One of our Board members (you know who you are) decided to pull the pin and not only reserved, but paid for, a booth at HITEC. This is for his company, but he is using his "Irish-ness" to guilt me (F3TCH) into participating. It’s all in good fun and a healthy nudge to get me out of my comfort zone and get back out there.
So HITEC. It’s been a minute. “The technology show” for the hotel industry. Part of my hesitation is guessing where we will be product wise by then and understanding that this will be a moment. Not “the” moment, but a significant and important moment for F3TCH. The proverbial lion’s den and armed only with a nascent technology and faith. No sales staff, no brand recognition, no leverage, and all those were not always present, but never were they all NOT present simultaneously. My hesitation is not lack of faith in the product, it is fear of failure. I know I have nothing to fear, but after so much work and sacrifice, it creeps up a bit at times like these. So preparation, hard work, and more hard work to get ready. We know when we need to be ready, what we need to succeed, and how to get it done. Timer is over at the end of June. Product meet Market time.
Some telephone manufacturers will be there. Sadly, they don’t know it yet, but their side of the business (manufacturing guest room telephones) is by and large dead, just a matter of time. Nothing to do with us, more to do with the fact that every trend worldwide is against a pricey piece of plastic in the room. One thing you learn is don't fight the trend. Go with it or make a new trend.
And so it begins, my third foray into this business. The first we broke a monopoly (Teledex), the second we bought the industry (TeleMatrix and Teledex), and now we will pull the entire industry, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.
Calls are going out, invites for events are being received, and old friends (and enemies) will be there in spades. Somehow, even after all that has been accomplished, we are still the underdog. That’s fine, that’s our preferred role.
So yes, HITEC 2022, Booth 2249.