Sharing Document Automation Know-how with Industry Peers

Charles Drayson

Apr 13 · 2 min read

My first document automation project coincided with my first time in a new role (General Counsel) with a new employer (a large global provider of outsourced services in the HR sector). The extra pressure of deploying new technology to new colleagues was non-trivial. I taught myself how to use the application while doing the day job.

I very quickly realised that some of our document requirements were complicated, and I had to learn to write scripts to power the templates – I would have struggled if I didn’t have some previous programming experience. This was before the development of no-code applications like Legito.

When you teach yourself new skills, you inevitably reach a stage where you need help beyond the software documentation. Otherwise, you lose too much time and get too frustrated. The world of document automation was then quite small and populated mostly by individuals who welcomed a chance to network with their peers in other organisations. I attended events, participated in online conversations, and got to know other people who had worked on similar projects. It transpires that most of them enjoyed sharing their experience and discussing their favourite techniques for doing clever work. There was a bond within a community of people who were genuinely enthusiastic about making technology work – it reminded me of the early days (pre-internet) of computer clubs where geeks gathered to talk tech.

My role at Legito

I mention this now because that community still exists. To some extent, my role at Legito (Chief Community Officer) is about encouraging the growth of that community. Sure, I take the opportunity to say good things about Legito, but usually, I write about ideas, concepts, and issues that apply equally to other tools in the document automation / document lifecycle management space.

I regularly talk to folk who sell or use competing products – there’s a strong sense that we all have a shared interest in spreading the message about making work easier for humans. And, we can all rally round a heated debate about why Microsoft styles are so darn annoying at times. If that all sounds a bit geeky, I can only say that I have met great people and visited some great countries in the pursuit of this weird preoccupation with document automation.

If you are embarking on an automation project, or just thinking about it, seek out the counsel of folk who have been there before. There is one such opportunity coming soon: on 15th June, we are gathering in Prague for the Legito PowerUp conference – it’s a chance to meet some people who have been in this field for years, both as suppliers and as users. Even if you never even get a Legito trial (but I hope you will), there will be experts from Europe, the US and South America, with interesting ideas to share, a sense of fun, and a unifying desire to make things work better.

Join us, challenge us, and see what we’re about.

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Sharing Document Automation Know-how with Industry Peers

Charles Drayson

Apr 27 · 2 min read

This was before the development of no-code applications like Legito.

When you teach yourself new skills, you inevitably reach a stage where you need help beyond the software documentation.

Otherwise, you lose too much time and get too frustrated. The world of document automation was then quite small and populated mostly by individuals who welcomed a chance to network with their peers in other organisations. I attended events, participated in online conversations, and got to know other people who had worked on similar projects.

It transpires that most of them enjoyed sharing their experience and discussing their favourite techniques for doing clever work. There was a bond within a community of people who were genuinely enthusiastic about making technology work – it reminded me of the early days (pre-internet) of computer clubs where geeks gathered to talk tech.

My role at Legito

If that all sounds a bit geeky, I can only say that I have met great people and visited some great countries in the pursuit of this weird preoccupation with document automation.

If you are embarking on an automation project, or just thinking about it, seek out the counsel of folk who have been there before.

There is one such opportunity coming soon: on 15th June, we are gathering in Prague for the Legito PowerUp conference – it’s a chance to meet some people who have been in this field for years, both as suppliers and as users.

Even if you never even get a Legito trial (but I hope you will), there will be experts from Europe, the US and South America, with interesting ideas to share, a sense of fun, and a unifying desire to make things work better.