On Monday, I hop a flight to San Francisco, where I'll "be sure to wear some flowers in my hair." Okay, I'm just kidding about the flowers in my hair—it's from a Hippie-era song for those of you too young to catch the allusion. Perhaps instead of flowers, I would do better to wear a black mock-turtleneck and blue jeans, in honor of Steve Jobs' Keynote presentation at the annual MacWorld Conference and Expo.
We've been exhibiting Accordance at MacWorld Expo for years now, and it's always an invigorating experience. Perhaps it's the work of Mr. Jobs' famed "reality distortion field," but at MacWorld, being a Mac user is the accepted norm, developing Mac-only software is a mark of honor, and getting excited about a computer is viewed as cool rather than nerdy. The pace is fast, the days are tiring, but the atmosphere is always upbeat.
We have lots of users who show up at MacWorld every year and ask us what's new. This year, there's a ton of new stuff, including version 7, an updated Library CD-ROM, the new Atlas and PhotoGuide, WORD Biblical Commentary, NIGTC, the Zondervan Scholarly Suite, and more. Many of our demos this year should consist of showing off new features like the text compare, contextual menus, new Graphs and Charts, etc. In addition to the new users, we'll have plenty of people stopping by the booth who have never heard about Accordance or who had no idea there was Bible software for the Mac. Those demos will be longer, and the challenge will be not to overwhelm them with all the things Accordance can do.
Of course, we always get a few skeptics: loyal users of other programs who challenge us to show them why they should switch to Accordance from Product X. Those are the fun demos, because it's amazing how quickly they get excited about the things we're showing them.
It's also amusing to watch the people who don't end up stopping by our booth. There are always people who casually wander by, attracted by the 3-D maps being projected on the screen, who then notice our sign and get this puzzled look on their faces. Often they'll turn to their friends and whisper, "Bible software?" Then they'll shrug, smirk, or shake their heads and hurry on their way!
All in all, MacWorld is a one-of-a-kind experience, and while I hate being away from my family for a week, a part of me always looks forward to going. If you're going to be there, be sure to stop by booth 2626 to say hi, learn how to get more out of Accordance, and take advantage of some great show prices.
Now, where did I put those flowers. . .
# posted by David Lang @ 10:47 AM
