My Father always told me to check out the outside edges of the Trade Show floor, don't only focus on the big flashy stuff in the middle. He's right, if you head straight for the gigantic booths in the center you might miss that next big manufacturer, an upcoming trend as well as a few things that are just plain weird.
Beam's videoconferencing robot.
Here are a couple highlights I found on the fringes this year:
- The Intelligent Building Conference (IBCOM), 6500 to 7200 - The booth layout is bizarre, but there are some interesting companies with building management solutions. I'm not sure this pertains to my business and clients today, but it will in the future.
- Beam, 1491 - Amy was in her office in Palo Alto when she pulled up her videoconferencing robot and gave me the best product demo I experienced all day. Surreal.
- Leon Speakers, 1787 - Leon makes a great product and always bring creativity to our industry. Their flat panel speaker art installation sounded great and was an excellent distraction.
- Connectrac, 2389 - They used to have an exclusive agreement with Extron (whose booth has moved beyond the fringes) but now the exclusivity is over and they are showing with their new products.
•Powersoft, 115 - I never thought I would see a solar powered outdoor speaker with an integrated microphone, camera, presence detector and LED light. Now I have and I believe I can sell it!
Leon Speakers flat panel speaker art installation.
