I was very lucky to be introduced to the Internet in 1993 and attend grad school in 1994. It was during that early part of ’94 that a rare few of us got to experience the launch of Mosaic and the beginning of the world wide web. A year later in ’95 I started my first job in a law firm.

I often describe my law firm experience as having three streams. First, I am a jack of all trades web developer. You name it, and I’ve probably built it: intranets, portals, blogs, e-commerce apps, Metrics capture, RSS feeds, and of course, law firm websites. Second, I am a Knowledge Management (KM) practitioner. As a Law Librarian I’m facinated by KM and the hundreds of ways Lawyers are able to codify, capture and track their expertise. And last but not least, I am an experienced and enthusiastic web marketer.

From 1996 until present, I have been an in-house SEO. This fact may surprise some colleagues familiar with my previous blogging efforts at the VLLB and Slaw. As a conscientious employee, this was a topic I tried to keep ‘off limits’ — a strategic advantage I felt should be preserved. That changes now of course, and SEO will definitely be one of the building blocks of this blog. If I was David Maister, I might describe it as a hygene factor, a must be done.

My wider vision for this blog will be to connect the dots between law firm business interests and web innovation. Many law firms are currently facing, or will face, the challenge to weave their brands (firm, practice, and individual lawyer) into the social fabric of the web. I don’t believe any firm should do that in a haphazard way.

I’ll obviously be commenting on developments here at Stem, and hope to explore the issues I think firms should be addressing, including:

• law firm seo,
• strategic brand building,
• qualified lead generation,
• business development,
• generating media interest,
• and making the web fit into a firm’s business objectives.

New web trends, technology, and creating value through web publishing will also be fair game.

I hope readers will come here to stay ahead of the legal-web curve. And I hope that writing this blog will motivate me to always consider what’s coming next.

- Steve Matthews

Stem has been a dream of mine for a long time, but I must confess, getting beyond the business plan was no easy task. It took a lot of people’s advice to go from idea to execution – my wife, colleagues, friends, mentors - each have provided critical support along the way. Some of whom, I’d like to start this blog by thanking publicly.

First my wife Leah. Four year’s ago she decided to take a break from playing tax lawyer to be a full time mom. We uprooted our lives, moved and started living on a fraction of our combined salaries. It was tough, but we worked it out.  Life has been back in balance for a few years now, but with Stem getting ready for start-up mode, she recently made the decision to return to practice a couple days a week. You never have to guess who has my back.

Professionally, I have had a few gestures of outstanding support, including Gerry Riskin at Edge International and Kevin O’Keefe at lexblog. Each gave me hours of their precious time to talk through various issues surrounding approach and strategy.  I’d also like to single out Jordan Furlong at the CBA National and Michelle Golden at Golden Marketing for their encouragement and a laundry list of advice to help clarify my vision and early direction.

I was also thankful to receive support from many friends around the blawgosphere, including: Dominic Jaar, Dennis Kennedy, David Fraser, Rob Hyndman, Bruce MacEwen and David Canton. Plus fellow law librarian friends Scott Vine, Lo-Fi, Nick Holmes, Cindy Chick, Jim Milles, Bonnie Shucha, Steven Cohen, David Rothman and Jason Eisman.  If I’ve missed anyone, give me a heads up, you’re due!

Around the Vancouver legal community, I’ll start with everyone at Clark Wilson LLP (including those online: Neil Larry & Karen, Darren and Rob), and then add in: Johanne Blenkin at the BCCLS, Allison Wolf, Doug Jasinski and Emma Wood.

And this list isn’t even close to complete without my friends at Slaw, especially Simon Fodden and Connie Crosby who were both important early confidents.

Ok, I’ve rambled a touch, and do promise this blog will address the web as a legal business development tool. If you’re looking for more substance, be sure to check out the About this blog page – where I set out the discussion topics and some of my background.

3-2-1- Blast-off! :-)