This week, I will walk back into Mandalay Bay to emcee ITC Agents for the third time.
There will be talks on AI, agency growth, technology, sales, and leadership.
Agents, owners, carriers, technology companies, and operators are coming to Las Vegas to figure out which AI and technology changes are coming to the insurance business.
That is why you buy the ticket.
It is not how the trip pays for itself.
After two years as part of ITC, I have learned that the official agenda is the appetizer. The real value lies in the conversations and connections made with fellow attendees.
It is an agency owner giving you the unvarnished version of what happened after they bought the shiny new tool.
It is someone who spent a year fighting the same problem telling you where it broke.
It is a conversation turning into a hire, a partnership, a client relationship, or the one idea you take home and actually use.
AI may be able to summarize what was said on the stage.
It will never replace the value of being in the room.
My bet is that AI will be the biggest boon to in-person events since commercial air travel.
AI is driving down the price of information, output, and coordination. It can give everyone a summary, a first draft, and a research assistant before your first cup of coffee.
When everyone gets the notes, notes are no longer the advantage.
Context is…
Freeman's 2024 attendee research surveyed 2,002 B2B convention and trade show attendees. Given the option to attend the same event in person or virtually, 82% said they prefer to be there in person.
That does not prove I am right about AI. It does put a dent in the lazy prediction that live events are dead.
A bad event is still Hard Mode with a buffet. A lanyard, a neon sponsor wall, and a PowerPoint full of words nobody will remember do not become valuable because they happen in a hotel ballroom.
…but summarization (AI) of information will never replace the value of connection.
Today's sponsor
That is what I am learning with my boys at Badass Breaks.
We sell sports cards. We run live breaks. We ship physical cards to real people via our eBay store.
On paper, it sounds ridiculous. People watch other people open packs of cards on camera.
…but the card is only part of the product.
The pack opens. Someone hits a monster card. The chat lights up. The banter starts. A kid gets to run a real business with his dad and brother. There is no prompt for that.
AI didn't make anyone care about sports cards. It made the operational layer cheap enough for us to build a real business around something we already care about.
This is part of why NFTs didn’t work. Digital assets will never be replacements for something physical you can hold in your hand.
AI does its best work when it gets us off the computer and closer to the parts of life and business that still require a pulse.
If you want to see what we are building, follow Badass Breaks on Instagram.
That is why I had Chandler Bolt on Finding Peak. His team speaks at 50 to 70 live events a year. We talked about the systems and AI that get chores off a founder's plate, but the question underneath it all is simple: What are you going to do with the time they give back?
If you want the business case for that trade, watch the conversation.
Do not use AI to avoid the room.
Use it to earn your way back into one.
Before you book the next event, ask one question: Is there someone in that room whose answer could change my next decision?
If yes, get on the plane.
If not, get the notes.
The AI can take notes.
It cannot take your place.
This is the way.
Hanley
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