You can’t be creative and innovative if you’re only stuck in your area of interest. You have to seek out the unknown, engage in hobbies and interests outside of what you do every day and thus move out of your comfort zone.
One of my approaches to familiarizing myself with new things is to attend conferences and trade fairs in areas I’m not familiar with and on topics I have no idea about. In 2023, for example, I attended a beauty fair, the Cultivate Beauty Conference, which was small but nice. I was probably the only man there – apart from the DJ who was playing the music in the hall – among many women of all ages.
Men are simpletons when it comes to beauty. We may like a woman’s eyes, her hair and other physical attributes that I won’t go into, but what we don’t understand is how much effort and deception goes into it. A little powder and cream can not only completely change the face of your beloved, but also boost her confidence and influence her demeanor. Just as a suit acts as armor for men, making them seem invulnerable in a tough professional life, makeup and clothing have the same effect on women.
But there is much more. There are inserts for fuller and longer hair, eyelashes that curl, eyebrows that are highlighted and even tattoos. Men who still believe that nail polish is just a color in a bottle don’t know about nail polish machines that can apply entire paintings to each individual nail. I now know more about microblading, curling irons and foundation than I ever thought I would. Just as interesting as the products and services on display is the audience and the atmosphere. Women women women women everywhere, deep in conversation, exchanging expert tips and opinions and supporting each other. A panel discussion between two beauty entrepreneurs, who spoke about the business, the customers and the challenges involved, also gave interested parties a good insight into this world.
With that in mind, this February I headed to the world’s largest agrotech conference, the World Ag Expo, in Tulare, in the Central Valley, located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Again, a very different topic, as farmers from all over the world came together to explore the latest trends, refresh old contacts and make new ones. The diversity was surprising to me. I saw the typical white farmer in a cowboy hat and boots, Mexican farmers’ wives inspecting huge tractors, Korean and Japanese agro delegations walking in groups through the huge exhibition railings, but also a lot of high school students from the surrounding area who were on a kind of scavenger hunt and had scored huge foam cowboy hats, among other things. And in between, I saw Amish people of German descent in their traditional garb and long beards discussing the state of huge harvesting machines.
From gun raffles to live cattle, autonomous tractors and drones, giant machines and steaks to high school students, farmers and rural residents, everything and everyone was there. Not only that, but I unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance I had met a few years ago with a Silicon Valley delegation of Brazilian cattle ranchers and a visit to Fresno State’s agricultural university. He was working at the booth for his company ECO2MIX, which controls and supplies pH values for field irrigation in an environmentally friendly way.
What were the highlights for me, or what did I find surprising? There were autonomous tractors and weedkillers, weeders with lasers, drones in all shapes and sizes, all kinds of technologies that make sustainable farming possible, waterbeds for cows, cleaning robots for the cow manure in the robot barn, and devices for the smart farm, where farmers can keep an eye on everything from their office.
I was surprised by the enormous size of these agricultural machines and the contrast between modernity and groundedness. An exhibition of antique agricultural machinery dating back two centuries was also very informative and showed that agriculture has always been a technological pioneer.
The only thing I missed was corn dogs. I’ve never eaten them, even though I’ve lived in the USA for over 20 years and they’re sold everywhere at fun fairs and fairs. Even though they are supposed to taste horrible, that doesn’t stop me from trying them. Maybe next time.
Will I be able to use this experience for my future work? I have no idea. But it gives me a broader understanding of the world we live in and the people in this industry. And as Steve Jobs said, the “dots can only be connected afterwards”. In other words, the value for me will only become apparent in the future, but I can say that I already found the conference very instructive for me.