Woefully Behind, Tangentially Ahead

How does it feel to be a marketer these days?

Last week I had the opportunity to attend two events - Push Button Summit and #launchup - that showcased some latest things in digital media.   My conclusion - it is impossible to stay abreast of changes and that at my age I'm woefully behind the curve, yet surprisingly tangentially ahead of it in some ways.  

The six start-ups that presented at the two events covered everything from fingerprinting music (ripple wake) to moving achievements from games to mainstream applications (iActionable).   I left feeling that there is simply no way to keep track of all these developments; and certainly not at a technical level.    Now that nearly a week has passed there is a sense that on the business and marketing side of these companies there are lots of things we old folks still have to offer.  My list:

1. Experience of turning ideas into solutions; just what pain does a technology solve?
2. Thinking through the business model; how will the technology be financially successful?
3. Simplifying the problem to a value proposition; why will the technology be successful?

So before the gray-beards of our generation get pushed aside for the next generation of technical wunderkids remember that experience is what created the gray in the first place.