Technology vendors are not the enemy. Given the way they are usually treated, you’d think that they were vile criminals whose primary intent was fraud. At most trade shows, they are corralled into a ghetto, prodded by the event hosts, straight-jacketed and humiliated. They are forced to distribute small plastic objects to disinterested attendees who are focused on filling their shopping bags.
In the most egregious cases, the conference host forces vendors into unnatural positions and then hurls epithets at them. This odd form of amusement is passed off as ‘HR Technology Analysis”. Prizes and accolades are heaped on the team that is most willing to endure the hazing. Like a carnival freak show, the barker makes his living by being an abrasive self-promoter. Vendors vie for attention in the sideshow as a way of generating leads.
The result for the vendor, in retrospect, is insignificant. The audience, which rarely contains actual buyers, is no closer to a smart decision. The entertainment is shallow and leaves the audience with an unearned sense of mastery. The only winner in this bizarre sideshow is the company that runs the trade show.
There is nothing particularly wrong with that approach.
Trade shows, with their roots in an earlier time of energy surplus, are really a combination of circus and class reunion. Although the vendors foot the lion’s share of the bill, it’s more along the lines of a community service. Providing the platform and entertainment for a party is a good public relations move.
Circus acts, self-effacing entertainment, public service and lots of chotchkes are a necessary part of the mix. But, they are not sufficient to make a coherent marketplace for HR Technology. In order for the market to improve, potential customers need a quieter more conversation friendly place to encounter suppliers.
Technology and technology decisions are high risk components of the HR ecosystem. A well executed project can be the spearhead of an HR Department’s transformation into a strategic weapon. A botched deal wreaks havoc on budgets, priorities and organizational credibility.
I’ve joined forces with SharedXpertise to launch the HRDemo conference. We want to complement the existing system, not replace it. Like salt and pepper, both forms of event have their place and relevance.
At HRDemo, it will be all technology all of the time. Rather than treating vendors as errant juveniles in need of supervision, we will give them the opportunity to tell you other story on their terms.
We are offering slots for 48 vendors (four tracks of six sessions each day) the opportunity to tell their story to an audience. The audience will have access to the demonstrations on the hotel’s specially beefed up wireless network. Each session lasts an hour and includes detailed question and answer sessions.
We expect about 500 participants to join us in Las Vegas on December 8th and 9th. Each presentation room will be wired, as only Las Vegas can deliver, with enough bandwidth for participatory demos.
Our goal is to give serious purchasers an opportunity to compare the culture, products and services of a number of suppliers in a compressed time frame. The idea is to condense your acquisition cycle by delivering dense information in a short time frame.
It’s a smart place to bring a team focused on buying technology next year.
We’re also inviting all of the industry’s major analysts. I’ll tell you more about the analyst function in the next installation.
