Seeing your memories

If you are reading on a smartphone, use landscape / hold phone sideways. 

I was gifted a Google Nest Hub for Christmas. It's one of those gadgets that I was always going to buy for myself but never did. The thing that I love the best about this thing is the way that it randomly pops up memories. Every 60 seconds or so, a random pic appears - from last week, from last month, or from many (many) years ago. 

In the past, often the topic of my Sunday blog was all about.....well.......the past. I have previously blogged about the Facebook feature of "See your memories..." and how posts from years ago "bubble up" again in your Facebook feed. And here we are again, blogging about the past. 

January is always a big month for us for LIVE events. CES (Consumer Electronic Show) in Las Vegas. NRF (National Retail Federation) in New York. I used to go to CES in Vegas every year. It was a big deal, a not to be missed convention. The last time I (physically) went to CES was pre-pandemic. 

I recently did a "Best of CES" interview with Greg Harper, who has been going to CES for 30+ years. Now then, NRF is right in my backyard at Javits Center. So, it is super easy for me to attend NRF in person. Around 100,000+ attended CES 2023 LIVE. We expect 40,000+ to attend NRF 2023. So that is 140,000+ LIVE LIVE attendees. 

And the NYDLA.org ( now NADLA.org ) shall be following up with all of them. As in - ALL OF THEM. 

Because of COVID, I now have hands-on experience attending mega events both LIVE LIVE, and LIVE (Virtually). I guess it is safe to say that if you cannot attend an in-person event LIVE LIVE, then attending LIVE (Virtually) is you second best option. A third option is to sign up and rely on getting the recordings. I am very guilty of this: signing up for webinars with no intention of attending LIVE LIVE, but I plan on making the time to watch the recordings (yeah, right). 

Tomorrow will be our "big day" at NRF2023. Walking the floor at Javits, having meetings, attending the keynotes. So many of our vendors and sponsors will have mega booths. Tomorrow night, we shall have a VIP reception at Butter Midtown. We have arranged for a free shuttle from Javits to Butter - and also $20 Uber credits for those who wish to join us for the after party.  

Here is what hit me as I write this January 2023 Sunday blog. All of the memories - all of the major events - all of the big and impactful and successful "business meetings" were - live. The business memories that matter the most, they all involved handshakes. The memories that really resonate with me, those things that make it to my "See your memories" feed in Facebook or in my new Google Nest hub were LIVE LIVE. I don't think I have seen a single pic of a virtual event in my feeds. Everything that the AI engines of Facebook and/or Google think were a cool memory, was at one point LIVE LIVE. 

And this opinion is coming from www.DrZoom.us 

99% of the people that are reading this Sunday blog know that I run the Distance Learning Association. And they also know that I always say that Distance Learning has become DIGITAL Learning, and if you get right down to it, it is all just DIGITAL LIVING. 

And, anyone that knows me, also knows my "catch phrase" that we are all:

Living, learning, working, playing, teaching, training, coaching, mentoring in the GLOBAL cloud economy. I can say that in around 2, maybe 3 seconds. 

I love the magic of TBLS - Technology Based Learning Systems. I am a big fan of the power of the cloud, and SaaS and all of the hardware and software that powers all things "remote" in our global community. Heck, I'm in the remote business...

But our memories, our best moments in life, they all happen LIVE LIVE. The things that make our "See your memories" feeds in social media - they are always LIVE LIVE. 

I'll be attending ISE 2023 in Barcelona - virtually. Many of my friends and colleges will "Cross the Pond" and attend LIVE LIVE. I would LOVE to go to Barcelona, I just cannot make it happen THIS year. 

Ah, but tomorrow will be a FULL DAY at NRF2023 in The Big Apple. And at 5:30 PM the members, vendors and sponsors of NYDLA.org shall meet up at Butter Midtown for great food and adult beverages. And lots of handshakes. And lots of selfies and group pics. 

Did I mention the adult beverages? 

Butter Midtown NYC

Some of my Google Nest Hub Memories 

for 1/15/2023