This past weekend, the ninth annual community sponsored MacStock Conference was held in a Chicago suburb. MacStock is a grassroots gathering for Apple enthusiasts, from casual users to developers, educators, and productivity professionals. It’s designed to share knowledge, connections, and tools through presentations, workshops, and social events. This year’s conference drew some 100 attendees.

Its founder and main organizer is Mike Potter, an Apple enthusiast who has worked tirelessly to keep the conference going through a pandemic and an increasingly crowded field of tech conferences. While MacStock wasn’t formally created to replace the MacWorld Expo, it’s often regarded as the modern heir to MacWorld.

I’ve attended before and have discussed its many advantages. The first time I went, I frankly feared being alone in the land of young geeks who would talk at levels far above me. However, MacStock is precisely the opposite. There were several young geeks, but there were also people of all ages (including gracefully aging boomer ex-hippies), businesspeople, and content creators. And there were a good number of women and people of color who attended and spoke.

The event was low-key, engaging, and social, much like its organizer Mike Potter.

All seemed to share a fondness for Apple-related products and a healthy respect for how Apple has and does make our lives, both working and otherwise, better. (Sometimes the enthusiasm for Apple was a little over the top.) The event was low-key, engaging, and social, much like its organizer Mike Potter.

Non-Legal Conferences Matter

While it’s not a legal conference per se, MacStock has lots of content relevant to lawyers and legal professionals. I like coming to non-legal conferences because they expose me to new ideas and fresh ways of thinking. As Doc Rock of ECamm Network, a live streaming software provider, mentioned in a podcast in which I participated at the conference, being exposed to diverse ways of thinking provides advantages that you often don’t experience until later.

Some parts of the sessions were a little over my head, but all of them sparked new ideas and approaches which is yet another reason I attend conferences like this. Plus, it’s nice to talk to people who aren’t in the legal business from time to time, just for perspective.

Most of the sessions were discussions more than lectures, with the presenters adopting a relaxed conversational tone that invited audience participation. I have found that when it comes to technology, no one has all the answers. However, the collective knowledge of all those in a room at a conference is substantial and impressive. MacStock facilitates the kind of “crowd sourcing” of collective knowledge during sessions that’s conducive to the best tech learning.

This year’s sessions were long on practical, hands-on training of Mac and Apple applications

Lessons for Lawyers

This year’s sessions were long on practical, hands-on training of Mac and Apple applications. They were mercifully short on long-winded theoretical discussions of the kind you all too often see at legal tech conferences. Here’s an idea of the offerings that provided helpful tips and tidbits that could apply to lawyers:

·      A discussion of the new Apple Intelligence tools and what they do (and don’t do).

·      A presentation on how to use AI to enhance and augment creativity, about which I previously wrote in another post (full of useful ideas for lawyers and legal professionals).

·      A session on how to improve online privacy and security, including how to simply maximize security using computer settings.

·      A discussion of the health-related Apple products and how to use them.

·      A session offering tips on how to efficiently create useful and impactful videos.

·      A session on how to maximize the many Apple photography tools.

·      A fascinating session on Apple tools to aid those who are blind or have low vision, which included a fascinating screen video walking through tasks for someone who can’t see (By the way, many of the accessibility features ultimately gained widespread use. Think closed captions, for example.)

·      A discussion of how to make social media posting easier and better using technology and AI tools (helpful for lawyers and legal professionals trying to market themselves).

·      A session on using digital workflows to get stuff done better, cheaper, and faster (which we could all use).

·      An offering on how to automate repetitive tasks without sacrificing quality or ethical considerations.

·      An interactive session on tech tools for travel.

Many of these sessions offered specific ideas that could be used in legal practice. The sessions were particularly useful for lawyers in small firms or solos who don’t have the resources to accomplish many of the marketing, billing, and case management tasks that larger firms can handle.

Many of the tips and tools could directly benefit lawyers, especially those in small firms or solo practices

Legal’s Missed Opportunity

Legal participation at the conference? Two lawyers, counting myself and Michael Eisenberg. That’s unfortunate, because so many of the tips and tools could directly benefit lawyers, especially those in small firms or solo practices. But lawyers tend to gravitate toward conferences filled with case law and CLE credits.

Perhaps they think events like MacStock are a waste of time (no clients to hustle). If so, they’re missing out on new skills, new ideas, and refreshing conversations. That’s a shame.