To go or not to go... that was the question.
PMA@CES 2013 is held at an uncomfortable time.
Airlines price gouge travellers at this time of year, with fares up nearly 300% over lower traffic periods.
A combination of post Xmas blues, school holidays and a moderately busy retail period understandably make many attendees think twice about heading to the show.
I decided mid 2012 to go regardless of these points and I am glad I did.
There is something about the end of one year, and the beginning of a new one, that seems to leave people in a funk. It seems to take weeks and weeks for life to start to kick back in at its normal pace and before you know it it is February and you really haven't made any headway into the years work.
One of the big advantages of attending conferences is how they energise you.
The connections with like minded people, the sessions showing you new ways to look at facets of your business, the new products that you have not been exposed to before, the solutions for problems that have been plaguing you all go hand in hand to have you returning for work with a determination to get stuck in and get stuck in straight away.
Sure the first week of January may be not the most ideal time to be away, but if you return fired up and ready to implement new strategies you will be weeks ahead of your competitors, and when your customers start to return after school holidays, you already have new things to talk to them about.
Sounds like a good way to start the year off to me.
Imaging this year at PMA@CES and CES in general was dominated by mobile phone imaging, and when you hear the figures you'll understand why.
In 2012 the US market sold 35 million compact cameras. Sounds like a lot doesn't it?
Well it does until you see the December 25 figures for mobile phone activations.
On Christmas day alone 17.5 million mobile phones we connected. Half the entire years sales of compact cameras in one day...
What that tells us, if we don't already know, is that we had better get serious about mobile imaging.
We need to find an EASY way to get images off phones, especially iPhones, and get people into the habit of thinking that phone images are for more than just Facebook!
This year I was asked to put together the Retailer Hot Picks session and boy was I glad I was asked.
If I hadn't been then I more than likely would have missed out on THE product of the show in my mind for retailers struggling with issue of getting photos off phones.
No it wasn't some new kiosk you have to invest in, it wasn't some complex piece of machinery it was a simple device you plug into your phone, drag and drop the few images you want, and then pop it into the kiosk and start printing. Fortunately this wasn't 'air ware' it is a product available off the shelves now. You can find it here.
I would make sure any staff who work near kiosks have one of these around their necks.. and then keep a bunch for sale next to the register. Anyone who sees how easy this is to use will want one.
It may well be the best $150 you ever spend and I know the retailers I showed it to at CES just about fell off their chairs. For them it had paid for their trip.
That's the great thing about shows like these, all it takes is one or two small things that change the way you do business to make the effort and cost of attending worth it.
Other Hot Pick products such as the underwater housing for compacts that fit just about any camera change the way we stock accessories and help reduce inventory that rapidly becomes obsolete.
They also make an underwater housing for the iPhone that surely must be a 'must stock' product.
Shopkeep demonstrated new register technology that allows any staff member to become a register via an iPad - yep that's right, your store can be as cool as an Apple Store and free up register space for sales.
Then something as simple as the Hufa S lens cap keeper comes along and gives you a whole new product to sell that can add profit to EVERY DSLR sale. Sure it's only a few bucks extra but EVERY dollar counts.
Just a few items of many many things that were released but how many do you need to change your business?
There were no BIG things shown at the show that we can take advantage of. If it's big and popular then more than likely we can't play in that market anyway. But there were lots of small to medium things that, when added together, make for more money and more profit then any next 'big thing'.
For me, being a photographer not a retailer these days, I had the opportunity to mingle with world famous photographers and photo shoppers, listen and compare techniques and confirm that what I am doing is at the leading edge of current shooting styles, pick up some new ideas to change the way I train and generally get revved up for the year ahead. Great things for the psyche and therefore money well spent.
So with PMA@CES 2013 over and done with, and PMA@CES 2014 dates already announced next week I will try and look at what problems were faced this year by attendees, suppliers and the people running the booths and see if we can find was to make the 2014 show a must attend for the Aussie contingent.
If you attended the show and have any thoughts or experiences you'd like to share please email me glynn@creativephotoworkshops.com.au
