Be There . . . Without Being There!

Academy Launches CLE Webcasting

If you’ve ever wanted to attend a CLE program but couldn’t seem to get away from your desk, you’re not alone. However, this common problem, facing busy attorneys everywhere, does have a solution. The answer is webcasting, the Internet mechanism that allows you to participate in a live presentation without leaving your office. "Attending" a webcast requires only that you take a break, perhaps shut your office door, and link in via your computer.

On Thursday, February 11 – 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. – the Academy will launch its first ever live CLE broadcast via the Web. The program is George Roach’s Elder Law Update, a popular program for which, in the past, parking and great hall space limitations kept all who wished to attained from gaining access. This year, George’s words of wit and wisdom will not only resonate among the participants in the great hall, but will travel as far as the Internet can take them, in effect throughout a virtual lecture hall without limits.

Webcasting allows for real-time transmission of a program from the lecture site to desktop computers, laptops...indeed, anywhere you can access an Internet connection. So if you just can’t get away to join colleagues in the SCBA great hall, you can tune in to a webcast program from wherever you are. You can both see and hear the program and even ask a question via e-mail. And while the term "user-friendly" may be vastly over-used, participating in a webcast truly is.

Finding a way to transmit live CLE over a distance has long been a goal of the Academy and was seen, initially, as an effective way to serve East End attorneys. As the years went by and the Internet became more and more a part of everyone’s life, however, it became evident that virtually all attorneys – even those without distance issues – would profit by the ability to participate in educational programs remotely. Some time ago, the Academy applied for and received accreditation for webcasting from the NYS CLE Board, the regulator of mandatory continuing legal education in New York. But more time passed before Academy technological capabilities caught up with its educational desire and intent.

This year, the Academy goal finally became a reality thanks to the efforts of Barry Smolowitz, a past dean of the Academy, past president of the SCBA, and the Association’s (unpaid) technology director. When Ilene Cooper became SCBA president last June, she set webcasting and other forms of enhanced technology as objectives of her term in office. As a result, the SCBA’s Strategic Planning Committee formed a technology subcommittee with Ilene, Barry, and Academy Associate Dean Allison Shields serving as members. This subcommittee, with some input from Academy Dean Rick Stern and Academy Executive Director Dorothy Ceparano, looked at various webcasting models that would allow the Academy to broadcast its programs. None fit the bill! Most were too cumbersome, too ineffective, or too expensive.

So Barry, a "closet inventor," went out, acquired components, and built a webcasting module himself. With cameras, recording abilities, the works, the equipment functions as a portable, small-sized "TV station." The webcasting equipment was funded by the Academy as a capital expenditure, but it was Barry’s creativity and expertise that kept this endeavor effective in terms of both functionality and cost. Barry rolled out the new webcasting module at the January board meetings of the Academy Officers and the SCBA Directors. Both boards were duly impressed.

Now, the Academy hopes, SCBA members and other lawyers who form our constituency will be impreased too....and pleased! The Academy hopes its constituents will utilize this new way of participating in CLE and that they will find it helpful and convenient.

The Academy will begin webcasting with George’s February 11th update and will continue with other programs as the year progresses. Announcements of which programs will be webcast will be sent out and posted on the SCBA website. As they say in the media, "stay tuned...."

Those who take advantage of webcast programs will learn that everything related to the educational experience is conducted through the Internet: enrollment, access to course materials (which can be stored on your computer or printed),and provision of MCLE certificates. The only thing the Academy can’t give you remotely are the refreshments served at live programs and the collegiality of interaction with colleagues.

So the choice, now yours, may be based on your wishes of the moment: convenience or collegiality. When you’re able to be there, there’s probably nothing like attending a live program in the company of colleagues. But when you cannot take the time to travel and attend, you can still be there, remotely, by enrolling in a webcast.