We send more text messages to each other every day by phone than there are people on earth.     The average time spent on a web page is 56 seconds.     At least one blog is launched every second of every day.     There are 4 billion mobile phone on earth.     Your website has just 1.8 seconds to catch people's attention.     Amazon makes more money on cloud computing and storage than it does selling books.     In Tokyo, you can order a customised Toyota on Monday, and drive it home on Friday.     

Did You Know?

A study by Gartner revealed that in the next 3 years, more than 50 million IP addresses will come from automobiles. One day, there will only be one network, one global wireless network which everybody, and every device, will be permanently connected to; and we may not need gadgets, as our skin, our clothing and our glasses carry enough technology to keep us in touch.

Chicago Week

Facilitated the global sales meeting in Chicago this week. Lots of creative ideas, dialogue and exchange by a team of people who flew in from 10 regions around the world to strategise and focus activities for the rest of the year. Marketing, events for our members, product strategies and social media were the highlight of the week. Pictures above contrast a team concentrating on the sessions during the day and a night out at the United Centre seeing the Chicago Bulls play Utah Jazz one evening. A very satisfying week.

Reseller Forum

William Linard from my UK team and I hosted the quarterly CompTIA UK Reseller Forum at the Leicester City Walker Stadium. Great turnout of small business owners focusing on vendor relationships, being better at becoming a trusted advisor and setting high standards of quality for IT service and support to UK businesses. It's not about fixing customer machines, it's about setting them up so they don't fail in the first place. It was a very interactive session, with some very good best practice ideas shared around the table. Once we provided a platform for these guys to meet and talk, the ideas flowed for 3 hours. Together, we are raising the bar. http://www.flickr.com/photos/comptiauk

As simple as it gets

This quote came from Business Week in 1953, from the Tupperware company, and it still rings true today, as it will 100 years from now. This is as simple as it gets for me:

“If we build the people, they will build the business.”

Superbowl ads go online for maximum impact

I was fortunate enough to be in the US last weekend, and really enjoyed Super Bowl XLIV.
There was as much buzz around the half-time commercials as the game itself. Some 100 million people saw the game (and the ads), but 40 million or so also watched the ads online. With so much creativity at play, led by Bud Light, GoDaddy and E-trade, the ads have been circulating the social networking sites all week. Domain name business GoDaddy have attributed most of their growth to the Super Bowl and many of the advertisers have been relying on their Facebook and Twitter fans to spread the message. It's all about impact and the key is getting consumers creating the buzz through social media - it spreads so quickly and of course it's free. But ads aside, well done to Drew Brees and the Saints on their first Super Bowl.

Small but mighty

Spent a few days in Tokyo last week, in a hotel overlooking the Tokyo Dome, home of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team. Aside from shocking jetlag, I discovered the next generation of pocket-sized computers, the mini netbook. These are pocket-sized, have a 5-inch screen, 10-hour battery and boot-up time of 3-seconds (sounds very close to a mobile phone). The Fujitsu U series of their Loox notebook is one such example. These should help address the first fall in sales in 20 months of the first round of netbooks, often seen in Starbucks coffee shops.

Babies & Beer

Research was carried out by a leading supermarket to establish connections between products. It was discovered that beer is often purchased at the same time as baby products, in the early evening. This tells me that guys are sent out to buy necessities for a newborn baby and pick up a six-pack preparing for the long night ahead. What it really tells me is that we must use technology to slice and dice the customer database and data at our disposal in ways that are not obvious, to find new connections and alternative collabrations.

Audience Feedback

"Wow! What a great presentation."
Ben Warren, RiskDisk."

"It’s the first time I’ve come across Matthew. I’ll say hand on heart this was one of the most interesting and inspiring thirty minutes I’ve had the pleasure to sit through in some time."
Andy Parkes, IBIT Solutions

"This morning at TCA Conference I saw one of the best presentations I've seen in a while from @mattpoy."
Richard Tubb, Netlink

"Just a short note to say how much I enjoyed your presentation on the Future View – you have given me the inspiration to do more with this medium!"
Alison Heath, Director of Sales, Panda Security

"A thought-provoking, stimulating and vibrant session from a presenter who really knows his stuff."
Adrian Logan, Siemens

"I really enjoyed your presentation...very smooth and fast tempo with some very engaging content."
Mark Burton, Publisher, CRN

"I wanted to write to say how much I enjoyed your presentation at the CRN conference. It was amusing, educating and inspiring!"
Dan May, Director, Ramsac

"Your presentation was excellent and several of the people I spoke to afterwards also mentioned how impressed they were. The tempo, number of slides and content was just right."
Jat Mann, PC Pal

“Your presentation was pure joy. You manage to leave your audience feeling ready for and excited by the technological world, not intimidated by it.”
Simon Banks, OCR

“Matthew’s effulgent style not only captured the imaginations of the delegates, but also inspired them to think about the role they can play in the education of our next wave of leaders. OCR is proud to work with Matthew and CompTIA.”
Julian Parkin, OCR

"I wanted to say thank you once again for a fascinating speech. The facts and figures you gave were mind-blowing and highly inspirational for our Apprentices."
Lucy Warren, O2

“Your presentation was so interesting, I was captivated. Never before has someone allowed me to explore the realm of technological possibilities as your presentation has.”
Chantelle Whitehouse, Dynamix Learning

“Matthew’s presentation made attending the CRN conference worthwhile.”
Andy Chandler, The Tech Consultancy

"We asked Matthew to give a presentation at our European Service Manger Conference – not knowing that we will experience one of the most interesting and entertaining performances we ever had – now I am the hero in my company!"
Dr Karen Birkmann, KyoceraMita Europe

“We were astonished with the facts that you presented here and enjoyed your amazing presentation.”
Norbert Wolter, KyoceraMita Europe

"I was captivated by your presentation. The delivery & content was superb."
Cameron Walker, Aberdeen College

"What a fantastic and inspiring presentation. I am convinced that investing in new technologies is the way forward for the new generation of young people in our schools."
Judith Bond, PEMBEC

“Our post-event research shows our delegates thought he was a brilliant speaker and the highlight of the day. Matthew tuned his fascinating talk to make it relevant and meaningful to our audience, and he will inject energy and enthusiasm into any business event.”
Gary Morgan, MD Prosys Computing,

“That was the most mind expanding forty or so minutes I have had in a long time. The presentation dovetailed perfectly with our conference theme and the level at which you pitched it to cater for all 'techno' competencies was excellent.”
Peter Foulds, NFU Mutual

"Energetic, insightful and profoundly thought provoking – I am very glad I got to see Matthew's presentation. Some of the images and ideas will stay with me for years."
Tim Langford, Dynmark

“I was fascinated by your vision of our future and your style of delivery was compulsive listening.”
Dave Walsh, British Telecom Openreach

"His style of presenting, the visuals he uses, the examples he puts right in front of us – really hit home. I highly recommend having Matthew as a speaker at one of your events, especially when it is focuses around technology impacting the lives of all citizens."
Anneleen Vaandrager, Microsoft

"The audience were treated to an engaging and inspirational presentation. Matthew delivered a fantastic, well thought out performance and displayed a real connection with the group.”
Ian Green, Liverpool Community College

“Matthew’s high energy, thought-provoking presentation held our attention throughout and was amusing as well as highly informative."
Rob Doyle, learndirect Scotland

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