Tech Manager—The Up (and Down) Sides of Trade Shows
I love trade shows. The excitement of having so many people with shared interests in one place is exhilarating. With Autodesk University looming on the horizon, I encourage you all to attend. There is nothing like it. You can walk the floor and talk to vendors. You can reconnect with friends made from past events. You can take classes from the best of the best. You can hear directly from Autodesk presenters on stage and Autodesk staffers in the aisles. You get the straight scoop. You must go at least once in your career and every year thereafter, if you can.
I come back from events like this with so many new ideas. I have new perspectives and so much encouragement to make progress in many areas. It is invigorating to hear what others are doing and how they are doing it. It is rejuvenating to hear how folks have gotten past the roadblocks and hurdles that I also face.
And it is not just Autodesk University. It is any trade show, user group meeting, tech get together or convention. They are all great places and events that spark ideas that will make your firm stand out from the crowd, get you past a problem, or just reaffirm your direction. The upside is unlimited, but there might also be down sides.
The Down Side of Trade Shows
Like I said, I love trade shows and industry get togethers. But I wanted to mention two sides of these events that I have seen impact my teams, staff, and myself. The good outweighs the bad, but the bad can sometimes get you down.
Trade Show Blues
Some folks get depressed when conferences come to town. First off, they may not be able to attend and it reminds them of the time or money constraint that prevents them from going. It might be as simple as a calendar conflict or as grand as a sweeping away of travel or conference funding at their firm. But when the show is on, they are missing it. It upsets them and they start to feel down. Maybe others got to go and come back all energized and excited. This depresses them even more.
Or they get to go just to find all these new and shiny software tools and hopped up hardware that their firm cannot afford or refuses to adopt. They hear success stories from others that remind them of the frustrations in front of them and the stasis of their offices. They find out some new trick that only works in the newest version and they do not have that version. They are told of wondrous feats of functionality by the vendors only to find that the cost of these wonders is out of reach. They get bummed out.
Maybe this happens to you. What are you to do? Well… one piece of advice might be to suck it up and move on. Tough luck for you, you need to get over it. (Maybe go back and read my article on Resilience.) Or maybe you need to hear that the newest things are coming soon and you can get there soon. Or maybe you can get some new tricks out of the old software. Don’t get discouraged; rather, go see what can be done to make progress. Maybe just start the conversation about why you need to upgrade, improve, replace, or refresh. Things can change and they will. Hang in there.
Trade Show Blowback
The other “downer” for you may be the euphoria felt by others that come back from a trade show with sparkles in their eyes and stories of new shiny things. You may have gone to the same event, heard the same things, and gotten bummed out. But other folks come back with the “silver bullet” that can kill all the demons in the system. They bring back stories of firms that are light years ahead of your firm. They tell tales of grand installations and well-oiled machines. They come to you with the answers. Just do this or that. They just want you to put it in place. All their dreams are put on your plate to make into reality.
To compound this… if they are upper management, then they bring political clout with them. You are now under the “obligation” to respond to their desires. They talk to others about firms that do not appear to have the troubles you are having. They spin stories about the achievements of others with the “hint” or blatant statement of “Why aren’t we doing that?” They toss some flyers on your desk and want to discuss how it might be adopted here. They email you a link to the vendor that bent their ear for 30 minutes on the show floor and ask you to connect. They may even pass on your contact info to the developers of some new tool so they can call you.
Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish
So you have to respond. You have to defend and define. You are forced to justify why you have not done this or that, without looking like you are making excuses. My suggestion: use a modified Microsoft method of “Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish.” I usually downplay the Extinguish portion.
An example of this method is documented in Wikipedia – Instant messaging: In 2001, CNet’s News.com described an instance concerning Microsoft’s instant messaging program. “Embrace” AOL’s IM protocol, the de facto standard of the ‘90s and early 2000s. “Extend” the standard with proprietary Microsoft add-ons, which added new features but broke compatibility with AOL’s software. Gain dominance since Microsoft had 95 percent OS share and their MS Messenger was provided for free. And finally, “Extinguish” and lock out AOL’s IM software, since AOL was unable to use the modified MS-patented protocol.
So I take all of the input brought to me by others from trade shows. I ask a few clarifying questions and probe for expectations. What do they hope to gain from this? Is there a specific problem that this answers? Do they want to start using this or just investigate its use? Do they expect it to be in place in three months?
Embrace
After I have some basic info, I categorize it. Was this something I wanted to do anyway? Was this something in my strategic plan already? Is this a great idea that I was looking for a champion to support (and now I have one)? The ones I want to “Embrace” go to the top of the list. Others slide down the list. If the person comes back again because it is higher on his or her list than mine, then I re-evaluate the location on my priority list.
Extend
If this is a tool that I look forward to adding, then I “Extend” the plan for adoption to cover maybe even more tools. If the new software demands upgraded hardware, then I extend my request to include upgrades to systems. If it is a tool that goes in a different direction that I have planned, then I extend the “champion” the invitation to be part of a proof of concept effort. They can help the firm see the need and help me with the change in focus.
Extinguish
Those items that just do not fit in our ecosystem will need to be be “Extinguished.” I go back to the person and tell them why this new tool does not fit (and it must be a valid reason). I explain what tools we currently have that might do the same thing. I thank them for this info and I encourage them to keep me posted with new ideas. If it is a lower priority, then I explain that to them and ask them to let me know if it becomes a demanding need.
So attend trade shows and encourage others to go. When you get impacted by a conference in a negative way, you now have some options for addressing the blues and the blowback. Keep a positive attitude and carry on.
