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Want to Become an ICLE Contributor? Help Me Find You!

By Stephanie L. Stenberg posted 05-09-2016 09:19

  

As a staff attorney at ICLE, I’m always looking for new and diverse contributors. If you’ve worked with me before, you know that I inevitably ask you to tell me who you think would be a good potential speaker or author. I attend events with the same goal in mind: find contributors who, for some reason, aren’t yet on ICLE’s radar.

If you want to become an ICLE contributor, here’s how to help me find you:

1. Reach out to ICLE. You’d be surprised how many people become contributors by simply reaching out to ICLE and discussing the topics they are interested in talking or writing about. You can call us, email us, chat us up at an Institute, or reach out via ICLE’s Become a Contributor page. Also, here’s a tip: be specific about your areas of expertise. If you say, “I’d like to become a business law contributor,” that doesn’t really tell me anything other than your practice area. Instead, say, “I’m a business lawyer with lots of experience working with start-ups, crowdfunding, liquor licensing, entity formation (especially counseling clients on the tax implications of entity choice), and minority-owned business certification.” That one sentence tells me a lot about you and your potential contributions. To make it even better, suggest new ICLE products you think should be added to the Partnership (see number 4 below). Also consider commenting or writing a blog post in the ICLE Community to build your online presence.

2. Tell people you want to contribute. Tell your mentors and network that you’d like to contribute. I frequently field calls from current contributors suggesting new ones. Telling your connections you’re looking for opportunities also helps them remember you when I ask them for ideas. It’s reassuring to hear a trusted contributor vouch for you and weigh in on topics you know about and whether you’d be a good presenter, author, or both. Even if I don’t have anything at the moment, I’ll list you as a potential contributor in our database so we can reach out to you if your skill set matches any opportunities.

3. Make the most of your online presence. I can’t stress this tip enough. Before I call potential contributors, I try to confirm they are a good candidate beforehand. Trust me, I’m not above wormhole-like searches on LinkedIn or local and affinity bar associations to find potential contributors. I’m often left looking at an anemic firm bio or LinkedIn page that doesn’t really tell me about the prospect's experience or areas of expertise. If I can’t tell if you’re a good match for my ICLE project, potential clients likely can’t tell if you’re a good match for them, either. Fleshing out your bio and LinkedIn profile helps me determine whether you are a good match for a topic or have the requisite experience in a practice area. Make sure you include

  • representative cases or transactions you’ve worked on,
  • presentations you’ve done,
  • articles, blog posts, or other materials you’ve authored, and
  • your special interests.

4. Contact me with a proposed set of Top Tips. We’re always looking to expand the ICLE Partnership. If you see a topic we don’t cover, contact us about a proposed set of Top Tips. Top Tips in Ten Minutes is such a great way to get your feet wet as an ICLE contributor; you draft 8-10 tips, agree to review and update them every year, and (ta da!) you’re an ICLE Contributor. Trust me, if you do well on the tips, the staff attorney with whom you have worked will be singing your praises around the office!

I hope you found this helpful, and I look forward to hearing from you soon! You can reach me at 734-763-1394 or stenberg@icle.org

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