In any relationship, friendship or otherwise, if you spend a lot of time together there are going to be a few gaps in the conversation. It’s only natural – keeping things fresh and interesting isn’t always easy, right? Keeping up the conversation can be hard work and inevitably leads to more mundane topics like ‘what’s for lunch?’ or ‘isn’t it lovely outside?’.
It’s a feeling I suspect some of the exhibitors at the CTIA Wireless exhibition will be having as they head towards the opening day of the show – 22 March at the Orange County Convention Center. For many of them it’ll seem like only yesterday that they were together at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Consumer Entertainment Show in Las Vegas.
It’s an issue that the CTIA organisers have addressed themselves by moving the conference to May in New Orleans for 2012. There will be announcements of course – LTE will play big and so will mobile payments and data pricing. But it looks unlikely that we’ll see many device launches to grab the headlines – no Motorola Xooms or Samsung Galaxy 2s here – and of course no surprise appearance by Steve Jobs to keep the press pack buzzing either.
So here are a couple of suggestions to help exhibitors keep the conversation flowing in between chatting with delegates:
Planning for 2012 in New Orleans: It’s been a while since the show was last there in 2005. Next year’s exhibitors can look forward to avoiding discussions about school holidays and Disneyworld and prepare for a more laid-back experience and the food and attractions of Bourbon Street. Here’s a handy guide to get you started http://wikitravel.org/en/New_Orleans
Heading over to Hogwarts: Move over Mickey, Harry’s in town. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened last year at the Universal theme park, so if the technology isn’t out of this world at the show then head over to see what wizard gadgets are on display. I hear that Hogsmeade is a good place for a butter-beer or two to compare notes
Birthday tweets: It’s Twitter’s fifth birthday on 21 March. Everyone’s favourite mini-communications tool has grown up fast. In fact, too fast for many mobile operators who don’t seem to be too happy that our tweeting is giving network infrastructures a good hammering. Still, Twitter’s co-founder Buzz Stone is giving a keynote on 24 March, so perhaps exhibitors can spend a bit of time discussing and hashtagging the best ways to wish him a happy birthday…
The Disney challenge: Now of course anyone going to Orlando won’t be far from an image of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and co. Sadly the magical world of Disney doesn’t come cheap. Exhibitors could of course discuss the best gift options available at the Disney store, but how about setting up an eBay competition to see who can snatch the best bargains?
A conversation hole in one: Anyone partial to a bit of tee action will be interested to know the Arnold Palmer Invitational PGA golf tournament is taking place from 21-27 March in Orlando. Now, I’m not suggesting exhibitors will to get a chance to spend the day watching the action on the green, but how about a bit of friendly banter as Tiger, Mickelson and Els lock clubs?
I hope we’ve helped. We’ll be at the show too, so drop an email to kimw@rlyl.com or tweet us at @RedLorryPR to say hi. I’m sure we can find a few things to talk about.
