Peer to Peer Magazine

30 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | WINTER 2016 There is another side of professional development at ILTA that is not so obvious — volunteerism. It was through volunteering that I gained the knowledge and resources that provided a critical step forward in my career path. Making Connections When I moved into legal IT from more traditional IT services, I quickly found that the field is a lile different from my past experiences. With the help of peers at my office and some insight from an online ILTA community my manager suggested, I was able to navigate my way through this new adventure. Eventually, I aended local meetings and got to multiple ILTACON conferences, but I did not realize the full peer-powered potential of ILTA until volunteering. An ILTA volunteer was hired to a director role in Orlando, and they encouraged peers in the area to apply for ILTA's Member Liaison position. I was fortunate enough to be selected. For the past few years, with the backing of a great ILTA staff, I have helped the Orlando market provide educational content and networking opportunities for our local members. To get this content, I engaged with local leaders and vendors. When one of these leaders became aware of a local director of IT position opening, I found out about the opportunity through our peer connections. I now hold that director of IT position, and I've continued to spread the word about ILTA to the nonprofit legal community. ILTA's peer connections and the power of volunteer-based professional development became apparent again when I needed to hire additional IT staff. Aer an extensive search for an employee to help guide our firm to new technological heights, the right person for the job submied their resume based on the suggestion of another ILTA volunteer. The connections continue! The Power of People Professional development in legal IT and ILTA go hand-in-hand. Whether you are learning through ILTA-provided content or leveraging connections and knowledge created through volunteerism, ILTA provides professional development opportunities that can positively affect your career. I encourage each of you to take time to connect with ILTA members in your area. You never know what connection or piece of knowledge could help you move forward in your career. P2P by Josh Lazar Volunteer To Forward Your Career Volunteer To Forward Your Career SMART MOVES JOSH LAZAR Josh Lazar is the Director of Information Technology at Community Legal Services of Mid- Florida and has over a decade of progressive accomplishments in the legal IT field. Josh specializes in cloud infrastructure, and his current passion is working with his team to push the limits of Microsoft Office 365, Azure and Surface. Contact him at joshl@clsmf.org. Professional development in legal IT and ILTA go hand-in-hand. Professional development can come in many forms and methods with ILTA. Some of the more traditional methods include participating in conversations within topic-specific online communities, attending local meetings and attending ILTACON, all of which can grow your knowledge.

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