Two weeks ago, we were in San Diego, California, at the Del Mar Electronics Manufacturing Show (DMEMS) having an absolute blast. The weather was awesome, the golf was even better, and the booth traffic – well, the booth traffic was the best of all!
Let’s get it started
We took advantage of the location, the weather, and the weekend before the show and hit a couple San Diego golf courses to un-wind before winding back up for the week. We’re avid golfers, and while we love our East Coast courses, SoCal golf is in a class of its own as well – and it did not disappoint. It was a great opportunity to get a feel for the area and think about something other than work for a bit before the work week arrived.
When it came time for the show, we had the usual booth set-up issues (head scratching, some temporarily lost parts, and an item or two needing replacement), but all-in-all it went well. Teamwork is already top-notch among Chip Stock employees, and this way of working together, while different than the day-to-day, is a nice reminder that we’re a tightly-knit team.
It’s always refreshing to just take it all in and enjoy an empty booth, post-setup… definitely a “calm before the storm” type of feel.
Once the show started, we had a steady stream of people in and out of our booth. Between existing customers, fresh faces, and industry contacts it was non-stop conversation until they shut the place down.
To be fair, we had a putting green and minibar in the booth which we’re sure helped bring in the traffic – but still – between the chaos that trade shows inherently deliver, the long hours on our feet, and the endless conversation brought in by show vendors and attendees, never once did we think “why are we here?” It was straight-up fun from the second we got off the plane, and it lasted well into the evening of our last night there.
So, yeah, the show was fun. But did we learn anything?
You bet we did.
One smart industry
The people working in the electronics industry are smart, hardworking, industrious, and creative. Whether we were talking to engineers discussing parts or buyers researching potential purchase avenues, every conversation we had was engaging and eye-opening.
The beauty of trade shows is that you get out of the workplace and into the throng of your customers. Face to face communication is invaluable, and with the added benefit of small talk, getting to know your customers and learning how they really work is so much more effective than any amount of research and phone calls will ever be.
So, to hear the stories, challenges, and realities of how our customers are solving their problems at work, in such an up-close setting, is about as close to priceless as you can get regarding customer research. Situations like this also tend to turn work from less of a chore to more of an experience – one where you’re paying less attention to the tasks at hand, and gladly diving into the relationships portion of business.
And to hear the way that people in this industry are solving their problems, well, there’s a reason the electronics world moves at the pace that it does. DMEMS helped us realize our appreciation for the ability to be involved with these people daily.
There’s a need for calm during the storm
It’s no secret that component shortages and supply chain issues have plagued the manufacturing sectors the last few years – this is daily news in media outlets around the globe. But for those of us working inside the industry, with the supply chain issues physically changing our daily work behavior (inconsistently, at that), the chaos can be a bit overwhelming. In fact, it’s downright difficult to even imagine a normal workday for many of us tied to supplying manufacturing lines.
It makes complete sense, then, that stability and dependability are priorities among those working in manufacturing during times of disarray at work. We heard more than once about the value of relationships between supplier and manufacturer, and about the importance that a feeling of partnership – as opposed to being just another sales opportunity – is between different groups. Even though this is “business,” our daily lives are intertwined with the people we work with, and having a reliable partnership with those on which we depend to help solve our problems is priceless.
Chip Stock already values our solid relationships with our clients, but during the show we realized how vital this notion is to not only our own company growth, but to the manufacturing industry as a whole. Internally, our company has re-committed to our ideals of customer service and building work relationships, and we owe it to our booth conversations for helping us re-prioritize this goal.
Moving forward
We’ve heard before from some folks that trade shows only create more work – which is actually true. But the tasks resulting from attending shows like DMEMS only enhance our daily activities, moving the work forward in a positive direction. While the associated to-do items upon returning to the office are many, the overall value we feel with regard to our business relationships is improved, bringing more of a purposeful feel to the daily grind – which is very welcome.
So yeah – in case you can’t tell – we’re excited to go back next year. If you attend, stop in and say hi.