Pro Bono Institute's 2016 Annual Convention, Alessandra Cigna

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Pro Bono Institute’s 2016 Annual Conference and subsequent reception along with some of my colleagues. I was particularly excited to attend as I once served a role in planning a meeting for a different legal association, so I was interested in observing the differences between the two conferences with respect to content, attendees, format and strategic planning. The conference itself was held at the Capital Hilton, while the reception was held at the Supreme Court of the United States.

Registration for both the conference and the reception were handled flawlessly. Badges were ready and displayed alphabetically at both locations, with a printer also available at the registration desk in case attendees wished to alter their name, location or organization in any way. For the reception, I was impressed by how diplomatically staff members separated VIP attendees from those who were joining only for the general reception. Despite the heightened security at the Supreme Court, the crowd of nearly 300 attendees was managed professionally by a team of about 10 employees, as well as by physical aids like stanchions, making for painless transitions from the Hilton to the reception. Given the structure of the room used at the Supreme Court, which is conducive to noise, this team also respectfully managed the volume levels during awards and remarks by asking attendees to lower their voices when necessary. This served as a reminder for me to consider the acoustics of a space when selecting venues.  

The event had an uplifting, celebratory spirit, especially as compared to the law-related conference on which I had previously worked. I think this was due to the event’s central focus on pro bono work, which is charitable and certainly necessary to ensure justice for all, regardless of social brackets. Although I enjoyed the event in its entirety, the most memorable part for me was hearing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speak. I find her extremely admirable and could sense her sincere appreciation of the pro bono work that the lawyers to whom she was speaking had contributed in the past year. I felt fortunate to be a part of this event, which reminded me of how rewarding planning and executing conferences and special events can truly be.