etailwest.wbresearch.com

This was my second year in a row. I continue to be impressed by the caliber of speakers and moderators from companies large and small. They share the challenges and successes they have experienced with surprising transparency and modesty. I left feeling inspired - and a bit intimidated - but mostly eager to incorporate many of the innovative ideas and best practices that were discussed into my business.

Had a great time in Boston!

Fourteen sessions and meet ups by lunch time - where else can you meet that many vendors for all your conflicting priorities and needs? With a great layout and flow, plenty of space to break off and talk, and timely updates - this show will be a routine stop for us!

The conference was good. The networking and expo floor conversations were arguably the most valuable overall. The takeaway for eTail planners might be that the sessions were too short to actually get any meaningful content out of (with a few exceptions). Maybe a few more "deep dive" type sessions might be a good idea. Overall - thumbs up.

In the future, I think it would be good to get more input from each attendee as to their interests/needs and limit the number of pre-conference vendor contact. I was overwhelmed with vendor emails . . . many that I was not interested in at all. I do want to connect with vendors but 30-40 email per day was overwhelming. I just started deleting them without even reading.