It For The Small Bar

Copyright David Drager © 2009
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IT For The Small Bar
David Drager
IT Manager
Chester County Bar Association

What is IT?
Information Technology's Goals
"Knowledge is Power"
- Francis Bacon
What Kind of Information Important for Small Bars?
- Information to run your office
- Information on/for your members
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Information for/About Members

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Membership Management
Collect Data About Past, Present and Future Members
Apply this data to advance your Bar Association goals
Target areas of expansion
Hub from which everything flows

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Membership Databases
Many Databases Available
Notepad
Excel
Access
Advanced Membership Software
Associate
Affiniscape
iMIS
Custom
…

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Strategic Member Information
Statistics
Who are your members?
Where do they live?
What do they value?
Where is your association lacking in value to members?

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Communicating with Membership
Paper Mail
Phone
Fax
E-mail
ListServ
ListManager
Hosted Email Services
MailChimp
ConstantContact
Website
RSS
Social Networking

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Websites
Hosted Off-Site or In-House?
Tightly Integrated with Membership Database
Implications
Content Management
Paid and Free Solutions
Free isn't 'Free'
Calendaring
e-Commerce
Security
SEO

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Search Engine Optimization

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E-Mail Communications
In-House or Hosted
Membership Newsletters, Listservs
- ConstantContact, MailChimp
Beware member burnout
Currently main line of communications
Beware Formal/Informal Prose
Proof

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Blogs, Social Media
LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Others
Pros/Cons
You Should Have a LinkedIn Page and Group! Free!
Very Important for Younger Attorneys
Great Way to Get Out the Message

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Information For The Office

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Desktops / Laptops
Anti-virus, Anti-spam, Anti-malware
Paid Solutions
Norton, McAfee, NOD32
Free Solutions
Avast!, AVG Free, Malwarebytes
Update - Windows Update Automatic
Firewall - On the network or on the PC
Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Email Clients
OpenOfficevs Microsoft Office

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Internet Connection
Many High Speed Options (Depending on your area)
Cable
DSL
Fiber
Wireless
VPN
Virtual Private Network - Necessary for off-site work
Speed
How many staff
Bandwidth (Down/Up)

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Intra Office Communication
Phone / VoiceMail
VoIP
Cell Phone
Email
Office Email
Smart Phone
BlackBerry
iPhone
Instant Message
GTalk
IntraOffice Protocols (Jabber, Sharepoint)

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Publishing Content to Members
Almost always use PDF!
Readable across many platforms, layout will be standardized.
Invest in Acrobat Professional
Documents can be secured
Read only access
Redact Lines
Fill In Forms / Typewriter
Free Alternatives - CutePDF - http://www.cutepdf.com/

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Adobe Acrobat / PDF
PDF stands for Portable Document Format
Abilities:
Digitally Sign Documents
Lock or Restrict Distribution (Security)
File->Properties
Typewriter
Redact
OCR

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Document Management
Sharing Data and Files, Keeping it up to Date
Single Computer
Multiple Computers (Networked)
Document Management / Indexing
Sharepoint - Notification/Versioning
Google Docs
Google Desktop / Search Appliance

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SaaS - Google
Google Apps
Access all documents via website
Benefits:
Accessible Globally
Sharing information between staff
Export to PDF
Cheap - Free or $50/year per user
Cons:
Downtime catastrophic for business
Learning curve for MS Office based offices.
Migration of current documents
Data security / privacy

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"Going Paperless"
Interface paper to digital, then securely shred
Desktop or Workgroup Scanners
OCR - Optical Character Recognition
Key is FINDING data or information
Con is it will cost some expense at the beginning, however savings in the long run.
Safer than paper storage...

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Backups
Make AND Test Backups
Online, Off-site backups replacing physical backups
Desktop and Server Backups
Secure Backups with Encryption
Some Options: Mozy, BackBlaze, Custom solutions
Pricing coming down, ~ .50 a gigabyte

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Copiers, Printers, Scanners
Copiers are now printers, faxes and scanners.
Can scan documents and do OCR
Access to your network and e-mail
Inkjets are most expensive
Color Laser middle ground
Black and White Laser cheapest

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Office Mobility
Should staff members work in office only, or is telecommuting an option?
Presence
'Follow Me'
Remote Desktops –
GoToMyPC and LogMeIn

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Credit Card Security / PCI Compliance
Credit Card Industry, Visa/MC/Amex are working to reduce fraud.
If you haven't heard about this, you will.
Rules for security of credit card information - most complicated if you have an online store.

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Data Security
"Information is Power"
People want our information
Marketers
Hackers
Spammers
Must protect paper and electronic data through policies and procedures.
Outside audits

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Overall IT Strategy
In-house or Outsource

In-House IT
Pros:
Go-to person for tech problems
Knows organization inside and out
Long-term partner in Bar Association Goals
Cons:
Expensive for smaller bars
bars
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Outsourced IT
Pros:
Cheaper, Pay for only what is needed
Has wide array of resources at hand
Cons:
May not be Bar Association or non-profit oriented
Can be motivated by profit or product, not 'best solution'
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But don't forget we are ultimately here to help our members advance the practice of law, everything I’ve gone over are tools to make this happen.

Any Questions?
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Contact:
David Drager
ddrager@chescobar.org
15 W. Gay Street / West Chester, PA 19380
610.692.1889

It For The Small Bar

by ddrager on Jul 27, 2009

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