I’ve been practicing family law since 1987. I’ve been to a bunch of continuing education programs over the years.

Many of the family law programs repeat much of what I’ve heard before. I understand the necessity of covering the material for new people and I don’t expect every word said to be about something new and different.

I do, however, love to go to a program where everything is new. I really love it if I can take the information and bring it back to my practice and put it to work.

There are lots of of learning opportunities that extend beyond the world of family law that are still very relevant to our work.

I’m attending three programs in the next few months that I’m excited about and that might stimulate your thinking as you expand your reach beyond the typical CLE program.

Early next month I’m attending the National Storytelling Festival. I went last year and came away with some powerful lessons about communication and persuasion. The festival is wildly entertaining (and exhausting). It’s all about watching the preeminent storytellers do their thing.

In the middle of October I’m going to BlogWorld and New Media Expo. It’s a chance to hear from some great speakers on what happening in the blogosphere and the world of new media. I’ve been to the New Media Expo twice. This year it’s combined with BlogWorld and I’ve got high hopes for the program. My previous trips have resulted in pages of notes and ideas that I applied to our business.

Finally, late next month, I’m going to a three hour program presented by Gazelles. This company provides, to small and medium sized businesses, the type of business education routinely available to big business. They do a great job at a reasonable price. I’ve been going to these programs, and taking my people along, for years.

Learning doesn’t have to be limited to programs about the law. There are more opportunities than I can count to delve into things that will help you grow your practice and be more effective for your clients. If you end up at any of these programs, please catch up with me. I’d love to meet you.