by James M Bond

Flashing lights, ringing bells, confetti cannons, intriguing speakers, comfy beds, great food, friendly faces, good laughs, and a great location.

For those of you who were unable to join more than 70 of your colleagues from around the province (and elsewhere) in Las Vegas, Nevada in November, that’s the quick 20-word summary of the CBABC inaugural Conference, “Viva Lex Vegas.”

It was only about eight months ago that the Executive Committee of the CBABC decided to try something a little different, and hold a conference that combined continuing legal education programming with social and networking opportunities in a location that would be appealing to our members.

What eventually became known as “Viva Lex Vegas” was in many ways a first for the CBABC, but was also in some ways a return to its recent history, and previous “Mid-Winter Meetings” which were held annually in various locations around the province. The goal was to put together an enjoyable legal education program in an interesting location that appealed to membership from across the province, whether they be sole practitioners, in-house counsel or members of firms.

A Conference Committee was quickly struck and set to work (Jennifer Weber, Brian Rodriguez and Frank Kraemer, QC of the CBABC office, together with Joshua Barwick, an enthusiastic practicum student from my office at Lang Michener LLP and myself). Six months of frenzied planning later, over 70 participants (and more than 30 spouses and significant others) converged at the Mirage Resort in Las Vegas Nevada. The educational programming was staged over two days, and consisted of a combination of top-rated local speakers and internationally known-speakers from around the United States. The formal continuing legal education programs ran for slightly over a half-day on each day (ending with a keynote lunch), so that participants had ample time for socializing.

An effort was made to give participants part of the afternoons off for socializing and sightseeing, and evening programming was centred purely around entertaining and networking. There was little “old Las Vegas glitz” (mixed in with some “old Las Vegas cheesiness”) at the opening cocktail reception, which was held at the Liberace Museum on Friday night. Saturday night’s closing dinner was the perfect combination of great food and brilliantly funny speeches (thanks to the Honourable Mr. Justice Rice and the Honour-able Wally Oppal, QC). The grand finale of the conference for many was attendance at the new Cirque de Soleil production of “LOVE,” set to the music of the Beatles and punctuated by confetti cannons and streamers.

The Conference Committee was eager to determine whether participants in Viva Lex Vegas had as much fun attending as we had planning it, so electronic surveys were sent to all participants in the week following the Conference. We had a 42 per cent response rate on the survey, and we are pleased to report that the Conference itself, as well as the location, the programming and the socializing all received extremely high marks. In fact, 98 per cent of the respondents were “Satisfied” or “Very Satisfied” with the experience, and 100 per cent of the respondents thought the event should be held again.

So for those of you who missed “Viva Lex Vegas” in November, and for those of you who joined us in Las Vegas and told us to do it again, MARK YOUR CALENDARS and set aside your budgets. Planning is underway for “San Francisco Style,” the 2nd Annual CBABC Conference, November 15-18, 2007 in San Francisco, California.

James M. Bond, CBABC Executive Officer, Viva Lex Vegas Conference Chair

CBABC Executive Director Frank Kraemer, QC thanks speaker Bill Kaplan, QC.




Delegates networking during lunch.




David Bilinsky addresses Technology Issues for Lawyers.




James Bond thanks popular speaker Berkey Belser of Greenfield Belser, Ltd.




Survey said: Fantastic Location – The Las Vegas Strip.




James Bond channels Liberace during the Welcome Cocktail Reception.




CBABC Executive Officer Arlene Henry, QC and friends at lunch.




Cirque de Soliel’s “LOVE” was a fitting finale.

This article was published in the February 2007 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2007, all rights reserved.