Why I go to industry conferences and you should too.

By (a very tired) Trevor Nuttall, Chief Solutions Officer

In between napping, eating mediocre airplane food, and catching up on work emails, I had a lot of time (9.5 hours to be exact) to reflect on the recent industry conference (ISE 2020)  I attended on the plane ride home from Amsterdam.

Am I tired and jet lagged? Yes.

Did I lose my voice from talking and connecting for 3 days straight? Yes.

Is my inbox overflowing with unanswered emails from 5 days out of office? Yes.

Did I eat way too many stroopwaffles, kroket and frites – Heck yes!

Despite all of these inconveniences (and a few extra pounds), I have zero regrets about attending ISE 2020 for the 3rd time. Believe me, I totally get that many people might think it’s a waste of time and money to travel somewhere to hang out with their “competitors” when they should be at home, in the office solely focused on sales. But, if you shift your mindset to view industry conferences as an opportunity to learn and connect – you can uncover new sales opportunities and partnerships that can ultimately lead to growing your business. 

And, yes, there’s ALL the networking. Not the easiest thing to do unless you are truly an extroverted personality. I try to get around my discomfort by thinking of networking as an opportunity to simply “shoot the sh*t” with my industry peers to build authentic personal connections with them (sometimes over a Heineken or two!). Over the years, many of the connections I have made at industry conferences have become generous partners, enthusiastic referral agents and trusted advisers.  

Just a few snaps I took on the floor. And no jokes about my selfie skills please.

This same philosophy of “connection and collaboration” drives everything we do here at 10net Group of Companies. Yes, technology is important, and solutions are important, but ‘experience’ and ‘connection’ are everything to us. We exist to build trusted relationships that empower us to do the things that our clients cannot so that we are both successful at what we do best.

We would love to have the chance to connect with you (in person or not!) to see how we can support your business needs with digital signage technologies. I’m buying the first round of Heineken’s!