I recently read “The Circle” by Dave Eggers – an engaging warning of a time in the (perhaps not too distant) future when all online social media and technology conglomerates have been consumed by one giant superpower, with increasingly disturbing consequences. The lead character is soon engulfed in a world where human contact is replaced by a constant and metricized battle to thrive through competitive online engagement. It was a truly eye-opening read and I took away a re-energized passion for the business of face-to-face events – the business that everyone at Smarter Shows is positively committed to.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a technophobe or a member of the anti-social media brigade. I understand that in the modern age, many of us have a very wide network of friends, colleagues and associates with whom it would be impossible to keep up if “face-to-face” meetings were the only option. The fact that I am writing this piece for the Smarter Shows blog is hopefully testament to that fact. However, it also highlights…