So you might have noticed that I was a bit quiet this afternoon.
That is because I spent most of yesterday and this morning in a "leaning back", comfortable position listening to smart people talking smart stuff. That meant I had my hands and mind free to share some insights.
This afternoon I decided I need to be more "forward" and active and leave the comfort of the theatre (yes they do have free food, coffee, etc) to join the hussle on the floors and mingle with about 100K other compadres to see whats is out there.
That means a lot of walking, talking, queuing and more walking. That also means that I am carrying a lot of brochures, bags, magazines, etc with me. Ergo no hands free...Needless to say that I will never read a single one of these brochours and my collection of free bag packs is not in need of extending either.
I only covered less less then half the space and decided its time to leave the rest for tomorrow because its driving me nuts.
However I got talking and listening to some interesting folks and will share some more details with you when I get back.
Some brands and companies make a huge show here and you can see where the money is.
New mobile devices are around every corner and its hard to figure out the difference between them. They come in all shapes and sizes. But there are also a few new operating systems to go up against IOS and Android (Good Luck with that).
I also listened to a "future technologist" guy (there are many around) but he made a couple of good points which I'd like to share....
The only 2 industries which call their clients users is the technology and the drug industry. Now chew on that for a sec... Who is the addict now :)
He also believes that the word consumer will become a swearword in the future "you're such a fucking consumer..." and that brands should start viewing their "consumers" not as "consumers" anymore but as citizens. Because that is what they really are. Not a product shaped by marketing but shaped by the society we live in. Wise words? You decide.
I am off to see what else this city has to offer and have been invited by our very nice colleagues from Contrapunto, Barcelona tonight. I was told they have a few nice bars in this town....go figure!!!