And by EVOLUTION, I mean our highly anticipated Technology Expo - hallelujah to that for two reasons.  The first, it's a lot easier to write about bringing in the experts for this column than pretending to be one.  I'm kidding, come on; give me a little more credit than that!

The second reason, our annual Technology Expo is the single most educational and enjoyable event we host each year to educate and celebrate.  For me though, it's much, much more than that. 

I was actually reading an article a few weeks back about ways to better your business.  Of course being from the IT industry, I would consider that to include being efficient, having a dependable infrastructure, keeping up with the ever-changing technology innovations, etc.

It wasn't but after a few sentences I realized the article wasn't talking about IT; they wanted to talk marketing.  Not quite my forte, but still I was intrigued.

Before I knew it I was consumed in Twitter jargon, Web conferencing tactics and a long list of how-to's that completely undermined the power and effect of the old-fashioned face-to-face.   

I get it, we're busy; it's not as cost-effective and so on, but as quickly as I joined the social media bandwagon, I have to admit I'm still old-fashioned! Sorry, I'm not apologizing for this one.  There's nothing better than the good ol' fashioned customer facing meeting or event opportunity to get in front of your audience, your customers.

That's exactly what our Tech Expo is about. If you're new to the Expo, I encourage you to attend.  I'll be the first to tell you - you picked a great year to join us.  Time will definitely be of the essence as our Vendor Showcase is so rightfully defined.  Ask questions, demo product and literally be one of the first to preview technology that hasn't even hit the market yet.

This year also marks our 50th year in business (as we've so descretely announced for the past 6 months).  It sounds like we'll be taking a trip down memory lane for our Customer Appreciation party as we Cheer's to the Years with the Cedar Rapids Chamber's PM Exchange. 

EVOLUTION, defined as a product of such development.  While I can't take credit for the rendition of this year's theme, I can say that Erb's is 50 years in the making and ask you to come see what we're all about.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend, and I hope to see you all in August, if not sooner!

Cheers,

Mike Brogan, President