Interaction

Trade-show season is upon us once again. For me, it’s a time for relationship management. With so many partners and contacts at each event, I have countless conversations: a brief chat about how things are going and any new developments within the company or the market. At the end of the day, feeling happy and content, I drive home with a wealth of new information.

Personal contact is so important – I can’t stress that enough. Thankfully, even in this digital age, people still have the urge to shake hands and connect face to face.

In late September I held a presentation for SMEs. One of the topics was the strength of our networks. To illustrate that, I couldn’t avoid comparing the present with the past.

The OSV was founded before the internet era. The world wide web didn’t exist until 1991! E-mail was still a long way off and mobile phones were almost too big to lift. In fact, back then you had no choice: if you wanted to gain knowledge, you went to a trade show and you read trade magazines. And that was it. As a result, there was a significant need for extra interaction, and the OSV rapidly flourished. Nowadays, we are bombarded with information through so many different channels that it is almost overwhelming.

With that in mind, it’s nice to see that there are still plenty of people who appreciate a good conversation and personal contact. The OSV is growing and is increasingly regarded as valuable. Let’s all hold on to that feeling together and resist fading away behind our computer screens, drowning in a sea of bits and bytes.

Saskia Stender