Awesome Discoveries at the ABA Techshow Exhibits
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For the first time I can say that a vendor expo was awesome. The ABA Techshow had the usual collection of case management and time-and-billing stuff, but I found some really cool items:
I bought a top-of-the-line fast laptop/main computer at the Dell booth. I got A Latitutde D630 for 35% off -- for a total of $1831! Ask for salesman Jesus Ortega, a big guy with a big smile. The system includes:
- Core 2 Duo T9300 2.50 GHz processor with 6M Level 2 Cache with an 800 Mhz bus
- XP home edition. No Vista for me, thank you.
- 120 Gig hard drive -- a faster one that runs at 7200 rpm.
- DVD player and burner
- built in wireless card
- MS Office 2007 Small business edition (I winced that I would have to learn yet another version of Word, but Jesus told me I could master it in 3 days).
- a 9 cell batter that lasts 9 hours
- 3 year mail in service warranty
The next cool thing was the KeyScan KS810 keyboard scanner. Most scanners have huge footprints. With KeyScan you just insert your document into a slot in the keyboard. KeyScan can save it as a PDF and automatically insert it as an attachment in Outlook. Or, if you're working on a document, you put the cursor where you want the image to appear, scan it, and it is automatically inserted there. Here's the best part: the price is $159. If you want one, call Ophira Rosolio at 781.658.2020 or ophira@keyscan.com (see www.keyscan.com)
Thirdly, I was walking down a aisle as saw my face flash up on the TV monitor. Being curious I tracked down the camera and found Audience Response Systems, Inc. I congratulated Regional Sales Manager Doug Kinsella on his eye-catching marketing. It's the best draw in the entire Expo. They sell Pulse, a continuous real-time audience polling system. Each audience member (or mock jury member) is given a little keypad, and every 5 seconds they indicate whether they are bored (click 1) or that they're fascinated (click 10). The results appear live on a screen viewed by monitors. A speaker or lawyer doing a closing argument can instantly see when he's losing the audience, or when he's got their total attention. Level 2 Pulse for 24 participants is $4,160. For more info go to www.audienceresponse.comk or call Doug Kinsellla at 800.458.9081.
Finally the best "gimme" was a yo-yo that lights up when you spin it. I'm meeting my son Ted for lunch (he's an analyst at Fidelity Investments in downtown Chicago) and I'm going to give it to him.
Stay tuned for more.
