Tips & Tricks for Tackling N&Ds

Presented By:

Seth H. Row, CMC MemberDouglas E. Motzenbecker, CMC Member

Breaking Down N&Ds

• Short and substantive pieces that keep members up-to-date on practice areas

• Think “blog-like” – active voice and engaging tone

• Cases or issues discussed should be timely

• Content is widely accessible to a greater audience

Guidelines

• Length: 100–750 words• Attention-grabbing and concise headlines • Engaging voice and style• Incorporate 2-3 keywords to optimize SEO• Include links to relevant sources • Frequency: 2 or 4 times per month

Benefits of Contributing N&Ds

• Effective and efficient way to establish authority in practice area

• Opportunity to enhance portfolio

• Because N&Ds are not member-protected, they can be distributed far and wide via social media and emails

• Gateway into potential leadership roles within Section

Standout N&Ds: Reports, Issues, Linking

Committee: Children’s RightsWord count: 116

Committee: Pretrial Practice & DiscoveryWord count: 585

Timely Topics

Committee: Technology for the LitigatorWord count: 469

Expanding on ABA Events

Committee: Corporate CounselWord count: 253

Catchy Presentation

The Case for Cultivating a Diverse Author Base

• Most committees who successfully produce frequent, timely, and engaging N&Ds count on a robust author base to produce the content.

• This eliminates the pitfalls of relying exclusively on one author or firm to generate all the N&D content, which can lead to perceived bias or burn out.

• Solicit volunteer editors or writers via listservs and committee announcements; enlist help of cochairs

• Hold regular editorial conference calls to brainstorm ideas and recruit volunteers

• Make authoring an N&D a requirement of subcommittee leadership

• Tap into own professional network and that of your peers to find potential writers—make sure to recruit a diverse mix

• Leverage social media channels

Tips for Recruiting Authors

• Subscribe to alerts/relevant blogs – RSS feeds

Sources for (Content) Inspiration

• Regularly visit online resources such as the U.S. Supreme Court docket • Follow relevant groups on Twitter – be

on the lookout for trending topics• Attend conferences and presentations

on practice area that could generate ideas or contacts for future N&Ds

More Inspiration . . .

QUESTIONS??