Who are you?  What firm are you with?  What is your role?
I am the principal of Ari Kaplan Advisors, as well as a lawyer and the author of the Amazon bestseller, The Opportunity Maker:  Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development (Thomson-West, 2008), which is about how law students, lawyers and legal professionals can stand out in today's stagnant economy.

What is your firms’ specialty/niche?  
Ari Kaplan Advisors is recognized for its legal industry research on issues related to in-house and outside counsel, as well as the those of interest to the overall community.  We also focus on ghostwriting white papers, case studies, client profiles, client alerts and articles.

These are two of our recent reports:

• A Conversation with Corporate Counsel: E-Discovery Trends and Perspectives (Fios, Inc.)
• Advice from Counsel: Best Practices on Controlling E-Discovery Costs (FTI Technology)

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the legal technology industry now and in the upcoming year?
Providing tools and services that support the alignment of interests between corporate legal departments and law firm attorneys.

How can the legal vendor community work with you best?
I write about perspectives in the industry for the Law.com Legal Technology blog.  I am always interested in discussing trends and developments.

What advice would you have for legal vendors trying to compete in this crowded marketplace? 
Focus the discussion on value and clearly demonstrate the benefits of collaboration.

What associations are you active in?
National Association for Law Placement

What online resource (website, blog, etc.) is most useful to you (i.e., you use it everyday)? 
Audio Acrobat

What did you speak about at TECHSHOW?
The convergence of technology and marketing. 

Ari Kaplan (ari@arikaplanadvisors.com) 
Ari Kaplan Advisors
Facebook: Ari Kaplan Advisors fan page
Twitter @AriKaplan