Motion Blog
Without fail, the question comes up every year. In an interesting post on Digital Trends, Rob Enderle questions whether the largest consumer electronics tradeshow is even relevant any more. After just returning from CES, I’m skeptical that the mega, horizontally-focused tradeshow is going to last much longer. These types of tradeshows often become victims of their own success and so massive that they collapse under their own weight. While they definitely gather together the latest cutting-edge technologies, the exhibition halls are so immense that it becomes increasingly hard to navigate and fit in all you want to see as well as be seen.
For exhibitors, tradeshows cost a lot of money if you want to do them right, and the return on investment isn’t always obvious. The arguments against tradeshows are pretty straightforward and are all generally variants of:
- Information travels so quickly now that there are only a couple hours between what you see under non-disclosure and what you can read on Engadget.
- Shows have become so big that smaller vendors are often overshadowed, and attendees have a harder time finding the cool new things they are looking for.
- There are much more efficient ways to generate higher quality leads.
- Tradeshows are just excuses for parties for vendors, customers and press.
While all of these criticisms are valid, and I’ve certainly been to some memorable tradeshow parties over the years, I still think tradeshows can play an important role in a marketing plan. Tradeshows help Motion in three key areas:
Brand awareness and credibility
|Because of Motion’s focus on vertical markets, horizontal marketing isn’t a big focus for us. As a result, decision makers may not be as aware of our brand as we need them to be. A well-designed booth at an industry-specific tradeshow (NRF, DistribuTECH, HIMSS) really helps us build credibility in a specific market (retail, utilities, healthcare). We also partner with key software providers in order to build and demonstrate our credibility in and commitment to that market. It’s always rewarding to have someone come into our booth and say, “I saw your product in my software provider’s booth, and they said I should come talk to you.”
Enhancing our partnerships and market understanding
Industry-specific tradeshows are a great place for us to meet other companies that are focused on the same market in order to cultivate partnerships. Over the years, a number of Motion’s most effective marketing programs and collaborations have started with a discussion at a tradeshow. In addition, it’s a great place to meet with potential resellers and get a real-time view of how our competitors are positioning their products. We almost always come back from a major tradeshow with new ideas about how to better market our products and services.
Good sales leads
Traditionally, this is the driving force behind tradeshow attendance, and it remains the primary driver for us as well. The biggest challenge is separating the free t-shirt hunters and people looking for continuing education credits from the legitimate buyers. Again, our strategy revolves around focusing on industry-specific tradeshows rather than horizontally-focused ones. We never use contract workers to staff our booths; it‘s always a Motion employee or a trained reseller partner. As a result, we are able to have more in-depth conversations and are quite often able to leave with a number of very well-qualified opportunities.
We strive to make our events’ budget as impactful as possible, which includes taking advantage of every marketing opportunity available, such as:
- Pre-show mailings
- Virtual events and webinars affiliated with the show
- Speaking opportunities for us, our partners and customers
- Advertising in the event guide or magazine
- Lead nurturing programs for every lead we capture
- Post show mailings to the attendee list
Even in this era of social media and marketing automation, I know Motion will continue to invest and focus on industry-specific tradeshows. It’s a cliché to say that people do business with people they like, but there is a lot of truth to it as well. Most relationships need occasional face-to-face interaction, and tradeshows are a great way to renew existing relationships as well as develop new ones.
Mike Stinson VP Marketing Motion Computing
2011 was a huge year for tablets and saw a multitude of both consumer and business-focused devices hit the market, and 2012 is sure to be no different. With more tablets to choose from than ever before, it’s essential for businesses to examine their workflows and find a solution that truly fits their environment, not the other way around. In other words, do not let technology drive your workflows.
 Unfortunately, for some time now, technology has been dictating our workflows. For example, in a hospital setting, a 100 lbs. cart may be essential during a full round of medication administration. However, during one-off or single medication administration, it means extra work for the nurse who has haul along the entire cart because the barcode scanner is attached, creating unnecessary, physically-demanding and time-consuming work.
In a retail environment, a sales associate may use a tablet to show a customer different products, a handheld barcode scanner to check inventory or a magnetic stripe reader attached to a smartphone to process transactions. Each device is another piece of equipment for the sales associate to carry around, meaning they don’t have the flexibility of fewer devices to manage, and the process becomes more time-consuming and less efficient and mobile.
No one is happier than we are that businesses are getting excited about tablets, but it’s essential that before they jump on the bandwagon, they really educate themselves on the different types out there and find a solution that works best with the workflow it’s being incorporated into. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work; instead, many businesses need custom-fit solutions that are specifically designed for their environments and powerful enough to support their unique workflows.
Mike Stinson
VP Marketing
Motion Computing
 October 2011 marks Motion’s 10 year anniversary, and we are excited to reflect back over the years and celebrate the company’s success. Motion has always been an Austin-based company, and we like to think that we have grown with the city. We’ve had a number of firsts for the tablet industry, adopting the latest solutions that help our customers improve mobile productivity. It’s definitely an exciting time to be in the tablet industry, and we look forward to what the future brings.
Motion’s founding members, as well as all its employees over the years, have shown amazing perseverance, and it’s because of their hard work and determination that the company is still going strong today. We also want to acknowledge our customers and partners for their loyalty, support and commitment throughout the years.
Many start-ups do not make it to the ten year mark, let alone retain their original business plans. From the beginning, it’s been Motion’s mission to marry innovation and mobility, and when coupled with our employees’ creativity, we’ve been able to deliver a very unique offering: purpose-built solutions for professionals who require true mobile computing at the point of service.
We look forward to celebrating over the next few weeks both internally with our employees, and externally by giving away numerous prizes to our Fans on our Facebook page.
To everyone who has been involved with Motion – thank you for the past 10 years and here’s to the future!
 Catherine Thompson
CEO
Motion Computing
More and more, consumer tablets are finding their way into the enterprise. This creates the demand for access to applications and data as well as significant issues for system administrators. It becomes increasingly difficult to support devices that do not adhere to the standards-based operating systems (OS) used throughout many enterprises. Additionally, in larger corporate environments, the testing and utilization of desktop management tools can be time-consuming and costly as the process involves many different disciplines, such as applications, desktop support, security, network management and loss prevention, not to mention end-user training.
 This creates a challenge for most system administrators because of the inherent security and management issues that come with non-standard OS devices. This is not to say that these problems are unsolvable in the long run; however, using devices that run a standards-based OS, and thus existing enterprise solutions, is far more attractive to the already overtaxed networking and desktop support staff.
Many enterprises have existing tools in place for Windows devices because it is still the default OS for the majority of enterprise networks. Systems administrators can confidently secure, manage, deploy and support end users while providing access to the virtual applications that they need in order to get the job done.
While right now it looks like Windows devices are still the best fit for enterprises, it will be interesting to see if and how this may change as the tablet industry continues to develop.
 Dave Mackie
Director of Mobility Services
Motion Computing
In today’s global marketplace, colleagues, partners and customers are often separated by distance, making communication a critical component to the success of one’s business. Where, in the past, basic communication, such as seeing an expression or hearing the inflection in a voice, would help clarify how a message is interpreted, lessening the potential for misunderstandings or mistakes, the dependence on email and texting has created significant issues for those who haven’t mastered certain communication skills. Similar to developing new processes, communication requires well thought out execution before we can rely on technology to streamline the activity. Failure to master the rules of communicating means running the risk of technology magnifying any shortcomings. While it sounds esoteric, there are methods that will ensure strong communication skills.
Here are three basic rules for communications excellence:
1) Communicate frequently and regularly. Consistency helps people become comfortable with both tone and inflection as well as how information is structured and processed. Regular communication creates a psychological conversation between the sender and receiver, which makes the exchange of ideas easier over time and lessens any potential second guessing.
2) Focus on the quality of the message. Learning to communicate clearly in 50 words, what takes many people 500 words, is an important skill. Shorter, high-quality messages tend to be better received and remembered than long, wordy ones. Also, shorter messages are more impactful and better received when communicating frequently and regularly.
3) Ensure that the message is dependable. It only takes one or two mistakes to destroy credibility. It’s important to not only be confident and correct, but in many cases, it’s important to be able to back up the message as well. This focus on delivering dependable messages forces the sender do the appropriate research to ensure that the communication is correct, and it provides the recipient with a point of reference for the dependability of the message. For example, conveying a new feature request for a new product has much more clout if the request is backed up with specific customer feedback.
You may wonder what this topic has to do with mobile computing devices, such as tablets. Tablets enhance communication by bringing multiple tools (email, text chat, video chat, photos, etc.) together in one device as well as capturing and storing the information essential to the dependability of a message. This type of digital documentation not only improves accuracy but also enables field employees to collaborate with office workers who need the gathered data in order to complete their jobs.
Tablets enable a new level of communication –whether through form-based applications that capture and transmit information in a structured way or as a messaging platform to help automate the basis of communication excellence – all necessary tools and information are in one central location.
 David Altounian
Chairman and Founder, Motion Computing
See blog at http://techbizfutures.wordpress.com/
I’m attending the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference this week where approximately 14,000 Microsoft partners from around the globe have convened in L.A. to learn about the latest Microsoft programs, strategies and cutting-edge technologies. Microsoft is truly focused on their reseller partners. I’ve always been on the hardware side of the PC business, and Microsoft has more of a “fellow traveller” approach to their hardware partners. However, their reseller approach is very different. It is more “we couldn’t have built this business and achieve our goals without you.”
One of the things that has really struck me this week is the emergence of natural input as a way of getting information into a computer. Natural input generally refers to touch, speech and motion input rather than keyboarding. It’s been very exciting to see the number of software vendors that are integrating touch as one of the primary input methods. Even though Windows has supported handwriting recognition and touch for some time, the integration of touch into the popular business applications has been one of the key things holding back the adoption of tablets as mainstream business tools for years.
It’s also amazing to see how people are experimenting with motion as an input method using the Kinnect. Over the next few years, I think we will see a lot of progress in this area. It’s not hard to envision someone using the touch capabilities, cameras and accelerometers on a tablet to create a much more intuitive way to navigate through a software program – not too dissimilar to what Nintendo discussed with their new Wii controller.
 I’m glad to see that there are tablets and touchscreens everywhere – it means the benefits of mobile computing are really resonating with the greater technology industry. Motion had a very proud moment when Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Division, used an F5v during his keynote at the Staples Center (See Photo). He demonstrated the barcode scanning capability using the same application that Microsoft is using in their retail stores for point of sale – very cool.
There is an awards dinner tonight and Motion is fortunate enough to be nominated in a couple of categories. It’s nice to get that kind of recognition from an industry leader and long standing partner.
Mike Stinson
VP Marketing
Motion Computing
 HIMSS recently released the 2011 HIMSS Clinical Transformation Survey, which focuses on how organizations are formally assessing and improving patient care. A major finding of the study was that necessary clinical data is not always available in “ways that facilitates easy access and reporting,” that is, in electronic medical records (EMRs) with discrete data elements.
Over the last few years, a perceived barrier to true point-of-care documentation was the difficulty in entering narrative text at the bedside. Wait, didn’t we just say that we needed discrete data elements not narrative text? I believe this dichotomy strikes at the way nurses have been taught to document (since I went to nursing school many long years ago), and nurses document the majority of the patient’s care experience.
Since I began working with EMRs, I have heard the same question from many nurses – what about the patient story? We can’t tell the patient story with point and click data! My question back has become: who reads the patient story? That simple question has stopped more than one nurse in her tracks. Do your fellow nurses read your narrative documentation? Do the physicians or other care team members?
Maybe it’s time to reassess the purpose and methods of documentation in light of the need for codifiable and reportable data that can be used to improve quality. We need to look more at the accuracy and timeliness of data rather than just the volume. Yes, it’s critical to document completely and accurately, but it’s equally important to do so in a way that allows us to take advantage of the power of technologies that gather and analyze vast quantities of data in order to improve care for all.
Dr. Cheryl Parker, RN, MSN, PhD
Senior Informatics Specialist
 I want to start off this post by saying Happy Canada Day! I visited Canada last week and joined Motion’s Country Manager for Canada, Scott Ball, to meet reseller partners, ISV partners and media. In addition to already receiving media coverage in IT World Canada after introductory meetings with reporters Dave Webb from Computerworld/Network World Canada and Paolo Del-Nibletto from Computer Dealer News, we also had a great discussion with Jerry Zeidenberg, publisher and editor of Canadian Healthcare Technology Magazine. Check out Motion customer, Ontario Shores for Mental Health Sciences, profiled in the July issue.
I also had the opportunity to meet with some of our key software partners.
The first meeting was with Konverge , a custom software development firm that delivers solutions for companies across vertical markets. The team at Konverge kindly took the time to show me an online demo of Field Eagle, a robust field computing software application designed specifically to take advantage of the form factor and integrated tools in the Motion F5v. The efficient use of stored data, simple drop down menus, convenient pen input and the robust database of information makes the software a valuable tool for field use.
Next, we visited FieldWorker, a leading provider of business-focused mobility software solutions. The FieldWorker team is focused on delivering the best features and functionality for, you guessed it, field workers, and I look forward to collaborating with them on marketing activities. FieldWorker has built a solid customer base across the field service industry, including an impressive list of customers in the utility sector. In fact, FieldWorker’s entire list of target users lines up well with Motion’s and include maintenance technicians, inventory managers, inspectors and construction workers, healthcare professionals and more. Be on the lookout for some great new customer success stories with FieldWorker customers.
Every time I visit Canada, I am impressed with how welcoming and kind Canadians are, and this time wasn’t different. Thanks to our partners for the visits. We’re planning many more activities in Canada, including an exciting upcoming launch and several events, so be on the lookout for upcoming news from Canada!
 Mary Anne Gunn
Director, Corporate Communications
Motion Computing
 I participated in a panel on my second day at Mobile Computing Summit, where we discussed netbooks, notebooks, tablets and smartphones with Sascha Pallenberg from Netbook News, Tony Winston from American Airlines, and Rana Puri from RIM. The panel session created a great discussion and generated some good questions. Before it started, Tony came over and asked me if I had that new small one (CL900). He said some of his guys were evaluating it, and he really wanted to see it. That’s always a nice way to start.
The general consensus from both the panelists and the audience was that there isn’t a silver bullet in this space, either in terms of form factor or operating system. My four point model that looks at the workflow, the applications, the environment and the infrastructure was a good starting point for a number of discussions around the importance of security and manageability, along with a  debate on whether cloud computing was really ready for deployment on mission-critical applications as opposed to personal productivity applications, such as email. Apparently some people took offense when I characterized Android apps as “being written by 19 year olds living in Eastern Europe” (I’m kidding of course, no disrespect meant towards 19 year olds or the people of Eastern Europe). My point is that right now they aren’t business ready, and we require a higher level of accuracy and revision control from mission-critical applications than we do from personal productivity applications. For example, the $1.49 GPS application on my phone directed me to the wrong hotel a mile up the road yesterday. That’s ok for me as an individual; it’s a real problem for someone managing 40 delivery trucks making over 500 deliveries a day.
We also had a great discussion on the implications of the personalization of IT, or BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). A lot of it centered on security. One interesting idea was the movement to create two distinct personas on a device – one for business and one for personal. Each persona is isolated, controlled by policies and is traceable. This might really solve some thorny problems for customers in regulated businesses like healthcare, government and insurance, where they have to aggressively manage the data that goes on the system because of privacy concerns. My guess is that we will start to see software companies offer this feature as part of a security suite over the next 12 months. Who knows, maybe it will even show up in future versions of operating systems.
Mike Stinson
VP Marketing
Motion Computing
I’m a first-time attendee at the Mobile Computing Summit in San Francisco. I hosted a Beer and Pizza chat last night on tablets and will participate in a panel on platform choices this morning. So far, it is a very interesting conference. Most of the attendees seem to be coming from the handset-first world, but it is the usual mix of IT professionals. I continue to be amazed at how rapidly tablets are being adopted. Well over 60% of the attendees I’ve seen are carrying a tablet, and many of them aren’t iPads. What is really surprising to me is how many people are still carrying some version of a portable keyboard with them (including me).
While tablets continue to be great devices for point-of-service tasks, such as inspections and vitals acquisition in healthcare, there still needs to be some fundamental changes in input methods before they become the dominant form factor for general purpose computing. While pen and touch input are really effective for inputting information while walking or standing, they work best with minimal text usage and easy-to-use drop down menus. Integrated tools such as barcode scanners and cameras can also really help with data acquisition. But, the truth is, most office tasks (Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Salesforce.com) require too much keyboarding to really be effective on a touch-only tablet.
The field keyboard has always been one of our most popular accessories across all markets for users that need flexibility. In my opinion, a detachable keyboard continues to be a better option for the highly mobile worker, allowing them to take it when they want it and leave it in a bag or truck when they need the lightest device possible. In the next two to three years, I expect that to change a lot as we see improvements in predictive typing text, speech recognition and touch-to-text recognition. It should be a good couple of days as I get to hear from both customers as well as software and hardware folks about what they think are important and where they think the mobile market is going.
Mike Stinson
VP Marketing
Motion Computing
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