12 Comments to “New blogs eMerge”

1. Susan Sarver Says:
   

   October 9th, 2007 at 12:37 am

   Just thought it was interesting to find my name on the Web, if that Susan Sarver is still out there have her contact me, maybe?

2. Rich W Says:
   

   October 10th, 2007 at 12:20 am

   Wish I could share your enthusiasm for these “blogs” but I can’t.

   While it’s pretty nifty Corbin did a SL presentation, there’s just not much “there” there on the others. Plus, IAEM has been down the blog road before - yet they still have only folks who are actively marketing and selling product/services to potential readers - no enthusiasts or user-side authors that I can see. And from the five I took a look at - not much to say, either. I have no confidence there will be much in the way of objectivity, new observations or even transparency. Hope I’m proved wrong.

   Sorry Sue - love ya, but throwing around descriptives like “great” for this effort is an overstatement, at least at this point in time, dontcha think?

3. Sue Pelletier Says:
   

   October 10th, 2007 at 8:43 am

   OK, so “great” may be an overstatement. I’m just always so happy to see people in our business actually giving it a shot that I tend to go a bit overboard. Yeah, so far I am a little underwhelmed, but let’s give them a chance to get some momentum going.

4. David Angeletti Says:
   

   October 10th, 2007 at 3:39 pm

   I truly hope to help you out there Rich… We’re a bit late in joining the fray on the eMerge blog, but hope to be posting by next week about all things related to elevating value of content presented during meetings. The presentation we have planned for the show will feature objective input from one of our client representatives, who just happens to be a third-party project manager and education expert…

   I have to agree, to some extent, with Rich though. I’ve seen too many of those blogs where I thought I agreed to voluntarily read a commercial as well!

5. Rich W Says:
   

   October 10th, 2007 at 6:15 pm

   OK Dave, you have my attention

6. Stephen Nold Says:
   

   October 10th, 2007 at 7:16 pm

   Gee Rich,
   What’s your beef with the eMERGE blog?

   If you read a few posts and comments, you will find plenty of user-side involvement: Chris Brown with NAB, Shawn Pierce with Hanley Wood, Tony Calanca with Advanstar Communications and Stephen Graham with SPE…just to name a few.

   As far as interest goes - over one hundred visitors went to the eMERGE blog yesterday morning alone. Guess some industry professionals are enjoying it.

   Maybe we could invite you to submit a couple of comments and help make it a great blog, dontcha think?

7. Dave Lutz Says:
   

   October 11th, 2007 at 7:27 am

   As a representative of the IAEE eMERGE conference committee, I wanted to thank you Sue for your original post. What’s important to note about these blogs is that they are created to specifically help drive content and add to the educational experience of those that attend the eMERGE conference. The blogs are moderated by the conference speakers and will only be around long enough to complete the learning experience.

   To Rich’s points, these blogs are brand new and should grow as the December 10 conference date approaches. If you were to really analyze the posts, you’ll find that in addition to the solution providers and consultants, there are 4 - 5 client side industry leaders that are active (all with TSW top 50 shows). Rich we welcome your direct feedback at the eMERGE blog site.

   The eMERGE conference will be held on December 10 in Vegas and is free for those attending IAEE Expo! Expo!

8. Michael Nolan Says:
   

   October 12th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

   I have to agree with Rich W. Not much meat on the eMerge blog hamburger yet. There are alot of commercials and chest thumping but not much protein. In my view, these blogs are a place where we should all be able to trade experiences to help the industry - just writing about how ‘great’ you and your company are doesnt really help (even if it is just in a bio). The Internet (capital I intended) is the great truth machine of our age. If our combined written experiences cant be passed on then the next generation of people making a living out of the trade show market will need to relive all of our experiences (good and bad) all over again.

   Dave L, if the intent of the eMerge blog really is to drive content and add to the educational experience of those that attend the eMerge conference then where is the educational content in the blog so far? For one of the ‘hot’ topics (RFID) all I have learned by reading the blog is that we should think of it as a ‘medium’ instead of a technology - whatever that means. I know alot about the writer of the RFID section (how successful she is and what an innovator she is etc) but virtually nothing about RFID.
   I love the idea of everyone talking via the blog before the live event to inform the conversation at the live event but if the live event is going to be a rehash of the blog then the learning experience will be limited.
   Also as an aside, I know it is common to measure success of something like these blogs with how many ‘client side’ industry leaders take part but the reality is that the ones taking part are mostly supply side industry leaders. I dont think that is a bad thing, in fact , I tend to get most of my ‘meat’ from the supply side industry leaders rather than clients. Clients tell me what they want; I am hoping to learn how to deliver it to them by listening to the supply side industry leaders.

9. Rich W Says:
   

   October 13th, 2007 at 9:17 pm

   Stephen,
   I’m already helping you out by firing off comments here on Sue’s joint. That’s how social networking works.

   Dave,
   I’ve had the utmost respect for you for a long time, so I read your comments with special interest. Regarding supply-siders, I don’t know all the supply-siders you’ve mentioned, but I do that successful bloggers are people (and organizations) that can commit to being transparent and community-oriented, not defensive and self-serving. Good blogging requires a culture that embraces the qualities of a good blog.

   That tells me Passkey should be worth reading because that organization has always had a transparent and customer-centric culture. Clients in one city helping clients in another because they were Passkey evangelists was not uncommon. Organizations like that are rare (for those of you with long memories, I was VP marketing there and created the user group - which I’m happy to see has continued to grow). As much as I might like some of the other folks involved, I can’t speak to having direct experience with the organizations that most of them represent. Some of the others I can all but guarantee will be guarded in what they say. Not sure if that’s what you’re after here.

   Again, my initial point to Sue was that I felt it was way too early to begin celebrating eMerge. Jury is still out guys (and gal). That was it. By the tone of some of the responses I can already see that a few callouses might be in order.

   Btw, … regarding 100 visitors. I average 60/day on a tradeshow blog that’s been all but dead for a year. FWIW, I’ve got a coffeehouse that averages ~300 a day. Let me know when eMerge is above the fold on page one of a Google search for “trade show blogs” or some similar string - and no outside SEO firms to help - that would be cheating

10. Dave Lutz Says:
    

    October 16th, 2007 at 9:34 am

    Mike and Rich, I wanted to thank both of you for helping light a fire under our volunteer committee for the IAEE eMERGE Conference! Isn’t Social Networking great! Like most 1st time events, we need all the help we can get in our promotional efforts and then need to deliver on 12/10.

    Nearly 20 case studies where initially submitted and reviewed from event technology solution providers. The IAEE Education committee analyzed those submissions and picked what they believed where the six best uses of technology resulting in direct client benefits.

    In addition to the five key note speakers/panelist blogs, it’s going to be up to those solution providers to make the most of this opportunity. They each have a blog and are able to choose to pound their chest and market (we all see through that) or to help educate the industry on the area that they excel.

    Rich and Mike the respect is mutual and we really appreciate you guys actively jumping in so the eMERGE conference is beneficial for the industry! We might need to recruit you for eMERGE 2.0

11. Michael Nolan Says:
    

    October 27th, 2007 at 5:17 pm

    Always ready to help in any way I can Dave. The jury is still out, from my point of view, on the value of social networking tools in an industry as insular as the trade show industry. Too many folks think that they need to watch what they say so their competitors dont get important information and for too long people in our industry have used blogs simply as a marketing medium for their message. It’s the only thing that has NOT changed since I entered the trade show market in the late 80’s (that’s 1980’s as in nearly 30 years ago). I hope the eMerge total effort can change this dynamic if only slightly in favor of a method for dispensing valuable technical information among peers. If it turns into just another commercial for someones new widget I will be the first to let you know.

12. James Gowell Says:
    

    November 13th, 2007 at 6:14 pm

    Having reviewed the Shawn Pierce blog titled “tough crowd” which linked to “new blogs emerge”…all the feedback is excellent.

    Obviously, it is my goal to provide content and educational experiences and although one industry professional finds the content standard issue, others may consider posts extremely valuable.

    Agree, providing commercials and chest thumping should be avoided…and in some cases is difficult to avoid…as your comments above.

    Bottom line, if somebody is sharing content deemed to be valuable, I’d like to hear it, regardless of what others might think of the subject matter.

    Jury is out and there is always room for improvement.

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