Tomorrow's a big day for us here at Inside Self-Storage, as it marks the inaugral event in our new webinar series, "Legal Learning With Jeffrey Greenberger." This new educational offering, to take place on the second Tuesday of every month, focuses on legal issues pertinent to today's self-storage operators. Each hour-long session will include a 30-minute seminar by Jeff, followed by 15-20 minutes of Q&A.

Tomorrow's topic? "Mediation and Arbitration Clauses in Self-Storage," which refers to sections in your self-storage rental agreement that can help protect you from litigation. Jeff will discuss how mediation differs from arbitration, the pros and cons of each, and how to make the most of certain lease provisions. He'll also share some stories about past clients who were saved by these clauses. Finally, make sure you come prepared to take notes, because Jeff will provide sample clauses you can use in your own contracts.

As of mid-day, we had nearly 200 attendees registered for this live event. I'm curious to see how many actually sign on when the show begins at 11:30 a.m. ET tomorrow.

Just a quick note: These webinars are currently free for all interested parties, but that won't always be true. We're keeping these events open for a three-month trial period, after which time you'll need to be a member of a participating state self-storage association to continue gratis. All others will have to to pay a fee (which has yet to be determined).

Why are we handling things this way? Well, the series is meant to be a valuable resource for those who manage to find their way to the ISS website; but it's also intended to encourage support of state associations. So starting in July, you'll want to check with your association administrator to see if you have free access to Legal Learning. The associations will distribute a special code to their members to ensure the free attendance.

As far as those operators whose states actually LACK an association (and there are only a few), I believe we'll be making an exception in their case. More details on this as I figure out the drill.

So, we hope to see you online tomorrow! It's not too late to register, by the way. Just go to www.insideselfstorage.com/webinars. After you complete the online form, you'll receive a confirmation e-mail with instructions on how to log into the event. A final bit of advice: If you've never attended a webinar before, give yourself a little extra time to sign in tomorrow, as you might need to download some things to your computer to participate. Until then ... Ciao!