I am logging in to make a post today, the day after Thanksgiving, to talk briefly about the peripatetic month that Andrew and I have had. In the last 3 weeks, we spent a total of 12 days on the road talking to people about Relativity in Washington, D.C., New York, and London. In that time we had roughly 30 face-to-face meetings. We have clients ranging from Southern California to London, and all parts in-between, thus we conduct a lot of meetings over the phone and over the web. During the month of November it has been refreshing and productive to get out of the office and meet with some of you in person.

I would like to thank all of the folks that took the time to meet with Andrew and me. Your time is appreciated, and your comments and feedback are invaluable tools that enable us to continue to develop Relativity and work toward our ultimate goal of providing the best litigation support platform in the industry. Some of you not only met with us, but helped us along the way by setting up meetings and making new introductions, as well as giving us conference rooms to run demos, catch up on e-mails, make phone calls, or just have a cup of coffee and log some of our notes from the day’s meetings.

Our travels will continue throughout the month and end of the year. We have an aggressive schedule which includes initial meetings, in-person training sessions, and software pilot programs.

Thanks again to everyone we saw over the last couple of weeks.

Nick’s On the Road Top 10 (in no particular order)

1. The lobby of the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C.
2. Timothy Taylor Landlord on cask - London
3. Discussing the Barbican – London
4. The 300+ Starbucks in Manhattan
5. Miss Milford Plaza – New York
6. Always being offered tea, coffee, and sweets at every meeting and lobby reception in London
7. Number 365 from the Malmasion wine list - London
8. Being offered free tickets to Rock ‘N’ Roll – New York
9. The Real Greek – London
10. No matter where we were, or where we were going, every time we asked for directions in central London, we were told our destination was a 10-minute walk

After reading James Fairbarns’s article in the August/October 2007 edition of Litigation Support TODAY, where he discusses pairing beer styles with phases of the litigation pipeline, I decided to continue the discussion of craft beer in kCura’s corporate blog. At kCura we like to say our strength is our ability to build great software. I like to think we also know something about building (or perhaps more appropriately, brewing) good beer. As kCura’s resident homebrewer, I am lucky that the making of a good beer is far less complex than developing great software. In both pursuits, however, the end product demonstrates strength through simplicity. The goal, of course, is a positive end user experience. Okay, so in that respect, perhaps the homebrewer has an advantage over the software developer.

This holiday season will bring the release of Relativity 3.4, which includes enhanced searching capabilities and foreign language indexing; amongst other notable improvements. In addition to version 3.4 of Relativity, kCura will also be releasing version 1.0 of kBrew: Holiday Ale 2007. kBrew 1.0 is an English brown ale brewed with gingerbread spices. Fall has always been my favorite season in the Midwest for reasons ranging from idyllic weather to football to stuffing and gravy. For the homebrewer and beer advocate Fall presents the most rewarding time of the year for robust and flavorful seasonal ales. A good seasonal should make use of quality ingredients and traditions that define and pair well with the season. Our spiced brown ale will attempt to do just that with a caramel and malty profile leading with a bouquet of gingerbread. It will pair well with a gingerbread dessert, any beef dish, game, a hearty stew, or just plain by itself.

This past Saturday was dedicated to the brewing of kBrew version 1.0. We are targeting an early December release. A special mention to Randy Mosher who’s book Radical Brewing gave the idea for a gingerbread beer.

Keep an eye out for Relativity 3.4, as well as kBrew 1.0 (…and NO, kCura does not sell beer. I brew it for enjoyment only!)

For Geeks Only

Beer Style: Spiced Brown Ale

Grain Bill: 4lb UK Pale; 1lb 80L Crystal; 1lb Victory; 1lb Vienna; 1/2lb 30L UK Crystal; Gingerbread Spices

Hops: Fuggles

OG: 1.040

Yeast: British Ale

kBrew - Collaborative Drinking