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One of the largest worldwide legal technology conferences is set to go fully virtual in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday, the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) announced that its yearly ILTACON conference will be moving to become a fully virtual show. Dubbed "ILTA>ON," the virtual conference will take place between August 24 and 28 and feature both educational content and virtual networking components. The schedule also contains invite-only "Post-Event Days" on Sept. 1 through 3, which include business partner meetings, post-session roundtables, and expert question and answer sessions.

Originally, the conference was scheduled to take place between August 23 and 27 in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Conference organizers say the plan is to resume in-person ILTACON conferences in 2021, with the conference currently scheduled for Las Vegas between August 22 and 25, 2021.

On a conference call, the organization noted that the move was necessary due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. James McKenna, current president of ILTA, said that the organization was already talking about potential new ideas, but COVID-19 created urgency. "The pandemic put us in a position where we had to try it all. It wasn't an excuse, we had to do it," he said. He also added, "We think that what's going to happen in August is going to be a component of our future, in a number of different permutations."

ILTA is currently offering three different ticket options to ILTA>ON: An individual day pass with access to four targeted educational tracks, an individual full event pass that allows access to all educational tracks, and a team pass that allows full access to five from the same firm. The prices for those options are $99, $350 and $1595, respectively, for ILTA members, while the day pass and individual event pass are available to nonmembers at $199 and $599, respectively. The organization is still examining whether it will offer individual session access for purchase.

Joy Heath Rush, CEO of ILTA, said that with the move to virtual, she hopes to bring in more voices to the conference, from more technical experts that can speak to the development and implementation of products, to younger and more diverse attorneys and technologists that normally wouldn't be able to travel. She noted that ILTACON historically "has an opportunity that's available only to a small percentage of the people who actively participate in ILTA. The fact that we can bring ILTACON content to all of those people … to me is incredibly exciting."

The organization did say that there will be some shifts in educational content provided with the move to virtual. Tracie McCray, digital specialist with ILTA, noted that "much is still in flux" in terms of content planning. The organization is planning on reopening applications for speakers between June 22 and 26.

But with that shift is an expected focus on international content. Beth Anne Stuebe, ILTA's director of publications and press, noted that there will be sessions in time zones "from eastern Australia to California," with the conference's first virtual session beginning at 1 p.m. local to eastern Australia on Aug. 24. In addition to live sessions, ILTACON sessions will also be recorded for viewing in other time zones.

When it comes to legal tech business partners, ILTA Vice president of partner development Jason Stookey said the organization believes the virtual event provides some unique opportunities, such as the possibility to better measure interactions and attendance. A sponsorship directory for the event will have links to outside content and videos. He also said ILTA is exploring the creation of a digital hosted buyers program, with an opportunity to do more direct matchmaking.

"There's a true lead generation opportunity that can be measured back to ROI," Stookey noted.

ILTACON is next scheduled to return to Nashville and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in 2024. ILTA said that the Gaylord Opryland Hotel is currently working on issuing refunds to those who booked nights at its hotel, though payments may be delayed until after the hotel fully reopens June 22.