I had the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion on the use of social media by bar associations at the National Association of Bar Executives’ (NABE) Communications Section’s workshop yesterday in Las Vegas.
The panelists were Elizabeth Derrico, associate director for the ABA Division for Bar Services and Barbara Straczynski, director of new media and promotion for the New Jersey State Bar.
In her role, Derrico sees what bar associations around the United States are doing in terms of social media, and counsels them about it as well. She told attendees at our session that Facebook has seen huge growth – she estimates there are more than 500-600 bar associations who have a presence on Facebook.
But it’s also about blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn and locked-down social networking sites.
“Bar associations are being very strategic about who their audience is and what their social media presence means to them,” Derrico said. “Depending on size and depending on their staffing, bars are making different choices about how they use the tools. I think they’re going to continue to use the tools because even if they don’t understand them members think we ought to be there and have a presence.”
Straczynski said there’s still a huge fun and excitement side to social media that bars should be mindful of when it makes sense to use that approach, to increase participation on Facebook, for example. She also advised that whatever platform or channel bars use, should point back to the bar’s Web site. “All of these social media tools should drive traffic to your site because your Web site is your brand,” Straczynski said.
She also said bars should use their members as a resource to build and maintain a social media presence. “Your members are absolute gold when it comes to technology and social media. They really want to be involved.”
Derrico also talked about how the low cost of getting a social media program going, aside from the time, puts all bars on an equal playing field. Small bar associations with one person managing the social media efforts can easily gain the same attention and status as a thought leader as the much larger bars.
Derrico also spoke about the role that social media use by a bar association has in building meaningful relationships with lawyers and legal professionals, as she explains in this audio clip from the session.
For more on the ABA Division for Bar Services visit them on Facebook and connect with them on Twitter at @ABABarServices. (Elizabeth Derrico is at @elizabeth627).
The New Jersey State Bar is on Facebook and is on Twitter at @NJStateBar. It also has a YouTube channel. And, it had a blog for its 2009 Annual Meeting and its Young Lawyers Division Facebook page promoted its Law Day 2009 project, as did its Law Day 2009 YouTube channel.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
In Practice | Technology and innovation |
