Category: Newsletters

How to Vet a Crowded Industry for Hidden Innovation Opportunities

Kelli Richards March 10, 2014

Few people look at a thermostat and think, “Now there’s an exciting business opportunity!”

As a device, it’s a boring commodity — a relic of a stagnant, saturated market. So why did the co-founders of Nest decide to build a multimillion-dollar company around the reinvention of the thermostat?

Where others saw an industry that offered no room for new ideas, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers saw potential. Most of the 10 million thermostats sold every year throughout the U.S. were clunky, inefficient, and impossible to program, but a simple, Wi-Fi-enabled device that could be programmed via a smartphone — that could be a game changer. Fadell and Rogers saw this opportunity, left their jobs at Apple, and got to work.

Within just three years of unveiling the Nest Learning Thermostat, the company has reduced energy usage across the U.S. and Canada by at least 225 million kilowatt-hours. They’ve saved consumers more than $29 million in heating and cooling bills. And earlier this year, Google bought Nest for $3.2 billion in cash.

What gave Fadell and Rogers the confidence to dive into an overcrowded market? They saw room for innovation. Here’s how you can see through the crowd to the opportunity.

How to Vet a Crowded Industry

When a market has a reputation of being fully saturated or crowded, many potential entrants will steer clear without a second thought. But popular perception isn’t always reality. Though it may not be immediately obvious, there’s often room for innovation and more than one player in the most stagnant of industries.

If you’ve got an idea that you think could disrupt a crowded market, it’s critical that you vet the industry before launching.

Do your homework. Who are the key players in the industry? What are their strengths and weaknesses? A comprehensive understanding of the competitive landscape is vital for determining your strategy.

Clarify your value-add. What makes your idea different? Are you cheaper, faster, better, or more innovative than everyone else? You can’t survive in a saturated industry without clearly being different and better.

Know your customer.Are consumers satisfied with the current market? If your product or idea can effectively address unmet needs and pain points, you’ll be able to capture significant market share.

Position yourself as a trailblazer. People aren’t expecting innovation in a stagnant market. Find the gap by researching industry trends, then stake a bold claim as the “next big thing.”

Prepare for scale.When you unveil a great idea on a commodity market, you have to be ready to handle a sudden wave of demand. Had Nest not been able to keep up with the brisk pace of adoption, the company would have tanked. They were prepared, though, and rode the wave all the way to a multibillion-dollar acquisition in a relatively short period of time based on mass adoption by consumers.

Surviving the Changes in Your Industry

Once you’ve made the leap into the market, you need to be proactive to survive your industry’s lifecycle changes. Achieve the following, and you’ll not only keep your head above water — you’ll thrive.

Stay up to speed on the latest trends and technologies. That way, you can remain nimble and capable of edging out competitors.
Get the word out. Make sure customers know about you — and know that your solution is superior.
Make sure you offer the best possible customer experience. You’ll garner loyalty and brand equity, and you’ll reduce the churn factor.
Optimize key elements: pricing, service, process, and customer satisfaction. Piece these components together in a way that tells a compelling brand story to attract your target audience.
Always strive to stand out from the crowd through your marketing, products, and customer experience. When you delight your customers, they’ll become brand advocates and stay with you in the long run.

A Matter of Perception

When an industry undergoes a fundamental transformation, many people wrongly assume it’s vanishing forever.

Consider the entertainment industry, for example. Just 15 years ago, film studios, record labels, and media distributors believed that file-sharing technology would ruin their entire livelihood. Those who were stuck in their ways wanted to put an end to the technology.

Savvy, forward-thinking tech entrepreneurs, on the other hand, saw an opportunity to pioneer change. While everyone else was lamenting the death of entertainment, they harnessed the disruptive power of technology to meet market needs.

Now, decision makers in the industry are embracing next-generation distribution technology because it enables them to reach global audiences and create new revenue streams.

It takes a keen eye and a great idea to capitalize on lifecycle changes in a crowded market. The risks, however, are often a matter of perception. By seeing potential where others don’t, you can access a world of opportunity and profits.

A highly sought-after consultant, mentor, speaker, producer, coach, and author, Kelli Richards is the CEO of The All Access Group. She and her team facilitate strategic business opportunities in digital distribution between technology companies, established artists and celebrities, film studios, record labels, and consumer brand companies in order to foster new revenue streams and deliver compelling consumer experiences. Kelli is also the author of the bestselling e-book, “The Magic & Moxie of Apple — An Insider’s View.”

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

5 Unlikely Music Legends With Great Advice for Entrepreneurs

Kelli Richards March 3, 2014

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to keep your ears open for helpful advice — especially when you’re new to the game.

We usually expect business wisdom to come from the likes of Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffett — not Jimmy Buffett. But there are a few big names in entertainment who would surprise you with their entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen.

1. Jimmy Buffett

The man behind boozy classics such as “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” knows a little something about entrepreneurship.

Beyond his successful career in music, Buffett runs a record label, a merchandising company, the Margaritaville brand of chain stores, restaurants, blenders, tequila, and more.

He’s a successful entrepreneur because he hires talented people, can see the potential in important opportunities, and lives by solid values that go back to his roots.

Take it from Jimmy: “You’ve got to be able to take money out of the equation in order to enjoy life and make good decisions. Years ago, I went to Warren Buffett for advice about something, and that’s what he told me. He said, ‘Whether you make or don’t make this deal, is it going to affect your life? And if not, then do what you want to do, and be prepared for them to say no.’ I’ve used that quite a bit.”

2. Troy Carter

Troy Carter is the manager who helped build the careers of musical sensations including Lady Gaga and John Legend.

What you might not know is that he’s a tech investor in ventures like Spotify, Uber, and Dropbox, as well as the entrepreneur behind POPwater and several other companies.

Carter’s ability to stay present helps him make clear and logical decisions in the midst of chaos, keep the big picture in mind, and avoid getting flustered when things don’t go as planned.

Take it from Troy: “Money doesn’t make me tick. This definition of success doesn’t make me tick. Managing some of the biggest stars in the world doesn’t make me tick. Making my family proud makes me tick.”

3. Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams is a renowned hip-hop, R&B, and soul musician, but he also designs clothing and chairs, dabbles in sculpture and architecture, invests in tech startups, mentors kids, and is a philanthropist.

Williams is successful because he surrounds himself with people who recognize that they’re different, and he understands the importance of collaboration, learning from others, and taking constructive criticism.

Take it from Pharrell: “You are only as good as your team. When you envisage success, you should see all the people you work with, in addition to yourself…I used to hire 21-year-old monsters with a twinkle in their eye. I saw potential, but it was what I thought they could do, not what they could actually do…When you surround yourself with people with experience…A lot of them are gonna be older than you. When they vet people, they need to see more than twinkles; they need sparks.”

4. Dave Stewart

Dave Stewart is a musician best known for his work with the Eurythmics.

He now serves as an advisor to Visa and Nokia and is the CEO of the massively successful media company Weapons of Mass Entertainment. He’s also the co-founder of First Artist Ventures and the author of the entrepreneurial guidebook “Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide.”

Stewart embraces and rewards creativity, understanding that it’s essential for a business to stand out in a crowded market. He also knows how to ask the right questions and when to seek different perspectives from trustworthy people.

Take it from Dave: “A creative culture is one in which people aren’t just rewarded for successes, but are allowed and actively encouraged to experiment and make mistakes.

“The perfect brainstorm removes the barriers to creativity by letting all ideas come out without the judgment and criticism that might otherwise kill them. It also involves having clear parameters, including a mix of people from different backgrounds, and setting high expectations for performance.”

5. Sammy Hagar

Also known as “The Red Rocker,” Sammy Hagar is a singer/songwriter and the musician best known as a member of Van Halen.

Hagar also owns a popular chain of nightclubs and restaurants called Cabo Wabo, a chain of airport restaurants, a restaurant with celeb chef Tyler Florence, and a tequila company.

While it might seem like a leap for a rocker to run a chain of restaurants, Hagar is successful because he follows his intuition, looks for new opportunities, finds the right people to run his businesses, and has fun.

Take it from Sammy: “Before I made it as a rocker, I had a lot of executives tell me what to do to make it, and I never listened to them. I did it my way…I like owning and operating a business. It’s as creative as stepping on stage or making a record. I’ve never started a business thinking, ‘Oh, I’m gonna make money off of this.’ All my ideas have come from sheer enthusiasm.”

While you probably shouldn’t take all your business advice from music legends, there are some common lessons that transcend industries:

Surround yourself with great people.
Explore potential opportunities that challenge you.
Don’t make money the first priority.
Always trust your gut.

Sometimes, the best advice comes from unexpected sources. Another lesson you can learn from these individuals is that you don’t necessarily have to start in business to build great companies. It’s just a matter of listening to your inner entrepreneur and seizing opportunities that excite you.

Which unlikely individuals have given you the best advice on entrepreneurship? What was their advice?

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionarieshttps://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

5 Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs in 2014

Kelli Richards February 17, 2014

Entrepreneurs must be practical experts, according to author and leadership expert Simon Sinek. A new business owner needs to specialize in his craft, as well as marketing, graphic design, and plant maintenance. He sweeps, writes press releases, and keeps the books. An entrepreneur is everything to everyone. Juggling so many jobs can be a huge task, but happily there are new tools and tech to get you through it without losing your mind.

Getting Started

Most lenders and investors will not give you a second look without a business plan. It is the guide to your business. It is proof that the owner has thought out all of the opportunities and threats to the business and placed a monetary value on each. The U.S. Small Business Administration offers numerous resources for entrepreneurs to develop a business plan that will stand out to investors and put your business on the right track.

Working The Back Office

Intuit free accounting software helps a small business owner to do all of the necessary, but mundane, bookkeeping and financial reporting. Using Quickbooks is relatively simple, plus there are myriad instructional videos online. Quickbooks has all of the functions that a small business entrepreneur would need. At the front end of the software, the user can add receipts and expenses. This includes bank reconciliations and payroll, if your organization is big enough to have employees. At the back end, you can print financial reports that give either a point-in-time look at your business or an overview of your financial success.

Learning, Learning And More Learning

It would be great to know everything, but for those of us who do not, there is Google. Take a look at Google For Entrepreneurs, a collection of resources for any type of entrepreneur. Under the online learning tab there are educational videos by field experts and academics. The videos range from marketing to leadership development to Web analytics. Google also hosts various new business events, like its startup weekend, a 54-hour weekend seminar designed to put an entrepreneur through the paces. Google For Entrepreneurs also educates about some of the Google business development and marketing products like Adword and Adsense.

Staying Productive

When you are the chief multitask engineer, productivity is essential. Renting office space can be expensive, especially if it is only used occasionally. Meetings are more often held at the local coffee joint. Having your documents available to you everywhere you go is imperative for good productivity. Cloud-based file sharing is a good solution. Google Drive and Dropbox allow users to move files back and forth in the cloud. This allows you and your team the ability to share and update documents in real time, anywhere in the world.

Yelling From The Mountaintop

Internet-based marketing is one way to get the word out to your potential customers. Services like Buddy Media have cross platform marketing systems that allows you to create content and push it out via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks.

Until next time,

Dana Hudson, Blogger for the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionarieshttps://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

Step Away from the Smartphone

Kelli Richards February 10, 2014

Of the 93% of Americans that use cell phones or wireless devices, one-third of them are using “smartphones,” with which you can browse the Web and check e-mail. In other words, most of us are spending our days walking around with our eyes glued to our phone screens, as chillingly demonstrated in this telling YouTube short.

Some experts say it’s time to take a step back and reassess. They worry that kids won’t know what it’s like to have a conversation or actually look someone in the eyes when they tell a story.

In her powerful TED talk, Sherry Turkle claims that the little devices in our pockets are so psychologically powerful that they not only change what we do – they’re also changing who we are in our minds and our hearts, by allowing us three gratifying fantasies: that we can put our attention wherever we want it to be; that we will always be heard; and that we will never have to be alone.

But that’s just what they are – fantasies. And while we’re indulging in them, we’re tuning out the people who are physically present in the room with us. Some of the familiar things we now do with our devices – taking calls while out to dinner, checking Facebook during board meetings, texting while on a date – are things that only a few years ago we would have found odd or disturbing. Now it’s simply how we do things. Instead of never being alone, it seems we are getting accustomed to “a new way of being alone, together.”

“Parents text and do email at breakfast and at dinner. Their children complain about not having their parents’ full attention, but then these same children deny each other their full attention. We even text at funerals. I study this. We remove ourselves from our grief, or from our reverie, and we go into our smartphones.” If it’s true that attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity, then one could argue that smartphones are making us less generous human beings, unable to give each other the attention we crave.

Real conversations are unpredictable – and un-erase-able – and real relationships are engrossing and messy, but technology renders both neat and clean – keeping others at just the right distance: not too close to see the real you, and not too far that they can’t “hear” what you’re saying.

But having real conversations with each other is how we learn to have conversations with ourselves. Hiding from real, unscripted, unpredictable conversations with each other can compromise our capacity for self-reflection. And as smartphones burrow ever deeper into our lives, and Google Glass threatens to erode our personal space even further, finding ways to unplug is becoming more appealing – perhaps even more vital – than ever.

If you or someone you love is struggling with smart phone addiction, download Fast Company’s printable guide to unplugging and check out their collection of thought-provoking articles on the subject here.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

The Benefits of BYOD Across Different Company Sizes

Kelli Richards January 27, 2014

Anyone connected to the business world has heard about the rampant popularity of bring-your-own-device policies, better known as BYOD. The trend will continue for the near future and likely beyond, with Gartner analysts claiming that 50 percent of companies will mandate a BYOD platform over the course of the next five years. The popularity and gains in morale aside, however, does a BYOD set of policies make sense to a company on a financial standpoint? In terms of dollars and cents, some businesses may get more out of BYOD than others.

Small Companies

Could a BYOD platform benefit the larger conglomerates more than the small, home-based businesses that employ so many independent workers? The answer may be no, but not necessarily due to the basic revenue-expenses flowchart on your bookkeeping. The risk to small companies with a BYOD system lies in the security or lack thereof. V3 made headlines by proclaiming that a small business with BYOD is one cyber-attack away from bringing the company down. A small company may not be able to afford training or security to keep a BYOD network afloat, resulting in a far higher risk of a data breach. When that happens, the savings of a few hundred dollars per employee becomes trivial: The average data breach costs a company no less than $6.75 million dollars and an average of over $200 per compromised customer, Poneman research reports.

The Muddled Middle

Medium-sized businesses may have the resources to put a comprehensive BYOD platform in place to allow for security and increased safety, yet few end up doing so. CSO Online estimates that between 60 percent and 80 percent of businesses have no formal BYOD policies in place whatsoever. Businesses with the luxuries of modest resources and relative flexibility must think long and hard about the dollar value of each employee under its company umbrella. The advantages of cost savings and increased productivity often win out, since a medium-sized business rarely has to hire more than a handful of new staff members to police BYOD or train employees. When a medium-sized company has had limited success with safety, however, it may find a BYOD platform to be an unpalatable risk.

Corporate Policy

When your company employs hundreds or even thousands of workers, the solution becomes quite simple: Go big or go home. The math firmly stands in the BYOD camp, with Cisco reporting that a basic BYOD platform generates $350 per employee per year, while comprehensive policy boosts that figure up to $1,300 per employee per year. Risks remain, of course, and risks become more expensive as the size of a company grows, but when the benefits start climbing in to the millions of dollars, a corporation with a large workforce would greatly limit their growth potential by restricting BYOD policy in favor of uniform devices. There are also platforms that allow BYOD devices to switch from personal to business mode, keeping the two areas separate.

Until next time,

Keith Hart, Guest Blogger for the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

iPhone: Hover Technology Coming Soon?

Kelli Richards January 20, 2014

While the idea of the phone reading my eyes is cooler than my fingers, I found this technology to be far more practical. Imagine having dirty or wet hands, not wanting to touch your phone, but still needing to use it- you can. It takes new phone anxiety and consequent over protection to a whole new level. But beyond aiding neat freaks in protecting their phones, this technology has immense potential, and really left me wishing that my phone could do the same cool new tricks. Well iPhone users, the wait for such technology may not be too long as Apple has recently obtained patents for such hover technology, but also includes technology meant to better analyze accuracy and better understand unwanted touching of buttons or typing.

Eye recognition software and finger hovering technology: would taking your eye away from the screen result in the pausing of the video? Would you be able to scroll through documents with your eyes instead of your fingers? The finger hovering software will allow you to click and scroll without touching the screen, rather just by hovering your finger above the glass.

The new Apple technology also involves software for analyzing users’ heart rates. And in a day and age with countless advancements in health and fitness applications, this could result in amazing innovation. Analyzing heart rates can take workout apps like Nike+ to a whole new level, and can also greatly influence health applications to better aid physicians in treating patients from a distance. Patients with high blood pressure can check their heart rate from the comfort of their phone, and relay such results to their physician. And with the FDA’s recent installment of laws regulating healthcare applications, the future reliability of such technology will be trustable. Such regulation will extend to applications focused on the tracking of medications, health records, dieting and exercise.

And if dirtying your screen causes you too much stress wait it out, the App Store may soon have an app for that.

Jesse Hoppenfeld, Blogger for the All Access Group

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries

Live Viewing Services for YouTube Verified Users?

Kelli Richards January 13, 2014

In a day and age largely defined by the creation and expansion of social networking, and sharing, YouTube’s expansion of live video services to all verified users, may not seem so revolutionary or even like a new idea, but it will no doubt prove its versatility. The live viewing services offered by YouTube have slowly been released to the public. The minimum YouTube followers needed to use live feeds has been decreased from its original 1,000, to 100, and now to all verified users. Becoming a verified YouTube user requires the release of various personal information and access to your past YouTube activity, but such data releases seem to be a common practice at this point- used in large part to supplement your user interface, making it a more personal experience. (But this is also a very appealing source of information for marketers attempting to target specific audiences, which can be determined through internet and YouTube use.)

Youtube-live — *Image from https://blog.irocke.com/

Besides the business arena, on the personal level the options for live sharing on YouTube seem endless: High School football game, Reunion, Graduation, Holiday Dinner? You can share live feeds of all these life and family events with everyone who is unfortunately unable to attend. But such live sharing can extend far beyond the family sharing dynamic. The potential for such streaming was previewed by Red Bull Stratos Mission, which saw a man free fall from the edge of our atmosphere. The event drew 8 million viewers.

Live sharing on YouTube may have just solved problems that die hard sports fan, music fans, and over protective parents have had for years. Is your favorite sports team’s game blacked out, or not being aired while you’re away? You will be able to Tube it. Who needs Slingbox or similar services when you can YouTube it? It is music to the music fans ears; all those who can’t afford concert tickets, or have to work the one time Beyonce is in town? They can Tube it. The point is that YouTube’s live streaming really brings YouTube into a different genre of entertainment; one that may at some point rival television, or if not supplements television, like Xbox One’s new interface, or Google’s attempts at Google TV.

However, perhaps the most immediately useful aspect of YouTube’s live streaming application is that it can work with Google+ Hangout which brings the live streaming to a two-way video broadcast, making meetings, marketing events, or interviews accessible from all over the world, live.

YouTube has put something really special together with its new live streaming service, I don’t want to pay for similar devices but I would definitely spend the extra 30 seconds to verify my YouTube account and reap these awesome benefits.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

Coin: Access to All of Your Cards in One

Kelli Richards January 6, 2014

Meet Julie. She is in the grocery store check out line with bags of food piled high on the counter and the cashier says “$51.05.” She takes out her purse and balances it on the very small ledge by the card-swiping machine so she can dig through it to find the family credit card. Julie finds her business account card, the gas card, her Macy’s credit card and even the Barnes & Noble rewards card, but her personal card is lost within the shuffle. After a few more minutes of frantic searching, while the line behind Julie inevitably grows longer, she finds her personal card, swipes, and leaves the store flustered and annoyed.

What if finding your credit cards could be easier…because they were all in the same space. No, I don’t mean just in the same physical space or pocket in your wallet –what if you only had one card, for all of your accounts? Coin, the all-in-one credit card is the solution to Julie’s (and your) frustration.

Coin is a new type of credit card that stores all of your accounts on one card. How can this be possible, you ask? Coin works just like any other credit card and you can swipe it in any machine, only this card comes with out hassle. To choose which account you want to use for each particular purchase, simply click the round button on the card and scroll through each account on the small display screen until you find the correct account.

You’re next question: How do you get all of your cards on Coin? Simply swipe each card using a card reader that plugs into your smart phone and works with the Coin app. Then take a picture of each card so you can keep track of them all.

As for security, Coin is constantly in sync with your phone using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and if you leave it behind, the card recognizes its distance from your phone and will notify you. Doesn’t get much more convenient, does it?

TheVerge.com states that, ”Coin is up for pre-order today for $50, but will cost $100 for new buyers when it ships in summer 2014.”

Will you be taking advantage of Coins simplicity and ditching all of your credit cards that just take up space in your wallet? I know I will. Do you think Coin will be a game-changer for the credit card industry? My guess –in years to come, many more companies will jump on this idea and managing your accounts will become second nature.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

4 Unique Gatherings for Thought Leaders in 2014

Kelli Richards December 30, 2013

We live in a rapidly changing world, and it’s not about to slow down in 2014. Here are four exciting events in the coming year that will keep you on the bleeding edge of innovation.

International CES “It’s a lab. A social hub. A marketplace. And a few things they’ve yet to create words for.”

If you thrive on what’s happening at the frontier of consumer technologies, the International CES is where you want to be. Held in Las Vegas every year, it has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for more than 40 years—the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. Far more than a tradeshow, CES showcases more than 3,200 exhibitors, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more; a conference program with more than 300 sessions; and more than 152,000 attendees from more than 150 countries. In 2014, will you be one of them?

SXSW Music & Interactive Anyone who gives a damn about music has to make it to SXSW Music at least once in their lives. Now in its 28th year, South By Southwest Music is the largest music festival and leading music industry event in the world, with more than 2,200 official performers and bands playing in more than 100 venues in Austin, TX. By day, attendees explore the future of the music industry through panels, talks, the Trade Show, and Music Gear Expo. By night, enjoy an amazing selection of musical performances from over 2,200 regional, national and international acts.

If you’re more of a technophile, check out SXSW Interactive, an incubator of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity, featuring five days of presentations and panels from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. From hands-on training to big-picture analysis of the future, SXSW Interactive has become the place to preview the technology of tomorrow today.

SXSW’s Latest Addition, V2V If you march to the beat of an entrepreneurial drum, SXSW has a spanking new offering just for you. V2V is the newest addition to the SXSW family of events, an extension and re-imagining of the legendary SXSW experience with an emphasis on the creative spark that drives entrepreneurial innovation. This 4-day event brings the startup and venture capital communities together with the creative industries that have helped to make SXSW so special. V2V serves innovators and entrepreneurs from across all the industries at the core of the SXSW Family of events – technology, music, film, fashion, health, education, sustainability, and more – as they learn the skills, make the connections, and find the inspiration to take their ideas and talents to the next level.

IGNITION: Future of Digital If you’re an executive in the world of technology, media, entertainment, investing, finance, or the Internet, you want to be at the annual IGNITION event to explore the emerging business models of digital media.

A major land grab is occurring for the digital consumer, and it’s rapidly disrupting longstanding business models. Mobile and social are reconstituting our media experiences. “Media” no longer encompasses just content, but also commerce, payments, mobility, and platforms. Big data, user content, and cord-cutting, always-on: these are key elements defining the emerging web economy.

At IGNITION you can expect a thrilling discussion of the innovation that matters, who will win, and what you can do to keep ahead.

Hope to see you there!

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries

1. International CES – The Global Stage for Innovation

Jan 7-10, 2014 Las Vegas, NV

2. SXSW Music, Film & Interactive

March 4-10 Austin Convention Center Austin, TX

3. SXSW’s Latest Addition, V2V

July 13 – 16, 2014 The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV

4. IGNITION: Future of Digital #IGNITION2014

November, 2014 New York City

Learn more: https://www.businessinsider.com/event/ignition-2013

EOS 3D: A Radical Step Forward for 3D Technology

Kelli Richards December 16, 2013

In recent years, Three-Dimension (3D) technology has seen a steady increase in quality as well as quantity in our everyday lives. Ever since Honey I Shrunk the Kids provided the first interactive movie experience by combining rudimentary 3D film with other sense-tickling technologies, 3D technology has evolved to the sophistication of James Cameron’s groundbreaking film “Avatar,” which revolutionized 3D film. (It is worth noting that the making of the film was delayed 10 years in anticipation of how this evolving technology would enable the film’s intended effects). 3D has now moved even further, creating more interactive experiences in an attempt to render inanimate technology more “life-like.”

Various advances demonstrate this progression: Leap Motion, which creates an interactive cloud that reads hand movements, gestures, and grabs, allowing total control of what you are researching or creating on your computer; indoor Google Maps, which creates a 3D model of the inside of buildings, allowing for a far easier, more interactive option for finding a doctor’s office or mail room; and Google Glass, which combines social media with 3D technology, in effect documenting your life in a 3D platform for all your social network “friends” to see.

However impressive all these innovations may be, they have achieved interactivity only in the abstract sense. The film industry creates 3D entertainment; Leap Motion creates some Star Wars-esque cloud of interactivity; and Google Glass records and shares what’s around you – but none of these 3D technologies succeed in creating something tangible that can be held and beheld, in appreciation of the true genius behind the creation.

But all this has changed with the introduction of EOS 3D – which literally prints 3D objects. These machines are capable of “printing” in plastic, metal, and sand manufacturing, and the appeal to various industries – ranging from aerospace to medical and lifestyle products – is undeniable. Working with tool-less laser technology, EOS 3D manufacturing can produce light-weight yet high-tech components – and for cheap. For those of you who watch Orange County Chopper, the “printing” works in a way similar to how motorcycle enthusiasts customize various parts.

This technology marks a very interesting point in the 3D technology industry. While it may be true today that e-manufacturing relies on clunky, massive devices, the first computer wasn’t exactly pocket sized either – and if you hadn’t noticed, change tends to happen a lot faster these days.

Just imagine owing one of these e-manufacturing devices in the year 2020, a time when they’ll have decreased to the size of a toaster, and being able to materialize whatever you want without leaving the house. Need a screw? Print it. A pen? Print it. A sandwich? … Print it?

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletterhttps://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

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