One of the best things about trade shows is listening to what people think of you -- or at least your work. They're particularly chatty if it's your own conference, as if playing host deserves an extra helping of honesty. Whether its on the show floor, at the hotel bar or during a breakout session, attendees are more than happy to tell you what they think, whether they're really happy or not.
For a journalist that's risky -- especially in this era of closed (and locked) doors, subpoenaed notebooks and eternal spin. We're a group that normally ranks near the bottom of the career respectability ladder.
It's always been that way. Oscar Wilde once asked, "What is the difference between literature and journalism? Journalism is unreadable and literature is not read. That is all."
Take a look at the letters page in your local daily newspaper. Most of the writers scattered throughout the page are mad about something. Very few readers take pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) when they are excited about your news coverage or simply contented.
But I digress.
Among the favorite comments overheard in Denver: "Great show, great food; where's the bar?" or, "Really good breakout sessions, but you should schedule them better," or that perennial conference favorite, "About the brokers..."
Following our second Benefits Selling Expo in March, we threw a lunch for a group of attendees who represented a cross-section of the industry. This marked the first gathering of the new Benefits Selling editorial advisory board. Once they all sat down, we asked what they thought of us. Then, we ducked.
Nearly everyone handed out praise. But, make no mistake, we also earned our fair share of criticism, most of which we expected.
Of course, we couldn't fit all 35,000 of our subscribers into one conference room, so we need to hear what you think, too. What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? Most importantly, what single thing would you like to open and find in the pages of Benefits Selling?
Because, unlike our see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil administration, I want to see what we're missing, hear what you have to say and tell you what I think.
Overall, we're pleased with the inaugural advisory board gathering. Nothing occurs in a vacuum, and neither does this publication. We are nothing without the feedback of our readers, subjects and advertisers.
