On Day 1, against my better judgement, I took a meeting away from the Convention Center, and even though I left the show floor reasonably early at 3pm (show closes at 6pm), taking the monorail was probably not the best idea, although the cab line was even longer. Lesson learned for next year - either stay on the show floor OR stay on the strip. Otherwise, there's too much wasted time going back & forth.
This year I didn't walk the floor very much, as I had back to back meetings every day, but I did get a sense of what was buzzing from my social media feeds and the blogs, etc. (My iPhone was the most important item besides my wallet). Besides this being the last year for Microsoft to Keynote, one couldn't help to notice how touch is out now and gestures are in (i.e., wave & voice). Two other predominant trends this year we're the proliferation of wireless automotive infotainment and connected healthcare & wellness products. The low cost sensors that are now available make the collecting and monitoring of bio-metric data - not only affordable - but seamless with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and 3G/4G.
The last meeting of the last day of the show, was actually my favorite. We met with an innovative software company who hired legendary, world-renowned music producer/mixer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig to be their Director of Creative Innovation, which sounds like a really cool gig. Anyway, when we walked into the suite, I immediately recognized him and was stoked to not only have the opportunity to meet with him and his colleagues to discuss business, but posing with him was the cherry on top! That memorable highlight will be hard to beat next year...but I'm already looking forward to the next one!
 |
| Todd Beals and Jack Joseph Puig |
