The Challenge

With more than 11,000 attorneys and law professors as members, AILA is the source for information pertaining to immigration law. Their membership of 36 chapters and 50 national committees rely upon AILA to provide legal education, information and professional services – each of which evolve daily.

In addition to the need to keep members conversant in a timely manner, AILA’s Director of Education, Grace Akers, was concerned about finding a method to reach as many stakeholders as possible, via an affordable and convenient venue.

Approach

AILA had already been working with CommPartners for Webcasts and Webinars, and continues to do so. The nature of Web events, however, limits the amount of members reached per airing.

After discussions, in June 2007, AILA and CommPartners decided implementing feature-rich podcasts would be the most effective option to meet their need for quick-hitting, anytime-access educational programming. And, because of the relatively low production costs, AILA opted to offer podcasts to members at no charge.

To further align with members’ busy schedules, AILA offers users the ability to download select podcasts or to subscribe to a reader feed that automatically places each new MP3 file within that user’s feed.

Complication

Although familiar with podcasts, new technologies are not the area of expertise for most of AILA and its members. Being able to provide podcasts in a simple, yet proficient manner was of great concern to Grace Akers.

Action

Grace wanted to create an easily navigable, members-only podcast Web portal. CommPartners worked with her to create the site, as well as language describing what podcasts are, how-to FAQs and simple instructions for choosing MP3 players (including links to leading sites) and subscribing to feeds. CommPartners also included audio player downloads, so AILA members can instantly listen to podcasts selected on the portal that open into separate audio file windows.

With CommPartners guiding the venture, Grace says, “Karl and Rich explained everything in a manner that she could get a handle on.” She also mentioned, “Monica was excellent in walking her through the entire process.”

Outcome

Not only has AILA’s podcast program provided continually updated material for members, it has attracted more members to their entire mix of on-demand e-learning material. Additionally, offering such a convenient and free service will likely attract more individuals to join AILA when considering the benefits.

Ensuring the podcasts are of the utmost quality was important to AILA; they weren’t just looking to add cutting-edge technology, but wanted a meaningful venue for substantive education. Grace relayed “our members seem to really like the program.”

AILA plans to continue the program, and would like to eventually archive the podcasts, providing members with ongoing access to the information. Podcasts turned out to be an ideal fit for AILA’s busy membership and aligns well with their organizational mission as the primary resource within the constantly changing landscape of immigration law.