Where is This Industry Going?

I am writing this while enjoying cool breezes and an awesome view of the ocean in beautiful Long Beach, Calif. Most of the country, as well as my home an hour up the road are HOT, so this 80-degree weather on the California coast is awesome.

This week I have been working with Jeff Anderton from Video Farm TV, promoting and reporting the SAAC Show (Specialty Advertising Association of California). As I have done with other events, like Promotions East (now to become Expo East), we share some of the highlights of this event to our audience around the country. What's different here is the revolutionary trade show app Video Farm created for the SAAC Show. Technology takes time to develop but this should become a standard productivity tool for trade shows in the future. I believe the launch of this app is a technology turning point in where trade shows are going.

This leads to the question of this Rant: What will trade shows of the future look like and where is our industry going? Wherever we are going, we are getting there fast. And most business leaders will agree it looks like we will be mobile in going there. Click here for my video rant on this topic.

According to some reports, over half the population is using smart phones. How could we function without getting email on a mobile device? Mobile makes us more efficient. Just this past week, I was at Starbucks when I received an email from a client who needed a rush order in hands in three days. It was another GILTB moment (God I Love This Business). In this case, I was thankful that I had my iPad, which enabled me to find the needed products while sipping a latte. Moving quickly, I got the order. Had I needed to wait until I returned to the office for this research, I would have lost some significant business. Mobile technology helped me make money!