In fourth century Middle East, the concept of the public marketplace began to flourish in what became known as the “Bazaar.” Located along frequently traveled routes, these marketplaces became the center of Middle Eastern society…places where not only goods and services were exchanged and sold, but also where personal relationships were developed, stories and tales were told, entertainers performed, and people networked and interacted face-to-face. They were the hub of early civilization—the birthplace of the modern mall, and for that matter, trade shows and conference events.
A strong conference brings people together to learn from thought leaders, to share best practices, and most important, to network and interact with their peers. It is through this interaction that individuals can strengthen and make new connections, further develop their careers, and equally as important, benchmark their organizations to oftentimes get a “sanity check” on where they are at in the industry.
The ways in which we interact today, in both our personal and professional lives, are changing so rapidly that it’s sometimes hard to keep pace. Technology and the “extended Internet” have enabled communication between people that only a few years ago would have been difficult to imagine. I recently moved my family to San Diego from Boston, and between texting, Facebook, and gaming, it’s like my kids never left the East Coast. We moved a few times when I was a kid, and it didn’t take long to develop new friends, and ultimately the old ones faded into the past. But not so today. Yesterday I came home to find my son playing a video game with a headset on, talking to one of his friends 3,000 miles away while they were cornering a zombie for annihilation. It was as if they were still sitting on the same couch next to each other in the same room.
This is social media. High-technology and the Internet have changed our lives, giving us the ability to share, network, and interact no matter where we are located…almost like being there…almost. And advances keep coming at us at warp speed…advances that are changing the culture.
Looking Back at the Movies for Some Perspective…
Hollywood is easy for everyone to relate to and can help illustrate how quickly social technology has developed. Remember the movie Lethal Weapon? It came out in 1987, so it’s not exactly and old film—in fact I think the car I’m driving today is in one the scenes. At any rate, there is one scene early on in the film where Danny Glover’s character calls a police psychologist from the road to find out of Mel Gibson’s character is suicidal. He uses a mobile phone—albeit, the phone was the size of a suitcase, but it was a mobile phone nonetheless. I recall watching this scene and thinking to myself, “Wow, this is cool technology.” No phone booth, no radio…his own mobile phone that made communication instantaneous and helped get him vital job information…that, yes, his partner was nuts.
Another modern-day film that illustrates how fast tech has changed is the movie Die Hard 2, released in 1990, only 19 years ago. In one of the key scenes, inspector John McClain is at the airport waiting for his wife to fly in when he senses that they might be under terrorist attack. He talks with the “Twinkie cop” from Die Hard 1 who asks him if they have a fax machine at the airport. McClain shows his badge to the woman behind the airport information desk and asks, “Fax machine?” as if he had never heard of one. Much to his surprise, seconds later he has a picture of one of the terrorists transmitted “via fax.” We think of fax machines only 19 years later as substitute boat anchors, but this was new technology back then, and again, what it did was enable people to share key information as if they were in the same room—it removed distance as a barrier to communicate and share.
Fast-forward to 2009…the Internet exists, is lightning fast, and is viral. Cell phones are the size of credit cards, run on IP networks, and are as powerful as PCs. E-mail is considered an old application, as texting, Twitter, and communities are becoming preferable for messaging. Leaving a voice mail is considered “rude,” unless it’s absolutely necessary. (Don’t believe me? Ask your kids.)
Communication is quick and to the point. Information that used to take weeks to share now takes seconds as you snap a digital picture with your mobile, tag it, and upload it to Facebook, or as you sit at a conference, take a poll with your cell phone, and see the results displayed in a nano-second behind the keynote speaker. Laptops have built-in cameras…scary. Skype rings on your desktop, you click to see your boss in front of you sitting in first class at 36,000 feet in digital quality. Thanks to texting, the written word looks more like Morse code. Twitter and Facebook have taught us to communicate in character counts, not words “Wher r u”—short, to the point, and effective. Almost as good as being there. Almost, but not quite.
Until someone can shake my hand through my monitor, or I can go the printer and get a Chopin martini extra dry with three olives, there will never be a substitute for face-to-face. The Internet and high-tech has enabled incredible virtual networking opportunities, but they will never take the place of being there. Face-to-face interaction is how civilization developed…and this is what the Association conference business is all about.
Technology Services World (TSW) 2009 Las Vegas is about the ideas and information that flow when members of AFSMI, SSPA, and TPSA get together, in person. Business relationships (some that even began online) are reinforced or established, partnerships are developed, and great business ideas are launched from roots established at our conference events.
We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas this coming October 19-21. The services industry is bigger and brighter than ever, and TSW is on target to be the biggest gathering in our associations’ history. (And “BTW,” you can learn more at TSW about social media and how it’s impacting the services business. Check out our agenda at http://tinyurl.com/m825jn.
See you in Vegas.
