you feel so inclined, you can leave a comment on my blog about the end of my nothing.but.net column http://erikjheels.com/?p=1941. It would mean a lot to me.
I don't know what the future holds. Of course I will keep writing about technology, law, baseball, and rock 'n' roll on my blog. And maybe again for the ABA someday.
Thanks again, and see you on the Net!
Regards,
Erik
I'm really disappointed to hear this news and you certainly deserved better. Without getting in to whether the column was still right or not for the magazine (I happen to think your column is one of the best reasons for me to read my copy), the decent way to handle this would be to at least write a real letter or make a phone call. Email just says the decision was a casual one. And you should have gotten a thank you and an invitation to accept an award of appreciation at the next section meeting.
Keep us up to date where we can read your future articles!
Greetings Rick
Thanks for co-authoring nothing.but.net with me for a few of those 15 year. Sorry how your tenure with the ABA ended.
Regards,
Erik
Erik – thanks are appreciated, and definitely mutual. Now that I'm back at my computer I wanted to write a few more comments on this.
I owe much of my early success to you. It was you who got me invited to my first TechShow. You co-authored that first column for the ABA w/me (in Student Lawyer), you who graciously offered to jointly share the column that the ABA asked you to write for Student Lawyer. Later, after you inherited Burgess's column, you asked me to join you (again!) and shared that byline with me for years.
You got me my first job out of law school, then my second. You showed me that it's hard to know what you're thinking until you try to write it out, and that it's important to say what needs to be said, not necessarily what others want to hear.
We've had our differences, and that (as it should) makes the friendship and respect that much stronger and resilient. While I'm saddened at how you were so casually removed from your (unpaid, under-appreciated) contributions to the ABA, I can't say I'm terribly surprised.
I am proud to know that I was a catalyst for you developing your blog (over a fair amount of skepticism, as I recall). And I've watched in awe as you've embraced another medium (Twitter) and demonstrated how valuable a marketing vehicle it can be.
Sorry to lay it on so thick: but your contributions deserve admiration, and if the ABA after so many years can't see fit to put your service into proper context, then you're far better off without the upcoming deadlines. I don't expect that this will result in anything but more time to focus on running your practice and further exploring the media that have proven so valuable to your practice.
Which means we'll all see more, not less, of you. Which is most certainly a Good Thing.
Thanks for everything, buddy.
Here's the complete list of articles, features, and columns @ErikJHeels wrote for the ABA Law Practice Management Section from 1994-2008.
Greetings Rick,
Thanks for your warm comments. I have always believed that we make a good team! You are correct that we have not always agreed, but what fun is it to always agree?
I have always been passionate about the things I agree with and things I disagree with. My emotion comes out in my writing, including today's writing about the ABA's decision to end my nothing.but.net column without telling me.
But what is life without passion? I say it is not living.
When you care passionately about some thing or someone, you are taking a risk. Good things can happen, bad things can happen. But no risk, no reward.
So I will continue to be passionate.
Thank you, Rick, for your friendship through the years. For challenging my thinking when others did not dare. I have changed my thinking – on more than one occasion – based on your input.
The feeling is mutual, my friend. Thanks for everything.
Regards,
Erik
This is disappointing on multiple levels. Obviously, we longtime readers will miss the column. Some of the topics have drifted to areas only tangentially related to legal technology, but I think that accurately reflects the varied interests of the practicing lawyer or legal professional who embraces and enjoys technology.
Maybe the editors decided a fresh voice was needed. Who knows. All things pass, and I'm certain we can embrace a new columnist. However, it's disappointing to see the change take place in such a thoughtless manner.
The ABA is, of course, known to be overly bureaucratic. But the magazine's editorial board and staff should know better; this is not how one treats a valued contributor, even if a reasoned debate somehow concluded it's time to move on. Years ago when it was time for one of my long-time valued employees to retire, we spent weeks planning the right send off.
It's good that we've evolved as a profession and the use of technology in the practice is not as bleeding edge as it once was. But that doesn't mean we can blithely rely on an email or a text message to send a Dear John letter like our kids do. This doesn't reflect the ethics or business sense I expect from the supposed thought leaders in our profession.
Erik, as Rick points out, we'll probably see what would have been your nothing.but.net content redirected to your blog so now our Twitter and RSS readers will have even more of you. Thanks for your contributions in the past, and I look forward to more in the future.
You and I have been at this column biz for a long time. I published my first one in March 1995 and continue still. But even before I started, I considered you the guru of all things Internet. I still have a thumb-worn copy of your pioneering 1992 book, "The Legal List." You've stayed several giant steps ahead of the curve ever since. No one is smarter or savvier about this stuff than you. This will be a loss to the magazine's readers.
Dave, Greg, Bob, Tim, Rick et al., thank you for your outpouring of affection. It definitely softens the blow.
That is sad.
They probably needed your column space for an advertisement.
See also:
http://tweetmeme.com/story/107926126/
Erik -
I always flipped to nothing.but.net first. More often than I care to admit, it was the only thing I read in the magazine.
I love your style and will read your writing no matter where you publish it. I've told you before – a few of your LPM columns have iconic status in my brain….right alongside a few of your blog posts. "My big fast geek server" is an all time fave of mine.
The ABA is the clear loser here. After reading your comments about deleted and hidden content, I mentally tagged the organization with that fatal label in the tech world – they don't "get it." As a largely uninvolved member, I suspected that in the past. Now I know for sure.
On the other hand, I can't help but think that you and your followers are the winners here. You'll likely have more time to write, and we'll likely be able to see more of your stuff on Twitter, the blog, and on other accessible sites.
Keep up the great work.
Regards,
Matt
I am not surprised- it is another in a long list of reasons why, after more than 28 years as an active member, I resigned from the ABA. Gradually, the people who really know something are inevitably driven out. Your column (and Burgess) were great- the board's decision to drop it is their business. But the way it was done- it's my business, and I voted with my feet.
I'm truly sorry to hear of this, Erik, especially knowing how much of your heart you put into these articles, as you do all your endeavors, paid or otherwise.
And you know how very much I enjoyed working with you and Rick over the years on book projects and related things; I could always count on you for thought-provoking, cutting-edge content. And, damn, you guys made me laugh! Some of my favorite ABA memories were of hanging with you. Not only did I always come away smiling, but I always learned something new.
So thanks, Erik, for all you've contributed. I'll miss your column to be sure, but as long you've got other vehicles to share your musings, rest assured you'll always have folks keeping up with what you have to say.
–Bev
I didn't follow my own rule: don't write when you're upset, cool down for 24 hours first. I know. As I said above, I wrote my column with passion, I write this blog with passion.
So what I am really upset about? I'm upset that I found out – today – that a decision had been made, apparently months ago, to drop my column. And that nobody extended me the common courtesy of telling me about the decision.
I can handle the truth. Every column has a beginning, middle, and an end, and if mine had run its course, so be it. But somebody could have told me. Instead, I had to milk the information out of the ABA. I sent emails in February, May, and June, all of which went unanswered. It took two more emails from me this month (July) for the ABA to finally admit what had happened. I'm not upset that I didn't get a roast or that I wasn't paid for my work (it was a volunteer gig).
I'm upset that I nobody told me that it was over.
See also:
* RedStreet Remembered: And why you should join the American Bar Association
http://erikjheels.com/?p=588
I’m shocked—and I’m not.
You have every reason to be upset. There is absolutely no justification for the way you’ve been treated. Your column was main reason many read the magazine. The magazine’s editorial board should be ashamed of itself for the way this was handled. How hard would it have been for them to say “You’re toast, but you were good while you lasted”?
Take it from me. I was editor-in-chief of GP|Solo magazine for twelve years, and I have more than a passing familiarity about how these things are supposed to operate.
There is a malaise in and around the ABA right now. I keep hearing from volunteers that it’s no longer fun. And you know something? They’re right. And that’s only part of the reason why I resigned this spring as vice chair of the GP|Solo Division.
See also:
* Law Practice, Worst Practices
http://blawgreview.blogspot.com/2009/07/law-practice-worst-practices.html
Wow, Erik. What they did is both rude and stupid. And just not nice.
You, of all people, deserved better.
I've read, enjoyed, and learned from just about every one of your columns, and am disappointed to hear that they will no longer be found in their usual location. Don't take this experience too personally, though. Dysfunctionality periodically rages in most organizations, and from my limited vantage point as an 'active', LPM is going through such a phase, driven by budget crunches and power scrabbles. People who are wonderful and generous most of the time get rattled or feel beaten down; decisions get made without adequate deliberation; normal courtesies may be forgotten. You should do the unexpected and find a way to resurface — if not in the magazine, maybe in the e-zine. Or the ABA Journal. Or a publication of the Science/Tech section. We need you!
[...] column on technology. According to Erik…they didn't even say thanks or explain why. [...]
Erik, I graduated from law school in 1994 and you were a rock star in my eyes for your thoughts on the impact of technology on our profession. You still are. The ABA has given up a tremendous asset, but thank goodness for this blog and Twitter – your voice will continue to be heard.
Erik
The ABA has shown its true colors, and its a shame. By turning its back on an established blogger like you it confirms our worst fears about bar associations – that they exploit talented people instead of rewarding them. I know your readers benefitted tremendously, as did the ABA; I hope you did as well. And if at all possible, stay on the scene so that those of us who enjoy reading your pieces and interacting with you can continue the conversation.
So do I hear the wheels turning on expanding your internet presence and taking this to the next level?
I'm sure the are other vehicles that can use and need your expertise on what you have to offer.