Two faces of tech

The thing about hosting events is there are so many things out of your control. Take our fifth annual Lawn & Landscape Technology Conference: As the event was about to take place, well, technology really got in our way. The event was right around the time of the software glitch that caused a lot of airlines to delay or cancel flights.

But it was no surprise that the great folks in the green industry came through for us. We heard tales of people paying a lot of money for new flights, and people driving as far as 12 hours away to make it to the show.

So, thank you to everyone who made it out but especially those who had to take more extreme measures.

The show once again reminded everyone how important technology is to operate a successful business. While this industry is still behind compared to other home service providing industries, it continues to make progress.

Of course, artificial intelligence was a huge topic at the show, and there really are mixed emotions. Some of the speakers and people I spoke with are afraid, for lack of a better term, while some see it as a way to eliminate mundane daily tasks. They believe it will free up time for workers to be more efficient and concentrate more on the tasks they enjoy completing.

A consistent message that popped up in a lot of sessions is the time and money that it takes to get the most out of technology. But it doesn’t happen overnight.

So, if you are reading this and are frustrated with something about the software you use, or some other piece of technology, just relax a little bit. Keep working through it because once everything gets right, it will make a huge difference for your business.

You can read about some of the sessions in future issues and online at bit.ly/lltech24. We will be going back to Las Vegas for next year’s show July 23-25 at Caesar’s Palace. I hope to see you there!