It’s 6:15 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month, the night the Earl Warren American Inn of Court of Oakland, California, meets. The program is 15 minutes in. Only a quarter of the way through the presentation, and there has already been laughter, a display of costumes, presenters smiling way too much for a continuing legal education program, and a few gaffes that lead to playful chuckles from the room.
There is something in the air. The audience feels it.
People deliberately chose not to go straight home after a long day. Instead, they showed up to support their fellow Inn members, trusting that the favor would one day be returned. That quiet understanding, that mutual commitment, matters.
Someone checks the clock and realizes there are still genuinely enjoyable 45 minutes left. Whatever doubts once existed about the time commitment, or about joining this admittedly “dorky” group, have fully dissipated. This person, like the others in the room, is feeling it.
So how did we arrive at this intersection, where an Inn audience member and a presenting team meet in what feels like a shared flow state? Where the program feels less like an obligation and more like something special unfolding in real time?
It did not happen by accident.
Moments like these are premeditated. They are the result of choices made weeks and months before the program ever reaches the stage. Over time, those choices become habits. With the right mindset, fostering this kind of environment is not only possible; it is repeatable.
Planning for Excellence
While mentoring, collegiality, and service are essential to the life of an American Inn of Court, programs remain the primary place where those values come together in real time. Programs are where members gather month after month, engage with one another, and experience the Inn as a community. They are where professionalism is modeled, ethics are explored, and relationships are reinforced.
Members give up valuable time after long days in court and amid demanding practices to attend Inn meetings. That decision carries an implicit expectation that the program will be worth it. When Inns consistently deliver programs that are engaging, substantive, and memorable, it is rarely the result of chance. It reflects intention and a culture that treats program planning as meaningful work rather than a routine obligation.
At our Inn, we have learned that strong programs grow from an environment where success is recognized, pride is encouraged, and members care deeply about what they create together. Among the many goals guiding our program planning is a shared commitment to producing E&E programs (more on what that means later).
Using Topical Themes as a Point of Entry
One of the most effective tools in our program planning has been starting with reference points that are immediately recognizable to the audience: the most popular Netflix show everyone is talking about. Or, the anniversary of a film that defined an era. Or, a cultural moment that seems to be everywhere at once.
Beginning with something most attendees recognize creates instant engagement. It gives the audience a shared starting place and draws them into the program quickly. From there, the program can move directly into substantive conversations about professionalism, ethics, and civility, subjects that can otherwise feel detached when approached head-on.
Using familiar frameworks does not replace substance. It helps the substance land. Costumes, skits, or performance elements are not the point of the program. They serve as an entry point that keeps the audience engaged while complex ideas are explored.
The goal is never entertainment for its own sake. Entertainment must walk hand in hand with the educational component. When creativity is used deliberately, it becomes a powerful vehicle for learning.
Using Individual Passion as the Spark
Collaboration matters, but many of our strongest programs start at the individual level. Over the course of our lives and careers, we develop deep personal connections to certain issues. Those connections often grow out of experience and reflection. When someone cares deeply about a topic and is willing to take responsibility for bringing it to life, that commitment becomes a powerful starting point.
What follows is rarely a solo effort. The individual with the initial spark begins talking with others, sharing why the issue matters, and identifying colleagues with relevant experience or interest. A team forms around a shared sense of purpose.
One of our most experienced program chairs, Gina Ramos Campbell, Esquire, has seen this pattern repeat itself many times. As she explains, “I’ve found that the most successful programs often start with one person who really cares about a certain topic.”
When a topic matters to someone, others respond. As Ramos Campbell notes, “When that person displays excitement over that particular area of law, their enthusiasm spreads quickly. Other members of their team get behind it, raise the bar, and help turn the program into a final product all members are invested in.”
This approach shapes how we think about program planning. Instead of waiting for consensus, we encourage individuals to bring forward issues that matter to them. Change does not require rethinking the entire structure of an Inn. It can begin with one person willing to start the conversation.
Ramos Campbell often emphasizes that authenticity carries a program forward. “If you focus on making the program meaningful and interesting for your team first, then when the time comes to present it to your fellow Inn members, they will feel that authenticity right away.”
Taking Pride of Ownership
Strong programs come from teams that feel genuine ownership over their work. That ownership is encouraged, modeled, and reinforced through example.
Judge Dorothy Chou Proudfoot is well-known within our Inn for programs that fully embrace what we often shorthand as C&C: costumes and choreography. In her programs, preparation and commitment matters.
As she has said, “We encourage creativity and give teams ownership of their topics, turning what might feel like a task into an opportunity to build relationships, enjoy the process, and reinforce our shared values of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence.”
That sense of ownership changes motivation. Teams are no longer simply completing an assignment. They are creating something they believe in and are proud to present. Programs shaped by ownership often feel different in the room, and audiences respond to that investment.
Embracing Competition
Healthy competition drives progress, including in the way Inns develop strong programs. When individuals know that excellence will be recognized, people rise to meet the challenge.
At our Inn, competition is embraced and structured. We care about national recognition and the awards we give ourselves. At our end-of-year banquet, programs are recognized in categories such as best written, best researched, best audience participation, best acting performance, and best program, defined as the most E&E Program: entertaining and educational.
These awards matter because members vote on them. By choosing these categories, we are not just rewarding success. We are defining it and providing our members with guidelines on what we value. Teams compete to be better prepared, more thoughtful, and more engaging. When competition is used intentionally, it promotes consistency and continuous improvement without undermining collegiality across the organization.
Creating a Connection
Strong Inn programs begin with a genuine connection to a topic and take shape as teams come together around that initial spark, refining ideas, raising expectations, and committing to the work collectively. When supported by a culture that values individuality alongside collaboration, with a dose of healthy competition, strong programming becomes repeatable rather than episodic.
Recognition and awards play an important role. They motivate effort, clarify priorities, and signal what an Inn values. But the programs that resonate most are driven by authenticity. When presenters believe in the work and in one another, that commitment is felt in the room.
With the approach discussed here, program attendees will find themselves 15 minutes into a program, caught up in the energy of the room and feeling the care behind the work, as the presenters realize they have created exactly what they set out to create: something that connects.
Adam M. Carlson, Esquire, is managing partner at Casper, Meadows, Schwartz & Cook in Walnut Creek, California. He is a member and past president of the Earl Warren American Inn of Court and a member of the American Inns of Court Program Awards Committee.
Feature image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Nadzeya_Dzivakova