I'm glad to be going home, even if I somehow misread my itinerary 5 times and showed up to the airport 4 hours early. It beats the Monday morning traffic and security lines, so it's not all bad.
It was in the 80's, high humidity and just really nice weather. I ran everyday, getting the sweat pouring out of my body within a mile. I hit the resort gym once as well, of course it was empty, why would people want to be healthy on vacation. The pool was avoided but there were a lot of people sitting there with towels, wraps, etc. trying to cover up. If you are proud to stuff it in, be proud to look like you do. If you are sitting there in your shorts or biking and aren't comfortable with how you look, make a change.
The convention was somewhat of a joke. There should have been a big line of cocaine when you walked in the doors. Many industry business owners wonder why they can't progress and grow, and yet they are they same people to run right over to the booth that has 'naughty nurses' handing out propaganda on direct mail. I just can't stand it, all the golfing, sports, booth babes, sexism, direct mail, stupid signage, etc. There was even a discussion by a large group of business owners, at one reception I attended, on if the country stars brooks and dunn and tim mcgraw were gay.... not about why they are failing to sell more, service more, support more, etc.
Part of me is very happy that 95% of the industry is like this, it's great for my pocket, but it's a horrible acidic taste in the customers mouth. It's not like information, for any product, isn't available... it's all over the internet. Consumers often know more than the salesperson, including how much they are willing to pay. Why not embrace this model, like we have, and give your customers a great experience instead of being so concerned about the price. If you grow your sales, you can grow the number of widgets in your area. If you have a lot of widgets in your area, you can take care of those same widgets (at reasonable prices) and keep the customer happy for the entire product life cycle.
Yup, just make a giant snowbank out of cocaine. I would welcome it, seeing people in horrible suits diving in and snorting it up. Just like the 80's.
I met with a dozen of my current vendors, thanked them for what they do, got/gave some advice, etc. I love to meet people in person, relationships mean a lot, it's not always about saving a few bucks or jumping ship to the newest latest thing. I often field 20 phone calls and easily 400+ emails a day from someone who has the perfect product. This convention is the same, thousands of booths all with the best idea ever. The industry won't change for another 10-15 years, then the old school people will have retired and people with broader thinking will have taken over.
In other news:
I just heard the words 'domestic terrorism' on the TV behind me. Nothing like stirring it up with a couple of words, have to keep the masses informed. Sort of like the security line I just went through. The TSA agent actually said that if you set anything on your laptop, once it's in the plastic bin, they have to re-run it... it's for your safety to not set anything on the laptop. My backpack is checkpoint friendly so I don't need to take it out, just unzip the bag and lay it out. Easy.
I did chuckle, the false sense of security lines make me just about throttle someone.
Oh, a development in the shooting in Chicago. What shooting? The one of the girl who sang in the presidents inauguration of course! There couldn't possibly be anything more important in Chicago than that, certainly no one else has been killed there in the last month. She was smart, had a bright future, etc.... so only stupid no life people should be killed. What is wrong.... OH, it's the media, I forgot.
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