Hello, My Name Is…

Robert Scoble is a personality in the tech industry who gained Internet fame after becoming a sometimes outspoken proponent *and* critic of his previous employer, Microsoft, on his blog.  At the time he started writing about the company’s inner workings Microsoft had a poor image–one of a closed, secretive monopoly known alternately for buggy software and bullying its competitors.

Robert almost single-handedly reversed that rap with his candid, honest and sometimes self-deprecating (from the company’s standpoint) blog commentary.  Surprisingly, Microsoft let him continue and by doing so managed to shed–to one degree or another–some of the “Evil Empire” reputation the company had cultivated among the tech community.

Robert’s moved on from Microsoft and now does a video show for Fast Company magazine.  Recently he’s become bearish on the trade show industry.  He makes some fair points on his blog in a post that details his reasons for predicting the downfall of the big shows, for which he fingers the main culprits of bloggers and online video.  More recently he took his argument to the Twitter, where he posted these thoughts.

“Hogwash”? Obviously, we’re happy to disagree with Robert and agree wholeheartedly with @docwho76 (Daniel Spisak).  Yes, the economy is a challenge right now, but smart businesspeople know it’s more important than ever to have that face to face contact with customers, partners and prospects in tough times.  Sales are made when a level of trust and familiarity is struck between salesperson and prospect.  It doesn’t matter how good Skype gets, it’s not better than a real handshake.  And nothing a video conference can do will replace a first time, in-person connection with a colleague from a different city; or the chance to have a drink with a client, get to know them better and brainstorm some new ideas in person, after work hours.  Anyone in the professional services industry will tell you: it’s harder to be fired by a friend than a “client.”

Robert also predicts company product launches will go completely virtual, bloggers and new social video tools will make the need for a physical unveiling at a big trade show obsolete.  Robert - you’re a tech guy, do you really think early adopters like yourself aren’t going to want to go to a show with their geek tech enthusiast friends and put their hands on those new gadgets?  No, we didn’t think so.

The meetings industry (including trade shows, conferences and expositions) might shrink a bit during the downturn, but it’s full of hardy people happy to get out and meet each other.  It’s not going away.  Just the opposite; meetings, trade shows and other big expos are taking to social media tools quickly, and we know YOU KNOW that’s a good thing.