Ryan and I are finally back in the office from our visit to Indianapolis for AHDI’s Annual Convention, ACE365. This year it was held at the exquisite JW Marriott Indianapolis, and trust me, it was a very nice hotel. Our experiences at this trade show have always been rather favorable, and this year didn’t disappoint. As per the usual, we gave away our free t-shirt with an Indy car inspired theme. It was a smashing success and everyone we heard back from loved the giveaway. During our times on the exhibit floor we had the chance to catch up with many of AHDI’s officers and members, Transcriptionists, MTSOs, Schools, Partners, Colleagues and more! Many of our current customers knew we were attending and stopped by to say hello. One of the most positively reviewed products from the show this year was definitely the Pedal-Stay, a device to help prevent your foot pedal from moving at all during use.
I like to make observations about the shows I attend. Here are a few notes that keep replaying in my head from this convention.
1) The attendees were very eager and excited about AHDI’s new strategic plan. “Spark Your Growth” was a well-planned theme and it was true to the show. The attendees were hungry to learn as much as they could; they sought information that would be beneficial to not only themselves, but the industry. They are excited about these upcoming changes and new practices being put in place, even though some may be considered risky. And this is a massive change in outlook for this industry, which has always been rather timid and reserved. Honestly, I truly believe AHDI’s brightest days are still yet to come, and I hope to be there helping them every step of the way.
2) Exhibitors at the show this year were few and far between compared to past shows. As a business, we only had one true competitor on the exhibitor floor, which was a new experience for us. At first, the tone seemed downright dark and scary, but within 30 minutes of the reception I knew this show would turn out alright. Competitors, partners and friends were exhibiting with great pride and excitement, and they all seemed to have a successful trip. During our stay we had many colleagues approach us and ask where our booth was going to be next year so they could plan on being by us. That is a great feeling and an honor to be sought out like that.
3) Yes, this year’s show was significantly smaller than last year’s convention. I blame this partly on the massive change in structure of AHDI over the past year, and the fact that they are just finishing an old business plan and transitioning to a new one. Couple in the factor of our economy and industry, and you’re left with a recipe for disaster. It is extremely hard right now for MTSOs and Transcriptionists to have the extra funds required to cover these convention expenses. With that being said, we still had a great and successful time at the show this year and expect even better attendance next year. While traffic to our booth was down, and the exhibit floor appeared and felt “empty” at times, the traffic that did stop by our booth was valuable. They had questions, wanted to know more about products, were interested in our stance in the industry, and provided us with invaluable insight and feedback.
4) We did note that everyone enjoyed our t-shirt design we had this year and that the shirts were comfortable. We only came home with nine tees left over this year, and that is a great thing. We also donated several shirts to the local chapter of AHDI to give away at their local symposium.
TranscriptionGear.Com has always been here to help move this industry into a brighter future, and we intend to continue with this goal as part of our day-to-day business model. Since our parent company’s inception in 1914 and through a partnership between the beloved Thomas A. Edison and John Dolbey, we are proud to have directly contributed to the evolution and growth of the products and services that are integral to how dictation and transcription professionals work. We don’t plan on pulling back now, especially in this time of change in our industry. Rather than be a passive observer to the events and changes around us, we have developed an aggressive series of training events, informative webinars and productivity tools to help our customers keep up with the pace of ever-changing technology. Whether it be educating them on new techniques and policies, or completely overhauling our products and solutions to continue to assist them in their professional endeavors, you can count on TranscriptionGear.Com being there to help. Overall we had a great trip and look forward to attending next year at Lake Buena Vista, FL in 2013.
Follow Matt LaMond:
https://www.twitter.com/MattAtTG/
https://www.facebook.com/Matt.LaMond/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/MattLaMond/
https://www.youtube.com/TranscriptionGearTV/
