4 minute read
From the President
KNOWLEDGEFEST REFLECTIONS
A tough but rewarding year in review while looking forward to 2022.
Reflecting on the past is great for review and to help plan for a better future. When it comes to education for our industry, 2020 was a tough year, allowing only one opportunity to get together in person way back in February of 2020 at our Long Beach, Calif.event. Looking back, I will tell you that rescheduling and cancelling KnowledgeFest events was heartbreaking for me. Some may think I am just referring to the loss of income for the association, but that’s not at all the case. The heartbreak came from knowing that you count on us to provide a great educational event to help you grow your business. But even more than that, the loss of face-to-face networking we’ve all come to value and enjoy. The isolation was grueling. The endless virtual meetings, although sometimes helpful, just didn’t replace hanging out with industry friends as we regaled in our personal stories of both failure and success.
The Return to KnowledgeFest
As an association, and with the blessing of many committed exhibitors and attendees, we decided to move forward with our 2021 events regardless of the perception of failure or success. We did this after hearing from many of you who just wanted to get back to some sense of normalcy. So did we. We understood that the number of exhibitors and attendance would be smaller than previous pre-pandemic totals. We also knew the event would be different with new safety protocols in place due to national, state, and local guidelines. With that, I am happy to report that none of our attendees or exhibitors reported any health issues because of holding these events. The blessing came when many of you thanked both us and the exhibitors who supported these events for forging ahead. Despite lower attendance numbers, exhibitors said they had very attentive participants in their training sessions, they were able to spend quality time with their accounts, and they built new relationships. Many attendees noted they were we didn’t cancel. They shared how much KnowledgeFest means to them, relaying stories of
the great ideas born out of past events that changed the course of their business and personal successes. These stories mean so much to us. This is what keeps us moving forward with our mission to educate, inform and empower the industry for continued growth. As an industry, we can look toward the future, knowing we enjoyed three successful events in 2021.
Anticipating a Year of Connection
We now look toward 2022 with great anticipation, and we’ll continue with four exciting and unique events. Starting February 18th, we will return to Las Vegas, no longer relying upon others such as CES or SEMA to host our industry. You may ask, why is this important? From our view, it allows us focus on our profession without the distraction of other unrelated areas. It provides us with a place to call home. An event that centers solely on what we do and how we do it. No other industry event can provide this level of focus for us. KnowledgeFest 2022 is poised to provide the best education, networking, and mobile electronics industry-specific exhibitors without equal. KnowledgeFest is your event! And we will always do our best to make sure we deliver the content and exhibitors to motivate you to participate. We know we are not the only game in town, and that’s okay with us. We know you have choices for your industry education. Just know that we welcome all in our industry regardless of your other affiliations. We will always be a place you can call home. KnowledgeFest has over 25 years of proven success as the original and best place to provide for all your business education needs. As you plan your year, make sure to have one or more KnowledgeFest events on your schedule. Las Vegas, February 18-20 (Mobile Electronics Industry Awards on the 20th); Indianapolis, April 1-3; Orlando, June 10-12; and Dallas, August 26-28. I hope to see you this year, and I look forward to your great stories of growth and transformation.
