Company A, Client B

Phew, I lot has been going on and oddly, I can't wait for Monday evening to roll around so that I can catch a breath. I'm just back from my first law school "extra curricular" attempt...an alternative dispute resolution competition. In many ways, it's ridiculous. There were 270 competitors, in part because it's the only board that one can compete for at my school. Frankly, I'm still a little confused about what exactly a the goals of boards are. From what I gather, once you make the board, there isn't much that you're required to do, nor is there much that the board does. There are competitions throughout the year that you can gain experience competing in, which is great, but it seemed that the skills you bring to the table are your own (ie: there aren't a whole lot of speakers they bring in, or conferences they put on).

I was conflicted about participating given that it seems to be a resume padder for the most part, but on the other hand, it seemed like a good opportunity to practice putting myself out there, especially since the risk factor was zero (the worst that can happen is that I don't make the board for fall semester). Earlier this week, as I looked at my lengthy "to do" list, I kicked myself for signing up. But after this morning's negotiation, I'm glad that I did it. Bottom line, it was really fun.

It's exhilaration to go into a fictional meeting with fictional goals, some of which are flexible and some of which aren't, to meet the other team, and to work your way through a set of conflicting desires. I loved steering the conversation through a framework that was advantageous to our client, and responding to push back, easing off, coming back around after learning more about where the other side was coming from, and threading the needle on the second attempt. Make the board or not, living in a make believe world for a half hour or so this morning was a blast.