Living The Best Life

It's been a rather busy time to say the least since my last newsletter, so much so that I missed the April edition so this is a little late but let me explain why.

You may recall that in my previous (March 24 edition) I added a personal postscript to say that my time with Software AG had come to an end and that I was seeking new opportunities and challenges. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for!

Because since then it's been a fantastically busy time. As I write this I am sitting in the lounge at Harry Reid International airport on the southern end of the Las Vegas strip, waiting for the flight back to the UK. Coincidentally, my last newsletter was published just a day before flying out here for Shoptalk at the end of March.

That was followed last week by chairing the headline theatre at the Retail Technology Show and having the absolute pleasure of interviewing the likes of Peter Cowgill and Jake Humphrey. The Retail Technology Show just gets better and better thanks to Matt Bradley and the team at Nineteen Group. It really has become a major highlight in the retail calendar.

That was last week however and I'm back in Vegas again to speak this time at the Smart Retail Tech Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Two days of chairing the headline keynote theatre and delivering the Shopper Mark Two keynote, culminating in presenting the Smart Retail Tech Awards.

Of Mice And Men

And the plan was to fly back and then prepare for Shoptalk Europe in Barcelona, that was until I received a call asking if I would care to speak at a technology vendor summit in Warsaw. One call later and Retail Reflections has a new and wonderful client which I will be able to share post the conference next week.

After Warsaw, it will be one night in my own bed before flying to Cairo for Egypt Fashion Week. A new event and country for me so really looking forward to that.

Rounding off which is rapidly turning out to be an exciting and busy May will be speaking at the IRX conference at the NEC in Birmingham followed by another keynote, this time in Amsterdam at the DELIVER Europe conference.

And in addition to all of that there have been several invitations for consultation services and providing thought leadership content. Oh, and I launched my new podcast, The Retail Maverick Show (uncut) which is taking off and already has nearly ten episodes in the can.

It's been a fun, exhilarating, not to mention tiring few weeks but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Time To Get A Proper Job?

It's something that I have been giving a lot of thought towards since leaving Software AG - corporate or freelance? There are pros and cons to both - freelance craves the security of corporate and given the right role it might be something I'll re-visit.

But right now life's good and in addition to all the conferences and speaking, I've been developing something for Retail Reflections which could become a real opportunity. It's embryonic but if the conversations I've had with people in the industry are an accurate reflection, it's a gap in the market with enormous potential.

Hopefully more detail on that as things develop but in the meantime, that's all for this edition - I've got a plane to catch.