Finally found a computer with a human sized keyboard instead of the tiny sized Blackberry I’ve been typing on. Only problem is the keyboard is in Italian! But I will struggle through.
ISPO is a very interesting experience. It is the biggest expo I have ever seen. Certainly far larger than SIA shows and might even rival the Consumer Electronics show. If anyone knows, I’d be curious to know the comparison. But it is BIG! And for all that size, I’m not sure there was much that we all haven’t seen before. Sure, maybe there were some new colors and styling features, but funcionally, it struck me as “same old/same old”.
Maybe that’s why we had so much positive reaction to the Dodge Ski Boot. We are different. We are new. And, we are told by the industry people, we are the future. So it was a very encouraging visit. As I’d mentioned before, we expect to have a good number of boots being purchased by the major boot marketers for testing by their racing programs. This definitely confirms we are onto something.
It is interesting to meet with not only boot marketers but component suppliers and see how they respond to something new/different. Some people get it and are quick to pick up on our quest for them to push the envelope. (Push the envelope hell. We want them to tear it up and make a new self-mailer!) Others are very reluctant if not resistant to anything different than what they already do. Sorry guys, but if you can’t change and improve, we can’t deal with you.
So today we’ll see who of the component suppliers is going to rise to a new challenge and who will still be doing their same old thing without us.
Did I mention it was gray? People from here must think Burlington is sunny Miami by comparison. Other than a fleeting glimpse of the sun driving south through Austria, I can’t remember seeing the sun since we left Burington on Saturday. Ugh!
Take care.
Bill