Technology

There's Serious Industry News Coming Out Of ILTACON, But Let's Look At Their Funny Costumes Instead

Legal dress-up.

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There are only so many times you can hear the word “synergy” before you lose your will to live. By the fourth day of the International Legal Technology Association’s annual conference, everyone is approaching that upper bound. That’s not to say the conference is short on cool stuff. There are eye-catching demos and thought-provoking discussions everywhere. The Ri Ra bar at 2 a.m. had a stirring debate about “proportionality” as employed in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that involved more than one instance of table pounding to underscore a point.

That’s how legal tech nerds roll.

But yeah, there’s some buzzword fatigue. Vound even decided to have some fun with it.

Holistic… yeah, that’s another one.

However, amid all the important breakthroughs and sales pitches, there’s also some levity to be had in the exhibit hall where row after row of vendors try to coax potential clients into conversations and demos. There’s an admirable artistry in building a 10×10 snapshot of a company. And some are definitely better at it than others.

As usual, ILTA opened its exhibit hall with a grand flourish. The conference always adopts a theme for the hall and the scores of vendors seize on the opportunity to throw a costume party for their potential clients. It… doesn’t always work well. For example, last year’s adventures in racial stereotyping. At the time, Elie Mystal wrote:

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Next year, I hope the theme is video games and I can bring you back some pictures of some awesome Legend of Zelda cosplay.

Well, it wasn’t video games, but they came pretty damn close. This year they gave the hall the much less problematic title “Vendor Galaxy,” and what happened next is… what you’d expect when a bunch of tech geeks got an official greenlight to go to work dressed up in sci-fi gear.

Down the hall from the convention space, sitting in the Fleur bar, I witnessed the exhibitor costume invasion begin.

There’s some commitment to the cause. Of course we’d get Star Wars and Star Trek offerings. It’s the easiest direction to go, but extra points for looking at the Star Wars canon and saying, “I’m rolling with Jabba.”

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Here’s a couple more conventional Star Wars characters who realized… a little late… why costumes that require headgear really suck in a crowded convention hall.

Those who ventured beyond the comforting embrace of the Star Wars/Trek universes deserve an extra nod though. Like Peter Quill here:

We also had a team dress as the array of astrological signs and a blindfolded soothsayer.

Though this was my personal favorite. It wasn’t the only Spaceballs appearance on the floor, but it was definitely the organization most committed to the cause:

Soundpath Legal was also giving out free Pop Rock cocktails which provided a good deal of fun at an event that was charging a criminal $15 for a basic drink.

If you’ve been to a trade show, you know the giveaways and swag you expect to see. Cake pops, stuffed animals, drones, Amazon Echos. Contact Ease had giant Pez dispensers which is a new one. And you’d better believe there were fidget spinners.

But the most memorable swag — other than Hilltop Consultants giving out $2500 in chips of course (though that’s only memorable if you win it!) —  was probably Netrix. I don’t know what this has to do with Vendor Galaxy, but I’ve certainly never seen a cigar roller at a trade show before.

A fun night was had by all and thankfully a more racially sensitive evening. Which is to say we didn’t have a single Jar Jar sighting.

Earlier: And This Is Why We Can’t Play Dress-Up At Our Legal Conferences Anymore

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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