So…I’m Going to DEMO

Note: This is a personal update. For those of you who read this blog solely for info about new web apps, you can skip this post.

Since Marshall will be getting married in September (congrats!), I will be going to this year’s DEMO conference as ReadWriteWeb’s representative. I have just one thing to say: Sweet! I’m so freaking excited.

Now, I’ve heard that there’s some sort of rivalry between DEMO and TechCrunch 50, but frankly people, I don’t care. I’m just excited to have the opportunity to get up close and personal with the technology debuted there and to blog all about it. (Well, as much as I’m physically capable of, that is). This will be my first conference, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s all about.

Well, I take that back. This is by no means my first conference – I’ve been to plenty – just not ones like this. I’ve been to some Microsoft events, but most of the conferences I’ve been to were furniture industry events. Yes, furniture.

A Little History

You see, before I worked as a pro blogger, I worked in I.T. and, during that time, I did a five-year stint with La-Z-Boy. While there, I went to all sorts of furniture-related events from Market to the GERS (now Escalate) annual conference to GERS Users Group regional meetings. (GERS/Escalate is big software player in furniture). Those were good times - the furniture industry was really interesting to me and I learned a lot there about business and technology.

However, working there also gave me valuable insight into how people relate to and use technology in the real world. At La-Z-Boy, part of my job involved training the new hires on the use of our systems. As anyone who has worked in retail knows, sales is a high turnover position. Because of that turnover, I had the opportunity to meet and teach a wide range of people from as young as 20 to as old as 60+. Remembering how these people – real people – thought about and used technology has helped to keep me grounded.

But it wasn’t just the furniture industry that gave me insight into this. I’ve actually worked in several different industries throughout my working life. For example, I spent a few years in Key West working in the hospitality and travel/tourism industry (and having a lot of fun) doing everything from working on a snorkel boat to working the front desk/concierge desk at B&B’s. When I returned to school for I.T. (yes, returned - I have an unused B.A. that I don’t like to admit to…..oops.), I helped pay the bills by working in an administrative position at a real estate office. I spent a few weeks at a software company before they went out of business and I spent my last year in I.T. in the finance industry.

You might called me unfocused, or perhaps someone who never figured out what she wanted to be when she grew up, but I like to think of myself as “well-rounded,” OK?

A “Real-World” Perspective Is Important

I’ve tried to hold onto this real-world perspective in my work, but it’s hard to do, especially when you’re passionate about technology – it’s very easy to get sucked into all this. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been guilty of preaching to the choir, and I doubt that will change the longer I am a part of this industry – it might even get worse! It’s hard to walk that line between being really enthusiastic about technology and being blind to its potential for real-world success.

However, I think it’s important to hang onto this perspective and give the web a dose of realism every once and while. So much of what is written in this industry is crafted by people whose cities are blanketed in wi-fi and where everyone around them has an iPhone. While on the one hand, that sounds like my own personal version of Utopia, it is not the real world…at least not yet. Even here in the not-backwards-at-all city of Tampa, Florida, a few of us got together for a “tweetup” just so we could finally connect in real life with other people like us – we’re still few and far between, it seems… but our numbers grow a little every day.

I do believe technology is important; I find it fascinating and interesting, and I think it can be a valuable tool no matter what industry you work in, but I think it’s important to remember that as technology/web 2.0/social media addicts, we’re at the far end of a wide spectrum of users. I believe it’s called the “bleeding edge.”

Anyway, I hope to bring some of this perspective as well as the insights that I have learned thus far to this year’s Blogorlando, where I will be presenting on the top of “New, New Media,” — if you’re in the neighborhood, feel free to drop by. I’m also going to the Sarasota Design Summit, whose focus this year will be on social and mobile media.

If you want to meet up at any of these events, please get with me on Twitter (@sarahintampa).