Yesterday I was privliged to attend the Case University Research Show Case. As I wandered thru the aisles I met a pair of interesting guys studying Organizational Behavior, that inspired me to look more carefully at how we interact on our social networks. I looked at some research on how listening to music while swimming lowers your stroke count (generally the holy grail for swimmers). Then I wandered thru 20 aisles of medical technology that gave me a giant headache trying to figure out what the words meant and what the brainiacs were studying. I made a point to read at least the abstract on each and every board, thinking I might just learn something.
The “most fun” of the show may have been the group demonstrating how technology can be used to “enable” people. I laughed at the lawn mower with the cooler mounted on top with computers built in, but appreciated that it really could cut straight lines. People, particularly women, gravitated to the remote control cars. Strapping on arm controllers and flexing their wrists to drive the cars.
This inspired me to think about how engaging all of the presentations really could have been. If you are taking the time and money to go to a Trade Show or convention, are you being creative in your presentation? How are you getting people to engage with your product? If we can engage the mind and body we will have a much better chance at being remembered. This is partly why I am working with LogicJunction and like the interactive presentations they are doing with artificial intelligence and avatars.
I powered up on coffee, quickly downing 3 cups, determined to finish the last 2 aisles. As I rounded the final corner, there it was, like a shining star on the darkest night. Three boards with a group of students using Blogs, Twitter and Picasso photo sharing to test communication between multiple programs. This was clearly inspired by some tech enabled students in the allergy department.
I was also impressed to see experiments with Twitter. Did I see anything mind boggling? No, but I was reminded that we still do not know how Twitter will be used. That blogs can be used to keep a particular group communicating and thinking together. That technology can be applied as unique and creative solutions for specific problems. Most importantly, that there is no cookie cutter, we must look at it each situation and devise the best solution to achieve the goals!
