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scend attendees were put to the task to hack away at the important issues and challenges facing ILTA. Before the Peer Weekend, volunteers were given the choice to participate in one of four groups to tackle one of the following topics: ILTA Awards; Diversity and Inclusion; Lawyer Involvement in ILTA; and ILTA Competitors and Collaborators. 

Their task was to put their heads together and develop ideas for addressing each of these issues. They were encouraged not to worry about cost, time, or resources!  We wanted their unfettered creativity!

Below are the current challenges and ideas from each team after meeting at Ascend:

Group 1 - ILTA Awards


The goal of Group 1 is to “re-imagine” the ILTA Awards.  Some questions the group were asked to think about are as followed:

Do we want to continue the awards?

If so, do we have the right number of awards?  The right categories of awards?

How could we improve the application and judging processes?

Does it make sense to celebrate the awards at ILTACON or at another venue?  Could certain awards be associated with certain events?

Ideas:
- Streamline the application process -- include demos of the tools/products submitted
- Rethink the tradition of an awards dinner and maybe change it to an optional reception at ILTACON. Then use the money for an evening at a theme park 
- Add more award classifications so all size organizations have an fair chance of winning
- Celebrate the winners all year - in ILTA publications, with reusable ribbons for name badges, etc.
- Create an award winners book - new revenue stream for ILTA with sponsorships

Group 2 - Diversity and Inclusion

Group 2 was tasked to propose initiatives that promote diversity in all of the ways outlined above – and maybe in ways ILTA hasn't considered!  Some questions posed to the group included:

What programming should we be offering to our members and business partners?  To law firm and law department leaders, law schools, high schools, and beyond?

What can ILTA do to promote diversity within the volunteer leader ranks?  General membership?  The legal profession in general?

What other kinds of content add value in promoting diversity?

Idea:
- Add a new ILTA Core Value: Diversity and Inclusion for ALL

Group 3 - Lawyer Involvement

The goal of Group 3 was to develop approaches addressing lawyer involvement in ILTA.  Some questions posed to the group included:

Do lawyers in tech roles need to be served in ways different from non-lawyer members?

Can or should ILTA be involved in the development and delivery of tech-related CLE content?

What is our event strategy relative to lawyers?  Do we need to make our core events more lawyer friendly?  Create new events that are lawyer-targeted?

How do we fight anti-lawyer bias in our programming?

Ideas:
- Create more ILTA programming with CLE credit to attract more Lawyer attendees

Group 4 - Collaborators and Competitors

Group 4 was asked to identify groups with whom ILTA should collaborate with more closely (as well as those we feel compete with ILTA) and propose approaches and initiatives around that collaboration and competition.  Some questions they were asked to keep in mind are as follows:

Does it make sense to maintain and nurture affiliate organization relationships?

How do ILTA’s citizens benefit from collaboration?

How do ILTA’s citizens stand to lose from competition?

Ideas:
- Expand ILTA conference tracks to include business tracks that help members. 
- Quarterly meetings to introduce the Association and cross fertilize