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...in Atlanta. I'm massively jetlagged, appropriately red-eyed from the red-eye, and in a frightfully rambling, yet disassociated mood.
LA. Hi-tech conferences focusing on the computer and telephone network industries. Some of the products are well received by the non-tech public at large -- cell phones, voice mail, the primitive, neanderthal beginnings of true voice recognition. Some products are despised -- phone trees, caller ID, and, loathed of the loathed, predictive dialers...those machines that call you during dinner and connect you to someone asking for money. I used to work for several predictive dialer companies. I used to tell people, "We don't interrupt your dinner, we just make the technology that makes it possible!"
Like most tech conventions, there is an amazing gestalt of humanity, in the true German sense of the word. Men outnumber women about 5 to 1. White Ameri-Euros outnumber their domestic minorities by a wider than normal margin, other than the strong contingent of Asian and SubContinentals that always show up in force. A decade ago, it was 10-1 male to female, and the minority population would have been a blip. It is interesting that the tech biz is integrating noticably among Ameri-Euros. The other continents are making headway as well -- there were Asian and SubContinental women attending in ratios that were approaching the Ameri-Euros a few years ago.
The Breakdown. In other, less official demographics:
*An entire tier of your stereotypical nerds and geeks. An inclusive group that can literally make the world run if they want to, but are more interested in the details of the technology being presented, and the booth-toys that are given away (stuff like hacky-sacks, yo-yos, candy, pens, desk toys, buttons that light up and beep, etc...). The nerds are all brilliant, yet unfocused. They study each technology until they figure out how it works, then lose interest. They wear a variety of technological gizmos that all work, yet the look is unwieldy and cluttered.
*A smaller tier of techno-elites. Just as brilliant as the nerds, but fiercely focused...their intelligence is an almost tangible aura about them, charged and energized by their own egos. They are much more image conscious -- while the nerds wear the same clothes for the entire conference, the techno-elites are very fashion conscious yet underground -- they wear all black and combat boots, or they are a pincushion of piercings. They may be covered with electronic gadgets selected for their techno-glam more than their usefulness. They project a punk or beatnik aura, as opposed to the more hippyish nerds. They are more likely to understand a technology and figure out how to actually make it work and, perhaps, turn a profit.
*A swarm of sales-jocks. Most do not come from technical backgrounds, but traditional business and sales industries. They were attracted to tech by the high commissions and profit margins, and these were smart enough to either a) understand the technology just enough to sell it (which may be just memorizing the proper use of buzzwords) or b) coerce and/or suck up either a nerd or techno-elite, carefully keeping the lackey's involvement to a minimum. Most are dressed in the latest casual suits, or very clean, very bright, and very starched Dockers and Polos. The sales-jocks don't know or don't care how the latest technology works (other than just enough to explain it to clients). They want to know who is likely to buy it, and what the margins are.
*A faction of goofy Moneybags. They will advertise and strut like a newly-made Mafia capo. Random booth workers are subjected to their longish anecdotes of taking companies from a 3 employee basement office to a $50 million company in three years. Oddly, these $50 million companies are ones that no one has ever heard of. These goofballs aren't here for biz, they're here to meet other goofballs and get their egos stroked. Hopeful company execs, who miss the point, drool over them and suck up, listening to stories of potential investments. The check will never be written -- the goofballs have money, no doubt, but they never invest. They don't like risk, they don't like work, but they like to tell their fellow goofballs that they're plugged into the tech biz.
*A much smaller faction of covert Moneybags. The Dot Coms are dropping like ducks in a Louisianna hunting swamp, yet tech still spells Money with a captial "$". The coverts disguise themselves as sales-jocks, but tend not to have the same sense of style. The suits they wear were very popular last year -- they'll probably notice the starched and pressed polo shirts this year and file it away for use next year...when the styles will have changed again. They're the ones to zero in on, the ones who may actually invest money in a promising product. Their subterfuge, sketchy as it is, signals they're serious.
*The hooks. These are people who most likely type with one finger, yet are hired by the exhibitors to hook people into their booths. There are jugglers and magicians and auctioneers and quasi-celebs/athletes.
*And then there are the booth bimbos. Tall blondes in skin-tight white turtlenecks and tight black leather pants hands out brochures. The nerds of both genders are completely paralyzed and won't go within three booths of them. The techno-elites of both genders try to make small talk -- the men try to hit on them by strutting their confidence and intelligence, the women try to swap fashion tips (and, sometimes, try to hit on them). The blondes shoot the techno-elites down with a laser-like efficiency, usually with a single bored glance away. It works -- the one sure way to annoy a techno-elite is to act like they don't matter. The sales-jocks sniff around -- the men try to hit on them, and the women sent out an obvious aura of annoyance of such sexist tactics....or, sometimes, try to hit on them. The blondes react to the sales-jocks -- they are the true target. They'll flirt with the male jocks. They'll flirt with the women jocks. If the women jocks act offended or annoyed, the blondes will flirt more to piss them off. Biz is biz, but life is life -- some of the women jocks are bugged by the sexism, the blondes are annoyed, ironically, that the women jocks are judging them as mere objects for a cause. Like the blondes don't know full well that they are hired to sell with sex, and fully accept it as their choice. A few women-jocks simmer with clenched jaws. The booth-bimbos smile with a dazzling Barbie airheadedness that is, somehow, even more contemptuous. The covert Moneybags avoid the bimbos -- they're here for biz. The goofballs do a lot of staring, but they don't approach either -- the male goofball egos couldn't take the rejection, the women goofball egos couldn't take the comparison.
The nerds and techno-elites buzz on the tech. The jocks and coverts buzz on the deals. The goofballs, hooks, and bimbos buzz on themselves. There is technology here that will change the world. Deals are being made that will change the world. I'm in a very small demographic straddling both camps -- moving away from the techno-elite clan, but nowhere near the sales-jocks. Men and women who are independent, entrepreneurial, who can grok the tech and work the market. I was involved in tech discussions that may change the future engineering of several products. I was involved in biz deals that may change the course of our industry. I buzzed for three days off of jetlag, espresso, brightly blinking equipment, and deals that may or may not gel, from a quarter million to 20 million dollars. The buzz is a roller-coaster -- thrilling yet terrifying; fun yet dangerous. Satisfying, yet still somewhat dirty.
LA. Hi-tech conferences focusing on the computer and telephone network industries. Some of the products are well received by the non-tech public at large -- cell phones, voice mail, the primitive, neanderthal beginnings of true voice recognition. Some products are despised -- phone trees, caller ID, and, loathed of the loathed, predictive dialers...those machines that call you during dinner and connect you to someone asking for money. I used to work for several predictive dialer companies. I used to tell people, "We don't interrupt your dinner, we just make the technology that makes it possible!"
Like most tech conventions, there is an amazing gestalt of humanity, in the true German sense of the word. Men outnumber women about 5 to 1. White Ameri-Euros outnumber their domestic minorities by a wider than normal margin, other than the strong contingent of Asian and SubContinentals that always show up in force. A decade ago, it was 10-1 male to female, and the minority population would have been a blip. It is interesting that the tech biz is integrating noticably among Ameri-Euros. The other continents are making headway as well -- there were Asian and SubContinental women attending in ratios that were approaching the Ameri-Euros a few years ago.
The Breakdown. In other, less official demographics:
*An entire tier of your stereotypical nerds and geeks. An inclusive group that can literally make the world run if they want to, but are more interested in the details of the technology being presented, and the booth-toys that are given away (stuff like hacky-sacks, yo-yos, candy, pens, desk toys, buttons that light up and beep, etc...). The nerds are all brilliant, yet unfocused. They study each technology until they figure out how it works, then lose interest. They wear a variety of technological gizmos that all work, yet the look is unwieldy and cluttered.
*A smaller tier of techno-elites. Just as brilliant as the nerds, but fiercely focused...their intelligence is an almost tangible aura about them, charged and energized by their own egos. They are much more image conscious -- while the nerds wear the same clothes for the entire conference, the techno-elites are very fashion conscious yet underground -- they wear all black and combat boots, or they are a pincushion of piercings. They may be covered with electronic gadgets selected for their techno-glam more than their usefulness. They project a punk or beatnik aura, as opposed to the more hippyish nerds. They are more likely to understand a technology and figure out how to actually make it work and, perhaps, turn a profit.
*A swarm of sales-jocks. Most do not come from technical backgrounds, but traditional business and sales industries. They were attracted to tech by the high commissions and profit margins, and these were smart enough to either a) understand the technology just enough to sell it (which may be just memorizing the proper use of buzzwords) or b) coerce and/or suck up either a nerd or techno-elite, carefully keeping the lackey's involvement to a minimum. Most are dressed in the latest casual suits, or very clean, very bright, and very starched Dockers and Polos. The sales-jocks don't know or don't care how the latest technology works (other than just enough to explain it to clients). They want to know who is likely to buy it, and what the margins are.
*A faction of goofy Moneybags. They will advertise and strut like a newly-made Mafia capo. Random booth workers are subjected to their longish anecdotes of taking companies from a 3 employee basement office to a $50 million company in three years. Oddly, these $50 million companies are ones that no one has ever heard of. These goofballs aren't here for biz, they're here to meet other goofballs and get their egos stroked. Hopeful company execs, who miss the point, drool over them and suck up, listening to stories of potential investments. The check will never be written -- the goofballs have money, no doubt, but they never invest. They don't like risk, they don't like work, but they like to tell their fellow goofballs that they're plugged into the tech biz.
*A much smaller faction of covert Moneybags. The Dot Coms are dropping like ducks in a Louisianna hunting swamp, yet tech still spells Money with a captial "$". The coverts disguise themselves as sales-jocks, but tend not to have the same sense of style. The suits they wear were very popular last year -- they'll probably notice the starched and pressed polo shirts this year and file it away for use next year...when the styles will have changed again. They're the ones to zero in on, the ones who may actually invest money in a promising product. Their subterfuge, sketchy as it is, signals they're serious.
*The hooks. These are people who most likely type with one finger, yet are hired by the exhibitors to hook people into their booths. There are jugglers and magicians and auctioneers and quasi-celebs/athletes.
*And then there are the booth bimbos. Tall blondes in skin-tight white turtlenecks and tight black leather pants hands out brochures. The nerds of both genders are completely paralyzed and won't go within three booths of them. The techno-elites of both genders try to make small talk -- the men try to hit on them by strutting their confidence and intelligence, the women try to swap fashion tips (and, sometimes, try to hit on them). The blondes shoot the techno-elites down with a laser-like efficiency, usually with a single bored glance away. It works -- the one sure way to annoy a techno-elite is to act like they don't matter. The sales-jocks sniff around -- the men try to hit on them, and the women sent out an obvious aura of annoyance of such sexist tactics....or, sometimes, try to hit on them. The blondes react to the sales-jocks -- they are the true target. They'll flirt with the male jocks. They'll flirt with the women jocks. If the women jocks act offended or annoyed, the blondes will flirt more to piss them off. Biz is biz, but life is life -- some of the women jocks are bugged by the sexism, the blondes are annoyed, ironically, that the women jocks are judging them as mere objects for a cause. Like the blondes don't know full well that they are hired to sell with sex, and fully accept it as their choice. A few women-jocks simmer with clenched jaws. The booth-bimbos smile with a dazzling Barbie airheadedness that is, somehow, even more contemptuous. The covert Moneybags avoid the bimbos -- they're here for biz. The goofballs do a lot of staring, but they don't approach either -- the male goofball egos couldn't take the rejection, the women goofball egos couldn't take the comparison.
The nerds and techno-elites buzz on the tech. The jocks and coverts buzz on the deals. The goofballs, hooks, and bimbos buzz on themselves. There is technology here that will change the world. Deals are being made that will change the world. I'm in a very small demographic straddling both camps -- moving away from the techno-elite clan, but nowhere near the sales-jocks. Men and women who are independent, entrepreneurial, who can grok the tech and work the market. I was involved in tech discussions that may change the future engineering of several products. I was involved in biz deals that may change the course of our industry. I buzzed for three days off of jetlag, espresso, brightly blinking equipment, and deals that may or may not gel, from a quarter million to 20 million dollars. The buzz is a roller-coaster -- thrilling yet terrifying; fun yet dangerous. Satisfying, yet still somewhat dirty.
