Conference Keynote Speaker at the American Bar Association
Being the entertainment at the American Bar Association’s TECHSHOW is a strange honor. You walk on after three days of CLE sessions, AI panels, and e-discovery breakouts, and your one job is to remind a room full of attorneys that wonder still exists. That was the assignment on the closing Friday night of February 2024 – close out the ABA’s biggest tech conference on a note nobody saw coming.
About the Event
The American Bar Association’s TECHSHOW is the legal profession’s premier technology conference. The 2024 edition ran February 14-17 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago – three days of CLE sessions, expo-hall demos, and AI-heavy panels for lawyers, legal-ops leaders, and firm technologists.
I was brought in as the entertainment for the Friday-night reception on February 16, the social wind-down after the week’s programming. After three days of screens and slide decks, my job was to remind a room full of attorneys that wonder still exists.
My Role at the Event
For the closing reception, I built a mix of close-up table magic during the cocktail portion and a tighter stand-up set as guests settled in. The customizations leaned into the audience: a few callbacks to TECHSHOW sessions, light material around discovery and evidence (you don’t write attorney jokes – you write jokes that respect attorneys), and one closing piece designed to land with a room that values precision over showmanship.
I flew in the day of and worked with ABA’s MCI staff (Ashleigh Yelovich and Kaleigh Matyas) on the room turnover.
Why Hire an ABA TECHSHOW Entertainer
If you’re producing a legal-industry conference closing event, here’s what an ABA TECHSHOW entertainer (or any close-up performer for a legal audience) needs to bring:
- Sharp, clean material. Attorneys notice every word. Sloppy phrasing or a joke that doesn’t land legally – even in a casual sense – costs the room.
- Respect for the credential. The people here passed the bar, run firms, lead ops teams. They want to be entertained, not handled.
- Close-up magic that creates conversation. The exhibit floor was the networking – the closing party should keep that going.
- Stage flexibility. Hotel ballroom layouts at conference closers are unpredictable. A self-contained sound and lighting setup matters.
- Punctuality. Lawyers will forgive a lot. Running late isn’t on the list.
Client Feedback
Thanks for making the ABA TECHSHOW more enjoyable.
-David Der, Product Operations Specialist at the American Bar Association
Takeaways
A few things I’m carrying forward from the ABA TECHSHOW entertainer experience:
- Read the credential, not just the dress code. Attorneys at a closing reception want fun, but they want the fun to be smart. Calibrate up, not down.
- A closing-night act is a thank-you, not a teaching moment. ABA had already done all the teaching that week. My job was to send people home grinning.
- Build relationships with the meetings team. Marcia and David ran a tight ship – and when the room ran tight on turnover, that mattered more than the magic did.
- The exhibitor floor is your real audience study. I walked the floor in the afternoon, listened to what the sponsors were saying, and tucked two of those references into the show. People noticed.
Book Me for Your Next Event
If you’re producing a legal-industry conference, closing reception, or firm event and you want the evening to feel like a reward for the week, use the form below and tell me a little about what you’re planning. I’ll be in touch.
