Live events are back! (sort of)

I was very excited to be back at RetailX in 2021 after missing out in 2020. Everything looked like it was full steam ahead earlier in the summer before the Delta variant came out. We had a 60-day window to be "normal," and now we are somewhat back to restrictions and masks.

I have been doing some traveling for the last year, so it didn't seem out of place to put on a mask and head to the airport lounge for some fresh iced tea.

It's funny how the lounges are feeling more normal. All the travelers seem to be business travelers, and they are all packed into their respective lounges. The Minneapolis Airport Delta lounge was quite busy. The Delta lounge at Ohare was insanely busy. I can't remember it being quite so crowded in the past.

The next stop, McCormick Place, Chicago!

If anyone has been to IRCE or RetailX in the past, then you know that it fills a lot of the event space, and the entrances were all branded. The biggest thing I can remember from past events was people EVERYWHERE. It wasn't quite like that this year. Someone mentioned that this would be the super bowl of partners. The traffic on day one was good, not super busy, and it was nearly non-existent on day two.

The total space had to be 15% of what it was in the past. The event was also pared down to 1.5 days, where it had been 3 days. I also think that many merchants stayed away because of the Delta variant. In the end, the super bowl of partners rang true, and our partner manager was super busy all the time.

In 2019, our friends from Content Cucumber rolled around an ice cream cart. Personally, this was the best idea ANYONE could have! Apparently, there was no food this year, so the people cooking bacon and the snack were not there. Content Cucumber did have a live Jazz band which was super cool. They also had the unique furniture of any booth. I would highly recommend their services.

Long-time attendee Class Llama made it with a huge pile of 2021 Llamas for everyone. It is always great to see them and see what unique booth they will have this year. It never ceases to amaze me how much energy they put into their presentations at these events.

We can't forget Team Wagento with a pile of stress relief luchadors. (You can also throw them at your co-workers with little risk of injury. Nikki, Madeleine, Cody, and I all fared well for the entire time. A great team for a great event.

We tried to attend an after-party with Vertex but thunderstorms rained out the Cubs game so we did go to the Attentive / BigCommerce event which was a total blast! Lots of fun and dart throwing. For the most part I played it safe and didn't stayout late.

I can't end my post without talking about running a little. Managed to get 17 miles in which was 9 miles less than Phillip Jackson did as he ran 26.2 miles on his birthday!