Talking

What does talking mean. Discussions about what is going on in the industry.

My co-worker went to an event and he was excited about augmented reality. I had to unfortunately tell him we are not there and it will be a long time before we are.
amk
I started in this business in 1992 wow the industry has changed?

In the 90's it was talking about audits. Which is interesting because in that timeframe we all had good numbers audits were a joke. Then is went on to ROI and yes I may not be exact on dates and years but I don't have CNN correcting me so I'm good for now.

You also have the price of aquistion the number has not really changed. I think it comes down to the experience. It's not the price of the badge. Buzz words and slogans do they make it for you.

I operated on a different principle. I want to beat it and I want to win. What does win mean. I set my goals and I want to hit the numbers. Do I always hit them no.

I made a decision. Whatever I know that works I will share with anyone that wants to know. Whatever works I will give it up and I hope it works for them. Even competitive shows I want to help them if they need it.

I know what I know and by the time someone asks me about what I did I already have done it.

I bounce my ideas to my peers almost all of the time. I also always share what is happening with the show I never cut anybody out or anything out.

It's late in Atlanta and I have not written any of this for a while. Look forward to interjections

Fundamentals

Everything we do revolves around the practice of certain fundamentals.

Everyone seems to be caught up in the gadgets that are being offered. The question is how do we really use them to maximize the opportunities. Why do we over emphasize them to the point when the customer may not even really care?

We do because we need to feel like we are innovative and sometime I'm not sure if we understand what it is to be innovative. Yes we need to embrace technology and yes we need to embrace it and actualize it in our plans.

Now the question is how does technology and fundamentalism integrat? It's not as complicated as you might think.

Our proper goal in my opinion is to facilitate. So technology needs to facilitate as well. If we can make it easy hey that is great.

Technology does not override the fundamentals of facilitating opportunities, transactions etc.
It enable the ease of the facilitation. We can do it with a query and a quick click if we know what we are doing. None of this is really new we just need to practice the foundation of what we do. If we do this we will know the best way to execute the technology tools that we are being offered.

Some Events have gotten away from the fundamentals and forgot what makes it work for their customers.
Yes the tools is important, but the tool needs to create something. The tool need to create an possiblity.

If we can do that it's golden. Turkey and India were some of the top trade points for the world. Actually they still are. Is it because of social media, e-blasts, blogs, etc. No probably not. Now have they expanded their opportunities with technology yes, have they reduced the marketing costs opportunity due to technology I would say yes.

The principal is this for the foundation of events. We put people together at a meeting point to make some form of transaction. The end goal is this transaction rates high in their cerebral activity and ignites sensors in their feel good sensors within their brain and emotion.

If we've done that we stayed true to our foundation. We've stayed true to our fundamentalist belief and this to create, facilitate and generate opportunities between buyer and seller.

Focus on this with any tools that you are being offered. Make sure these product can react to the foundation and the fundamentals our business. If the technology can do that than guess what you have a very cool product that will enable you to reach higher goals.

thanks again for reading and I always welcome your thoughts whether you agree or not.

New Technology

Got a call today from someone who recently switched companies. He said he switched because the new company had better products.

That is good and I'm glad for him he should switch to and offer the best platform for customers.

I have to be honest the product that he offered before stopped short. Now the one he now represents stops short as well. So as as a meeting planner I said I will look at it.

The companies creating new products please do me a favor ask me what I need instead of what you want to try to sell me. I'm not interested in a product that I have already evolved from. Yes that may work for the masses but not for me.

I don't understand why all new technology seems to be vetted by people that do not work on the planning stages of the event. Just a thought before you create think about us that need to use it.

Now I know my needs are not the same as others and you don't want to customize everything for everybody.

Technology is great but if you can please involve the users about what they want you might get more business from it.

I share everything with my vendors and I like to talk big picture unfortunately we are not always included in the equation.

Technology for this industry is weak. Be patient and encourage them to produce something better

Technology is our lifeline and we need to harness it. Remember we need to control it and facilitate it for our two customers.

Thanks for reading. sorry short conversation. Technology can rip you off. You need to understand the end results and don't work on promises work on reality,

Also make sure you understand if you are the one spending the money you are the one they will go after if it doesn't work. Hang in there and learn how to push the proper buttons.

Have a good week and thanks for reading

What If

Wow what if it all came crumbling down and they meaning our customers no longer needed us.

What does that mean. Are we on the cutting edge of engagement instead of the cutting edge of profits or revenue.

Are we all about the end game? Which is connecting people together. I think we are but we get misdirected at times about what the end game is for the group vs. what is the end game for the customer.

You cannot preach on a blog. You can only right what you think in my mind. What if the internet continues to grow? What if the big social channels launch events? What if the world comes to an end? What if they no longer need us?

I don't know if anyone is asking these questions. Here is the reality for those that don't understand or study history. Technology always changes the landscape. For good or bad it happens and once it attaches itself to the host watch out. Wow I said host remember that from your basic science classes.

Our associations that we belong to say hey prepare for disasters. I say you need to also think about what if.
It's coming the evolution has already taken place. Have you seen it? Are you in acceptance for denial?

What if usually becomes reality. Get ready it's coming. Are your senior leaders ready, are your next generation employees ready. It's coming and this not a movie but reality. Also Simon Cowell will not be producing this program you will be with your customers.

What if you change? Is that so bad? Can you change and still facilitate and impact in your industry sector?
If you answered anything but yes you are in trouble.

See the Jetson's everything eventually becomes reality. Does our child's generation even want tradeshows?

They may not are your ready for that what if?

I doubt it but you need to start rethinking your plan and you need to consider what if more than ever.

Get ready times are a changing. Legacy we all want to know that our events survived us.


Another what if your staff bailed and you were left to do it on your own? It could happen.
Also what if you didn't listen to your staffs thought process and it brought down your empire?

Think about What If?

No worries if you don't agree the blog is to make you thinkg

It's been a wet summer but I'm not an expert on weather

Took another break thank goodness I'm not working on creating a novel that will make me any money or I'm not living on adsense money from google to survive.

I never had a diary so I'm not naturally built for blogging plus being a type c personality tends to lends to lack of caring about deadlines. Instead we buffer our deadlines and crash course when it's necessary.

Now as I get older I think I have moved to B personality. You never here about the B only the A and C.  Forget about the rest of the alphabet this is a A can C world. Kind of like being an expert vs. a beginner. 

Now there is nothing wrong with the person that has experience and know a thing or two about the items being discussed. Now the B person knows it but they don't call themselves and expert they refer to themselves as someone with knowledge. 

Who made the expert? Was it hype, intelligence, luck, connections, solid track record.  I don't know who decided Monet was genius and Decartes was so intelligent. I don't know who decide x was the best president ever. Is a expert also one that walks into a perfect situation and just manages it? Maybe.

I just watched the Steve Jobs movie, my kids went to Smurfs two.  I've read the book and I remember back in 95 or 97 when Apple stock was beginning to tank and was selling for around $30 a share. So was Papa Smurf or Steve Jobs an expert they both were in a way and in a way they were not.

To me an expert is anyone that has the basic knowledge to execute something and also aid and provide assistance to another person in order for them to be successful. I always like the samples you here in Wall Street and Trading Places. What's the difference between you and the guy with the cup or whatever.

Here is the reality we all have a brain and only utilize 20% of it. We also have a network of other brains that should get us to about 50% brain capacity. So if we are an expert why are we not operating at 100% capacity. I will leave that up to neuroscience. 

Here is my long winded point the expert may be sitting right next to you in flip flops and shorts and it may not be the person in the suite pants and tie recently back from the cleaners and a fresh shoe shine. 

You need to utilize your network it's not about the expert it's about the network in this business. Now don't get me wrong there are people that may know more but they may not be your expert for what you need.

Thanks for reading and look forward to any comments.

Also sorry for any grammatical errors. Here is my reality I see blogging as free flow. I just write what my mind thinks.

Wow time has passed

Well it's been like a year since I posted anything on here. I was not in a coma, just got caught up in life.

Now what has happened in the last year in the event industry. You would think alot but I'm not sure. You have some big shows that are co-locating. You have seen the media industry completely be blown up via the change in print vs. online. Is print dead no it's a form of communication. It works with a very important buying group in the world.

Now will you be able to say that in 20 or even 10 years. I don't think so. Technology allows you to access and modify the information that you want and how you want to receive. Technology using analytics gives you some powerful abilities to measure and track what your investment was vs. return.

Who I'm kidding you still don't know exactly where most of the buy happened and for how much and what did they purchase. Guess what we don't know in a f2f event either. We have to trust what our exhibitors are telling us. We usually have only cared that they return and are nice on the surveys.

Ok they search online, they search f2f, they make connections but what triggers the buy? Was it a referral, a strong recommendation, a good price, or one heck of a sales person. Or was it just a continuation of existing business.

Now we have to think about many other things clutter? We will get to that on another post. We will also need to think about reach? again another post. One more efficiency? again another post.

All is good I watched the Croods movie over the weekend about cavemen, the world coming to end, family and ideas.
Think about it I will post something on that later as well. Not trying to leave alot of useless teasers, but I need to keep some material for later postings.

Enjoy the Masters weekend or just enjoy the weekend. Just remember this quote "Fear is an Opportunity"

What do we do next

That is the question I always want to know the answer to. What do we do next? Everyone wants to know that answer. Give me your Sun Tzu strategy and tactics and tell me what it's going to do for you.
Everybody is looking for the golden bullet not the silver one. Remember gold prices are high.
I want this and I want that. Well you know what the technology guys cannot provide everything that we need. Because you know what we want 75 different things and what are we going to do with it?
I have no idea. Guess what I want the 75 things as well. I also don't understand why if I pay expect x amount of money I cannot get what I want. I want the world, I want Jetson mania. You know what it's not there so get prepared for triage and manage with what you have been offered.
Okay you are pissed. You paid 40k or more or less for something that didn't do what you wanted. You know what we need to tell them what we want and guess what they need to ask.

I'm not happy are you with what you get from your vendors? I want more and the day that I stop asking for more is the day that innovation stopped. They don't innovation to stop. That is the reason they give you the hook to sign up for another agreement.  You get a taste and you say ok I'm signing up again with you for the next run of the show. Again is it their fault that they have not given anything ipod worthy? That is the question you need to ask or better yet push back and say you know what this is b.s.

Our customers want more we should want more and we need more on the technology side.
Who has taken economics? Guess what technology the price goes down. Are the prices going down? No. Are they giving us more to take advantage of yes? We need to get forward and push them to do more.

We should not assume they know what our needs are. I want what our customers want which is everything.
Our job is to be the best show and guess what our vendors job is to be the best vendors.
But you know what they need us to tell them what we need now and in the future.