Tech gala’s like IFA and MWC do not pique the curiosity of many individuals as of late. That is not such a nasty factor however it’s a disgrace as a result of that is one thing that might simply be averted. Why has the general public’s curiosity in these occasions waned, which has grow to be far too B2B-focused? Mainly, the tech and client electronics media industries are lacking a huge alternative to create a gathering place and, above all, to generate content material. Precise content material that connects with individuals.
I hate articles about tech exhibits written by journalists for journalists. “Why isn’t IFA or MWC the same as it used to be?” Blah, blah, blah, they rant on. Don’t fret, I am not going to speak about that on this publish. Throughout the three days I spent sweating within the halls of IFA 2024 in Berlin, I used to be terribly pissed off.
“What am I doing here?” was one query I usually requested myself, together with “What am I doing here that adds more value than if I weren’t here?” This query obsessed me all through the present. My job at IFA is to wander from stand to face, trying out attention-grabbing merchandise, and reveling about them to you in articles.
Nowadays, speaking is not ok. You do not want me, an unknown journalist with no fame in anyway, to let you know that such and such a product exists. You might have so many sources of knowledge and information, it is not sufficient to only discuss one thing. You need to present it. Just like the adage, “Don’t tell me. Show me.”
At any time when I write a hands-on expertise or a assessment, I at all times take into consideration what I can present you. The concept is to allow you to stay out my expertise vicariously, as in the event you have been there. Nobody cares about my emotions or opinions if I do not again them up with concrete examples. A video, a photograph, briefly, is way extra significant than 5 poor paragraphs of textual content I may write.
Blame the Producers!
There have been no less than three articles about my time at IFA that I did not write. That is primarily as a result of I could not see how these articles would profit you. I may have merely lower and pasted a press launch to realize the identical outcome. All too usually, I get the sensation that producers are completely glad with the present state of affairs.
Their main curiosity is promoting merchandise. To promote them to you. And to promote these merchandise, it’s a must to discuss them. Whether or not I discuss it in a 300-word information merchandise with no footage, nothing in anyway, or in a prolonged 2,000 phrase assessment with graphs, tables, picture galleries, screenshots, and movies, the producer would not care.
That is the issue. Too regularly, I’d assessment a product or expertise, however I had no approach of correctly transcribing my expertise. Producers and their communications groups do not give sufficient thought to how content material creators can create… content material.
If I have been to let you know in regards to the session throughout which I used to be capable of check out Auracast expertise with wi-fi headphones, you’d shut the article after 10 seconds of studying. You would be proper in doing so. I wandered round a room for quarter-hour following a supervisor. It was very cool. My headphones may hook up with a number of audio streams intuitively.
We even had little scenes within the hands-on. An airport scene the place, as I approached a ticket counter, I may hear bulletins about my flight in my headphones. It was all very intriguing, no less than, for me.
At no level did I’ve the chance to file what I used to be listening to. I attempted filming, however it did not do a lot good. I requested my press contact if he had any visible/video sources to reinforce my article. Nada. It is such a disgrace, actually. The expertise was actually attention-grabbing. Nevertheless, would a easy written report have aroused the identical curiosity in you? I doubt it.
I understand that not everybody can have a 22,000m2 house at IFA like Samsung. Nevertheless, permitting journalists to the touch the product, play with it, take good photographs and make movies would not price a lot.
It is the Journalists’ Fault
It will even be cowardly to not shoulder any of the accountability right here. I am a content material creator. If the content material is not good, it is my fault.
I feel it is an issue linked to the imaginative and prescient we have now of our occupation. I am a journalist, however then once more, anybody may also be a journalist. Anybody can do what I do. The one actual distinction between you and me is that I haven’t got to purchase the merchandise I assessment, and I’ve entry to occasions that you do not.
Even that distinction tends to get blurred as of late with the rise of influencers who’re their very own platform. We have now to cease imagining ourselves perched in our ivory tower. The mere proven fact that I had entry to the IFA two days earlier than you, the general public, and that I am speaking about what I noticed there, is not sufficient.
That is not content material which attracts consideration. My phrases do not have sufficient added worth. I can not simply let you know issues. I’ve to carry them to life. To indicate you what a product appears to be like like. The way it works.
I feel the media wants to alter the best way it perceives, and due to this fact treats, occasions like IFA.
In a earlier article on Gamescom, my colleague Dustin defended his ideas from a really attention-grabbing angle. In accordance with him, Gamescom is not about discovering new video games or getting the most recent gaming information. It is a neighborhood present the place online game followers can meet up and share their ardour.
When you may say IFA is a B2B occasion, a gathering place for professionals, for making contacts, and so forth, this implies you have to cease treating IFA as this massive occasion for tech followers! If the IFA is only a networking occasion for tech professionals, there isn’t any level speaking to you about it.
What’s your opinion on this? Did you observe IFA 2024 on nextpit or elsewhere? Do you agree with my self-criticism of my content material? Do you have got any solutions for making media protection of such occasions extra thrilling?