Hello my name is...

Today is my first day back in the office after a week-long trip to Chicago to represent Sentry at the biggest trade show in the manufacturing industry - ProMat. Trade show; just saying the words can cause a person to shudder. Long days, aching feet from miles of walking, meals at all different hours of the day; and a hotel room, as nice as the hotel may be, is still a hotel room. So why do it? To build relationships. It's not communicating by text or voice mail or email or phone or even snail mail. It's about face-to-face, look them in the eye and shake their hand and say hello kind of communication. And you can't beat that.

I met a lot of people last week and I learned a little about each one of them. Some represented manufacturers while others represented service companies; others were customers looking for solutions. One thing they all had in common was an energy and excitement that you can't get from an email or a text message. It's genuine and it's real and it's a good thing.

As I waited to board my flight home, I couldn't help notice

that few people seated around me were engaging in conversation. Most were on their phones, their iPads, laptops or whatever. Back to the real world, I guess.

Just hope that we don't totally lose the fine art of personal conversation. Now that would be just plain boring.

Posted by MJ Thomas