ABA TECHSHOW 2025
Same great show, new big (too big?) venue
Just got back from presenting at ABA TECHSHOW 2025 at McCormick Center in Chicago, IL. I’ve spoken at TECHSHOW many times, in fact if you counted up the number of times each person has presented at TECHSHOW I’m probably in the top 5. This year was the 40th anniversary of TECHSHOW and I’m sure I’ve spoken at between 20 and 25 of them.
As long as they keep inviting me, I’m happy to keep going. It’s one of the highlights of my year.
Here are a few thoughts from the 2025 show.
The show is still great
After 40 years the TECHSHOW board has a good handle on how to do this thing and they still put on a well-thought-out, high-quality, show. The speakers are good and the topics are fresh. Despite the long tenure, though, the board isn’t afraid to try new things and new concepts in sessions.
It’s a nice balance between tradition and fresh ideas. Not all the new stuff works, but it’s great that they’re willing to give it a try and learn from the results.
AI has entered the chat
This year’s show, not surprisingly, had a heavy emphasis on AI, including my two sessions on Microsoft Copilot.
There were sessions on AI and Access to Justice, AI-generated evidence, AI for Macs vs PCs, AI and ethics…and a lot more.
In the Expo Hall most of the vendors had an AI aspect to their offerings.
But not ONLY AI
But for all the AI talk there were still sessions that talked about other topics, including an excellent session on how to do reliable paragraph numbering in Microsoft Word by Barron Henley.
There were so many good and interesting sessions that it was hard for me to choose which to attend at which time - there was almost always more than one session at a time that interested me.
McCormick Center is larger than life
In recent years TECHSHOW was held at the Chicago Hilton on Michigan Ave, then for a few years at the Hyatt Regency not far away. This year, because they couldn’t get their preferred dates at the Hyatt, they moved to McCormick Center. That’s the huge conference center in Chicago and it’s probably the biggest convention center I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been in a few.
In some ways having TECHSHOW at McCormick Center was good - it’s a purpose built conference facility, modern, spacious, well-equipped. It also has a ton of natural light, which was definitely welcome. However, it also introduced a few problems.
You’re getting your steps in
I stayed at the Hyatt hotel connected to the McCormick Center. You’re never outside walking from the hotel to the conference floor…but you’re walking, you’re walking, you’re walking. One of the vendors apparently clocked it with their Apple watch and said it was over half a mile from the hotel elevators to the conference floor. It felt further.
Somebody said these arches, which are dwarfed by the enormity of the space, felt like the finish line of the “TECHSHOW Marathon” and I couldn’t unsee it.
And once you’re at the registration lobby, you’ve got to cross a big space to get to the enormous expo hall. Or go the opposite direction to one of the breakout rooms.
All this space was beautiful, and modern, and…maybe too expansive. One of the best things about TECHSHOW is running into people you know, running into the speakers and other experts, or even meeting new people serendipitously. But with all this space it seemed harder to do that. There were at least half a dozen of my legal tech friends who were at TECHSHOW, but we never ran into each other, perhaps because everything was so spread out.
Tech columnist Bob Ambrogi pointed out that the registration desk at TECHSHOW traditionally had a lot of energy and buzz, it’s a bit of a central focal point of the show, but a lot of that was lost in all this space (can you find the registration desk in the above photo?). TECHSHOW apparently had record attendance this year, but it felt empty.
Marking Its 40th Anniversary In A New Venue, ABA Techshow Experiences Growing Pains
You’re also getting your Uber on
The other issue with McCormick Center is where it’s located in Chicago. From the Hilton you were just a few blocks in any direction from lots of restaurants, museums, music venues…but McCormick Center is towards the south side, a bit south of Soldier Field, and you’re not really in walking distance to much other than the White Castle by the Green Line station.
You’re also getting your train on. I always took the Blue Line from O’Hare to the TECHSHOW hotel in the past, but now it’s Blue Line to Green Line to get to McCormick Center.
So it’s a car ride to get to downtown’s restaurants and attractions.
The real value
The real value at TECHSHOW (or pretty much any conference) in my opinion are not what happens in the sessions but what happens in the hallways and across the lunch table. Those face to face conversations with smart and interesting people. There are few things I enjoy more than when customers come up to me with questions about Microsoft 365 or Copilot, or when I get to reconnect with old legal tech friends and catch up on each other’s lives.
That lack of personal interaction is why I’ve mostly waved off doing online presentations (Though you will find me presenting at the Virginia State Bar’s TECHSHOW later this month)
Quick footnote…happy trails to a legal tech star
If you’ve spent any time in legal tech, attended TECHSHOW, listened to legal tech podcasts, read blogs or publications, you’ve probably encountered Jim Calloway. He’s the PMA for the Oklahoma State Bar Association, a past chair of the ABA TECHSHOW, and was a co-host, along with Sharon Nelson, of a long-running legal tech podcast. He brought a lot of experience and a lot of tech wisdom. This year Jim announced his well-earned retirement.
He leaves big shoes to fill and he’ll be missed. Happy trails cowboy!
If you attended ABA TECHSHOW this year I hope you found it valuable. If you didn’t attend, maybe next year (March 25-28th!).