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Albuquerque
March 25
We held an open house outside the courthouse in Albuquerque. Visitors to the Traveling Lexpo were from a variety of area law firms. Everyone seemed curious to see what was inside the RV.
Everything went very smoothly for the event. We had a great location and ample room for parking. The foot traffic was great! You never can tell how many people will take advantage of a free meal at an event. So we were pleased to have such a good showing at this particular event. We found we were in need of extra sandwiches and more sodas!
Many attorneys saw demos in the RV and expressed an interest in LexisNexis products. We heard some say they were looking forward to changing over to LexisNexis solutions!
Back to Phoenix
March 19-20
We headed back to Phoenix for a few days. This stop was longer than our whirlwind visit in January when we dropped by the LexisNexis sales meeting. Since then we’ve been reunited with many of the great sales and marketing people we originally met at the Phoenix meeting. More importantly, we’ve had the opportunity to hold many very successful customer events.
This time, we visited the Federal Courthouse and downtown, plus we hosted an event at a beautiful golf course.
Attorneys at one luncheon were very interested in learning more about Time Matters and the sales reps on hand were happy to give them the demo. At another lunch, our guests were happy to sneak a peek at the college basketball tournament games while peppering our reps with questions about our competition.
As always, we faced the logistical challenges that come from traveling in a 39-foot RV, but those are balanced by the many people we meet who wish they could travel the country like us.
Viva Las Vegas!
March 17
We had a fun day in Vegas. We were lucky enough to stay at the KOA camp right next to Circus Circus. Since this was one team member’s first time to Vegas, it was cool to be so close and be able to walk it.
It’s safe to say that lawyers in Vegas have seen it ALL, but everyone seemed really impressed by the Lexpo. They couldn’t wait to get on and take a look inside. They said that for us, it must be like being a rock star!
The Lexpo and products were really well received; the attorneys seemed impressed with the set up.
Wills for Heroes in St. George
March 14
After a few very successful events in Salt Lake City, we moved on to the lovely resort area of St. George, Utah, where we supported a great pro bono event called Wills for Heroes. We parked outside the St. George Police Station, where the Utah Bar Association and the Young Lawyers Division provided volunteer attorneys to develop wills and other estate planning documents to the local firemen and police officers.
This was the first Wills for Heroes event in Utah but the program is active in several states, bringing a measure of security to first responders, many of whom have not taken the step to create a will or other planning documents. LexisNexis supports this program with the donation of HotDocs® document automation software, which just so happens was created in and continues to be developed in Utah.
While we were at the event we had various first responders show up. This included police and firemen. The firemen brought their fire truck by and allowed families, friends, and crew to take a look. One fireman offered the kids and adults the chance to sit in the driver’s chair and try on fireman gear.
Everyone was grateful for us being there and helping with the event.
Salt Lake City
March 12
There was a steady flow of attorneys that visited the Lexpo at this event. Many were responding to an email that was sent out, while others just saw the RV and decided to check it out.
We heard a lot of people asking what the difference was between LexisNexis and WestLaw. They seemed really interested in finding out why they should choose LexisNexis over the competition.
Popular demos included CaseMap and the bookstore. We overheard one of the local reps say that he sold some books!
Denver
March 6-7
We had an enjoyable but very busy day in Denver. We had about 40 attorneys join us for our open house and the RV was crowded at times with product demos on multiple stations.
The lawyers had received email notifications of our Lexpo and word of mouth traveled fast. But our location was also a key factor, there were a ton of visitors who saw our Lexpo from their offices and stopped by.
After the open house we headed to Pepsi Center to tailgate at the Colorado Avalanche game. The attorneys were happy to have a place to stop by before the game to have some drinks, and they were appreciative of the warm Lexpo as an escape from the cold.
We thought we had parked in a place where the Lexpo would be able to leave during the game. We failed to consider the self-made parking that the public created for themselves, which left us trapped. The team used this time to organize the inside of the Lexpo!
The next morning we hosted attorneys attending CLE with the Colorado Bar Association. We had a lot of great comments from our visitors.
Key lesson from this trip: The early bird definitely catches the worm. Being early is key to finding a prime location for a 39' RV. Plus, this helps us be near the target audience and/or building! The closer we are, the less walking our clients must endure for a tour of the Lexpo.
City Hall
March 5
Thanks to our LexisNexis marketing contact and her stash of quarters, we parked right in front of City Hall during our Colorado Springs visit.
We had a great group of attorneys visit the Traveling Lexpo who were interested in the LexisNexis solutions—and glad to get out of the cold.
Colorado Springs is the home of LexisNexis editorial operations and the Shepard’s Citation Service, so we were glad to be visiting another city with a lot of LexisNexis employees nearby.
Run for Justice
March 2
Los Angeles traffic is always fun to drive in, especially when you’re in a 39-foot RV! People kept honking, and we didn’t know if they knew us and wanted to say “hi” or if they were just being impatient. We kept telling ourselves they wanted to say “hi”!
We had nearly 600 attorneys stop by the RV to meet up with their teams for the Run For Justice. We served muffins, juice and branded mini-waters. They took team pictures by the RV and asked many times if they could leave stuff with us.
Overall, a very nice event with great exposure for the RV with all the area’s top law firms.
Our Favorite Event
February 29
While we hate to play favorites, but this event had to one of the best—for two key reasons. First, we had an amazing group from the San Diego Bar Association who were excited about the RV and hungry for LexisNexis information.
The local Rep, was awesome with the presentations. She was really great at engaging everyone. And made eye contact with everyone. It kept everyone interested. Whenever new people walked on the RV she was quick to invite them on and involve them in the already existing presentation.
We learned tonight that the most successful events tend to be when the Lexpo RV is the destination, not an add-on to another event. This was by far the most successful Lexpo event thus far! The attendance was great, and the energy in the air was awesome. There was a lot of missing literature as well so I know people walked away with the desire to learn more about LexisNexis.
Second, we successfully dealt with another group that was also hungry—for our leftovers. We parked near an area where there were many homeless people. In exchange for honoring our request not to interrupt our event, we then shared all the catered leftovers with the local homeless people who stopped by. So, in the end, there was a well rounded group of people that enjoyed the night’s food!
I’ll never forget the image of the sweetest looking lady with tears in her eyes as she poured chocolate fondue all over her strawberries! I’m sure she won’t forget us either! Another lady took the time to come up to us as we were breaking down and said, “I just wanted to say thank you. Not one of you made us feel pathetic or worthless about asking for food and we just really appreciate that.” So it was awesome to know that they were not only respectful to our event but that they also felt respected as well by all of us.
Orange County Young Lawyers
February 28
Wine, appetizers and LexisNexis cookies made for a nice welcome for the Orange County Bar Young Lawyers Division.
We didn’t hear much of a reaction to the RV. This group was initially a little shy and quiet. They were much more talkative once they were inside the Lexpo going through the demos.
This was one of the most eager groups I think we’ve seen yet. This may have been because they were all fairly young. They seemed really eager to hear all that LexisNexis had to offer.
Newport Beach
February 27
This was the first night we had our strings of lights, and we were excited to be hosting the Orange County Bar Association Board of Directors. The lights were a hit with the event participants! They really helped bring attention to the Lexpo. Everyone seemed really impressed by the catered food as well as the RV. It seemed as if they felt spoiled.
The local rep spent a good amount of time with a little group by the corner with the books. So they seemed to be popular at this event, along with the handouts.
A few more days in sunny California, then it’s off to the mountains of Colorado and Utah.
Lighting up the Night in LA
February 25
Our latest tailgating adventure took place outside The Staples Center in LA. We hosted a dozen attorneys for margaritas, chips and salsa on beautiful clear evening.
Our guests were impressed with the LexisNexis solutions they saw, unfortunately, they were less impressed with the play of the Clippers (Celtics 104, Clippers 76).
We realized how extra lights would be effective during night time events. So during the following day, we purchased a few exterior lights to help enhance the ambiance and highlight the LexisNexis name upon the RV. Should be quite the stand out billboard during our next evening event!
Speaking of lights… The Staple Center was pretty amazing. One of the incredible things is all of the stimulating lights everywhere. Spotlights were gleaming off of the Nokia Theatre and Staple Center! Another building nearby, which appeared to be an apartment building, had a grid attached to it. A square under everyone’s window lit up in dark red. On a random timer, this grid would choose selected squares to light or light up the entire side of the building.
Once the event was over and we (with the help of our new found friend from the Marketing Team) finished breaking down everything, it was time for dinner! We went on a nice walk down to Wilshire Blvd and Figueroa and came across a restaurant called Engine Co. No. 28. It’s an old 1912 renovated firehouse turned into a classy restaurant! It is decorated with some very cool memorabilia regarding the old horse-drawn fire carriages and the evolution of the fire truck! The food, including desert, was delicious! We were among great company that evening!
It’s not Easy Being Green
February 23
When you cruise California in a giant RV you know that subject of environmental friendliness is going to come up. One of the great things that LexisNexis has done to conserve energy is putting together a tight agenda for the RV that keeps us from criss-crossing the country to make it to events.
On the RV itself, we’re recycling, using one-ply toilet paper (oh, the sacrifice!), and conserving water usage. And we’re proud to say our diesel engine is 50% more fuel-efficient than the comparable gas engine.
One of the most important things to remember is that by taking the LexisNexis message out to attorneys, we’re saving paper on mailings and reducing the number of trips that attorneys and company executives would make to catch up on LexisNexis offerings.
Cruising Santa Barbara
February 22
We got up early this morning to host attorneys for breakfast outside the beautiful Santa Barbara Courthouse.
Santa Barbara weather is the most unusual we’ve EVER come across! Just when you think the sun is coming out and you put on short sleeves, here comes the rain, so you put on long sleeves. Then, here comes the sun! It definitely kept you guessing.
The local LexisNexis Rep had a great idea for us to drive around town to serve as a moving advertisement! We drove down some extremely busy streets filled with people and law firms. I constantly saw people stop and look at us as their mouths read “LexisNexis?” We thought it was a great idea and extremely successful. (It also served a second purpose: it showed us some interesting sights and fun places to go while we were in Santa Barbara!)
The team was treated to lunch at an awesome restaurant in downtown. It was a nice time for the team and the LexisNexis Reps to hang out and get to know each other a little more. Lots of laughs!
Hooray for Hollywood
February 21
The streets were narrow and the traffic was terrible, but what a great trip we had to Beverly Hills! We even cruised past the Chinese Theater where Oscar preparations were in full swing.
We attended a LA County Bar Association luncheon at the Lawry Rib Restaurant. Visitors to the RV said, “We use LexisNexis all the time.” But the highlight was bringing luncheon speaker and copyright expert David Nimmer on board to have an exclusive Q&A session.
After a great lunch/early dinner at The Stinking Rose, the team headed towards Santa Barbara. (We had a very early event in Santa Barbara the next day) Unfortunately, we hit the infamous LA traffic—but hey, lots of drivers got to see our beautifully decorated RV—which posed for a kind of long and somewhat stressful drive to Santa Barbara.
Lunch in Santa Cruz
February 15
We parked outside the Peachwood Inn Bar and Grill at an event held in conjunction with the Santa Cruz County Bar Association.
Most of the customer reactions this time were directed toward LexisNexis, not the RV. They seemed really eager and interested in hearing the latest that was available.
A key lesson we learned together was that we can help attract visitors to the RV while the Reps are talking with other clients.
The team stayed at a beautiful RV camp in Pacifica that overlooked the ocean. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any landmarks, not even the Golden Gate Bridge. We made our way to Santa Cruz by taking route 1 all the way. This led to outstanding sight seeing of beautiful images all around us: Rolling green hills on the left and blue water on the right. Breathtaking!!
We’re heading to southern California now. More dispatches to come soon as we take our show to Beverly Hills!
The Magic Carpet Ride In Oakland
February 13
It was VERY windy as we made our way to our first customer event in Oakland for some tailgating at a Warriors game.
We learned a great deal regarding our set-up time and how wind does play an interesting variable. Our presentation rug almost became a magic carpet ride with the strong wind present. Also, we decided upon not using the table clothes or the awning as they would have easily become flying objects.
The group of VIPs enjoyed some margaritas, saw a great game (120-118 over the Suns), and then the Sales Reps were gave each attorney a personal demonstration of the current LexisNexis products and software.
Hitting the Road
February 6-8
After kicking off our trip at the LexisNexis Dayton offices, we headed straight to Phoenix and the LexisNexis Sales Meeting. Sales reps from all over the country stopped by to see the RV.
“What’s back there?” was the most asked question for the RV. Everyone seemed impressed at the interior of the RV as well as the computer stations. A lot of the Reps seemed jealous to learn that we were the one’s that were going to live in and drive around the country in the luxurious unit. Some even offered to trade jobs with us, but we shall keep their names confidential for their sake!
We stayed at a beautiful RV camp in Phoenix, which was the perfect place to spend our time before the Sales Meeting. We had wonderful neighbors that were kind enough to give us RV pointers and share some of their experiences of “RVing”. Although we would have loved to stay, we had to start our journey to California. We ended up leaving late, so that most of our “scenic” drive to California was in the dark. We were able to enjoy one last beautiful Arizona sunset. It was by far the best we’ve seen in quite some time! |
