This year, For The Love Of Mapping attended the GEO Business Show.
It was my first since my PhD days (and my first industry event since my comprehensive mental breakdown a couple of years ago 😅 The less said about that, the better).
As it had been so long – probably 7 or 8 years – I thought I’d better dip a toe back in and see what’s what. Plus things had moved from the lively Angel to the more, uhh, brutal environs of Custom House.
Keeping that ‘novelty’ theme going, I also invited Nick (co-founder and business development lead) along.
As ever, it was a real joy being able to catch up with old faces, and a privilege to make so many new connections too. It’s fair to say the industry has changed substantially in recent years. However, it remains full of inspirational people at all levels and across the private and public sectors alike.
There’s a saying, isn’t there – ‘no plan survives contact with the enemy’? Well, I guess that the show was full of ‘competitors’ and it’s certainly helped me clarify where I want to position my businesses. It’s also validated a few assumptions I’d made, which is fantastic.
I also sensed a bit of an undercurrent of uncertainty. We’re in febrile times geopolitically and economically. There seemed to be more hesitance in terms of pushing boundaries. Lots of variations on the same few themes, too. As a chap who wrote a PhD suggesting SLAM might revolutionise a couple of industries some years ago, I feel mildly smug, too.
For me, getting out to shows like this is a bit of a gamble. I don’t have a gadget to show off or a widget to plug. I don’t have a budget to buy them, either. I’m essentially selling insight, clarity of thought and a strategic mindset. So I rock up and do my best to listen. And listen I did.
To those I caught up with, cheers again.
To those I missed, chat over a coffee?
Those of you wanting a bit of support in uncertainty, I know a guy who keeps on finding himself at the same table. The one marked “what might be the next thing?”. Perhaps give me a shout if you’d like answers.
You won’t be the first, and you won’t want to be last!