If you've not been to CeBIT you'll be struck by just how enormous it is - it has to be the biggest IT industry exhibition in the world - it 4-5 times the size of the NEC with all the halls full. Its quite a spectacle. The conference itself was run as a virtual conference so it was right up our street, and the CeBIT Studio Mittelstand was a fully equipped IPTV broadcasting studio. Very impressive.
The briefing with the moderator confirmed that no-one had a clear idea of what was going on, so we all agreed a format - a mix of questions and presentation - to make it more interesting. Then it was off to make-up or "putting on the face" as they call it, and we were marshalled into position. It was at that point that a quick review of my slides revealed that two were upside down - thank you to the organisers for not spotting that one - and because everyone's slides were packaged into a PDF file, we couldn't do anything about it - I just had to deal with it.
Everyone talked about e-Invoicing - very dull - and it was a challenge to weave-in Office Lifeline's take on the world. The 2000 delegates logged on to the conference probably welcomed the change in topic and pace - the studio audience certainly seemed to perk up - and I managed to joke my way through the upside-down charts. If I find a link to the presentations I'll add it later.
My observations on the morning were mixed. The virtual conference is a great innovation, and if the 2000 delegates were actually listening, then it was a great way for them to attend a conference without the cost or time of travelling. It was truly in the spirit of virtual working practice that we preach at Office Lifeline.
To be frank, the subject matter was dull. I think the European Commission needs to sharpen up its role and message if it wants to engage businesses and bring about real change - the main topic of e-Invoicing has been around for 10 years and they don't seem to have made much progress.
Interestingly, the UK and Europe seem to be on different pages. The UK talks about the transforming effects of IT, how the internet is changing business models and how business change is required to extract the full potential of IT. Our European friends just seem to talk about e-Invoicing.
Overall, it was a real eye-opener and great fun! I'm glad I went and I hope I added some value, perhaps even opened a few other eyes. I certainly met some lovely people who are doing their best to bring about change from within the highly political environment that is the European Commission.
And yes, if they asked me to contribute to the debate again, I'd probably accept, because I think they need the support of real SME businesses to get the message across. I wish them the best of luck.
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