Yesterday, I went to the e-Business Day here in Puerto Rico. For various reasons, I considered not going, but in the end I’m glad I went. What made me decide to go? First, I wanted to support Ernesto Gonzalez, founder of GTA Marketing Agency. Although we never did work together, at least Ernesto was willing to meet with me way back when I was getting back on my feet. I always appreciated his kindness and for taking the time to talk about different alternatives. Second, although it is true everywhere, here in Puerto Rico it is fatal. You can never have too many connections. I knew there would be some people I knew, and maybe some new ones to meet.
Although I tried to pay attention to the speakers, I just couldn’t help working the crowd. Here’s a tip, I picked this up in one of the many sales, marketing, self-help books I’ve read. Want an easy ice-breaker while you’re at a conference? It’s easy, just simply ask “Why are you here?” That should be enough to get things rolling. Then just pay attention to what they say and then ask some follow-up questions. Before you even get a chance to get self-conscious you’ll be asking and answering questions and then don’t forget to ask for a business card.
As I mentioned, I’m glad I went. I rekindled some old relationships, and then made some really interesting new ones. First, I ran into an old co-worker. Javier Ramos has spent most of his life in sales and operations. Recently he set out on his own and has his own Website development company. He explained that he was a franchisee for WSI and was looking to make some new contacts. We discussed some ideas and we’ll be meeting soon. I believe that Javier and I share a mutual respect, and it could prove interesting to collaborate with him.
I also met Humberto Fernández, the President of Datajuegos.com. Humberto runs an online portal in Spanglish on the video game industry. Humberto seems like a great guy, and most definitely his XBox Console was the hit of the after event cocktail. I just wish I didn’t suck so badly. I had never played Halo 2, so it was a fun distraction.
Even Ernesto got it on the action. I shared an ideaa with Humberto I had about a game store/play zone that I thought of last year. I also shared my observations about how insane the lines were for the videogame stores during Christmas last year. There had to be some unmet demand that could be captured creatively. I hope to meet with him soon, at least to get some DataJuegos.com fliers to pass out on the campus of InterAmerican University.
Later I met a great bunch of folks at Caribe Host.net.
They are an ISP, web host, and web consulting business. After talking with their president, Obed Borrero, we discovered that we shared a lot in common. They are fairly large users of open source software and there appears to be several potential collaborations with him and his company. We should meet next week and begin to iron out some details. He also had with him Noreliz Torres and Anamarys Lozáda. They are starting a public relations/modeling company in conjunction with Obed. After meeting with them, I remember some crazy ideas I had about combining model searches with a permissive marketing customer base. I hope to pitch the idea to them, and maybe convince them to submit an idea for the Business Idea Competition.
A real surprise for me was meeting the guys over at InfoGerencia.
As coincidence would have it Gilberto Faisca and Ricardo Forestier of InfoGerencia/lasFinanzas will visit SNAP on Tuesday, March 15, to present Linux in the world of accounting. Laura Gorbea at Altamente.com asked them to stop by SNAP for our continuing Industry Voices series. I had lunch with the guys and they all seem great. We talked about open source content management systems, and I have to say I’m really looking forward to their presentation.
Finally, I met another free-lance writer here in Puerto Rico, Gil C. Schmidt of eRevista fame. Gil lead an interesting discussion during the conference about the unique challenges facing companies creating websites for small companies. One of his admonitions, unless you’re Microsoft, put a picture of someone on your web presence to be the face for your company. I caught up with him after his presentation and told him that I could relate what he was saying to the “Cluetrain Manifesto”, which I’m reading right now. With a face on a small business website, then customers can begin a natural conversation with company. There is no reason for a small business to hide behind their website. I couldn’t agree more.
Something New
I tried something new at this conference. I probably committed (repeatedly) the cardinal sin of entrepreneurship and shared some of my “intellectual property” without any protection. Freaky, unprotected idea sharing. Who knows what I’ll catch? Rather, I’m hoping that by freely sharing my ideas with people that can best use them, I’ll create new opportunities. Maybe I’ll spread an Ideavirus and get caught up in an epidemic. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a blast.
