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TEConnect is the podcast that tackles the news, trends, and technologies impacting the specialty IT reseller channel, software companies, and hardware manufacturers. Hosted by John Martin & Dean Reverman. Tell us what YOU want to hear about: teconnect@bluestarinc.com
Episodes
Thursday Sep 22, 2022
Thursday Sep 22, 2022
After a long few days at VARTECH 2022, Dean & John happily turn over their marketing session for VARs to the incomparable James Korte, who helps us respond to survey responses from attendees about their current marketing situations and, most importantly, what you need help with to improve your marketing. How does an SMB market on a budget? What kind of content should you be creating? How can manufacturers help you fund your campaigns? What kind of marketing provides the best ROI and what should that ROI even look like? What are some best practices for LinkedIn?
TEConnecting with us:
Dean - LEGO Dunder Mifflin set
James - Midjourney AI
John - Playing video games w/his son
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Submit your ideas for the pod, surveys, marketing questions, etc...: https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Zebra Tablet Portfolio
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
While we're off recording a new episode live at VARTECH 2022, we thought it was a great time to revisit last year's episode on properly utilizing LinkedIn for business. Next week, we'll be back with a new episode offering free and low-cost tips for marketing & content creation based on questions and concerns YOU gave us!
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(ORIGINALLY RELEASED 10/21/21) It's the second of our live episodes recorded at VARTECH 2021 in Orlando Florida! For this one, James Korte, unofficial third host, joins us to discuss how VARs and TSCs should be utilizing LinkedIn for their business. What should you emphasize for personal and company pages? How important is it to post and share content? What does the LinkedIn algorithm seem to "reward"? Is it useful to market on the platform? Finally, what about other social media platforms? It's the episode that wants you to acknowledge your age!
#VARValue - What is something our audience or anyone listening could do right now to improve their social reach?
TEConnecting with us:
James - Rivian EV trucks & SUVs
Dean - mRNA cancer therapy
John - Building his own lightsaber
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
Many healthcare providers (and patients) finally embraced telehealth and virtual visits in recent years, but that’s just one aspect of what has become known as a “continuum of care.” VeeOne Health’s Kevin Leal joins us to explain this concept and how virtual care technology is really allowing everyone to access healthcare at home or in local facilities, including specialists not normally found in rural communities. How does virtual care help close gaps in healthcare? What are the benefits of remote patient monitoring (RPM) and building a community of care that includes family or other caregivers? How can resellers start a conversation that leads to this broader solution? It’s the episode that reminds you to take your medicine and schedule your annual checkup.
#VARValue - What does this mean for VARs? Where should they start looking for opportunities and how does VeeOne help?
TEConnecting with us:
Kevin - Biostickers for continuous patient monitoring & autonomous robots in healthcare settings
Dean - China seeding clouds and a restaurant run entirely by robots
John - Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" is crashing hard drives
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Submit your ideas for the pod! - https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Zebra Tablet Portfolio
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
“Smart cities” has been a popular concept for most of the 21st century and yet, very few cities can make the claim that they’ve achieved the status. Few experts will even agree on what it means and many smart city projects have hit dead ends due to costs, privacy issues, and challenges related to scope. Thankfully, Advantech’s Charlie Wu returned to the show and help us break down where cities can start to get "smart," first by explaining the difference between machine vision & learning. How will future cities manage traffic and autonomous vehicles? How about resource management like sewage, water, and parking? Finally, we dig into the public safety angle and the privacy issues that come with it.
#VARValue - For VARs that aren’t certain where they fit in the smart city discussion, who should they be talking to and what should they be keeping an eye on?
Scrapped Toronto Smart City Article
TEConnecting with us:
Dean - How much radiation does your smartphone emit?
Charlie - Not watching as much TV
John - The odds of dying by space junk
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Submit your topic ideas and get a FREE t-shirt! https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
In the summer of 2021, a survey of retail apparel executives’ biggest challenges found that 48% said out of stocks and 42% said unclear inventory. Supply chain woes obviously contributed to that, but another issue is the continued reliance on barcodes for inventory counts, especially at the bulk level. This week, SML Group’s CTO & SVP of RFID Solutions, Dean Frew, is on the pod to explain the necessity for retailers to start tracking inventory down to individual items using RFID. What is BOPIS 2.0? How does RFID tagging improve customer experience? How are retailers rethinking distribution and manufacturing?
#VARValue - Is item-level RFID right for all types of retail? Where does it make the most sense?
SML's State of Retail Reports:
TEConnecting with us:
Dean F - Battery-powered snowblower
Dean R - Russia departing the ISS
John - Fossil fuel emissions are messing up carbon dating
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Submit your ideas for the pod - https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Zebra RFID Portfolio
Thursday Aug 18, 2022
Thursday Aug 18, 2022
Once again, we’re giving you some insights into the thoughts, pain points, and needs of YOUR customers. This time, it’s a survey we did with warehouse managers, looking to uncover their biggest technology challenges. Some of the answers were what you would expect, some were surprising, and we’re going to break it all down for you.
Questions asked:
- Which of the following is the biggest problem area in your warehouse?
- What is the #1 tech-related issue in your warehouse?
- If money wasn’t an issue, what new tech would you most like to implement or upgrade?
Opportunities for VARs and ISVs include training, recurring revenue, data capture, and networking.
#VARValue - What would you as a VAR do with this info?
TEConnecting with us:
Dean - China's "surveillance" garden
John - TEC beef with modern refrigerators
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Send us your survey suggestions: https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Elo Edge Connect
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
We’re back with more deep dives, debates, and quirky commentary on some interesting news stories, business topics, and just some fun stuff we’ve come across.
- Should you discuss pay with colleagues?
- What are the top dance songs of all time (and why is Dean offended by the list)?
- 2022 social media stats
- What are the best (& worst) places to start a career?
- What does “Wi-Fi” actually mean?
- What’s the status of work-from-home?
- Millennials are staying close to their hometowns
- Intel bolstering chip production in the US
TEConnecting with us:
Dean - Y Combinator
John - Nest thermostat & Coredy smart vacuum
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Submit your TEC Bytes! - https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Elo E-Series 2
Thursday Aug 04, 2022
Thursday Aug 04, 2022
We all know that cloud computing is where it’s at, but not all businesses, especially retail & hospitality, are on board just yet. This week, Star Micronics’ Christophe Naasz is here to help VARs explain the benefits of cloud-based solutions. How do they improve customer experience? What are the best talking points and questions to ask your customers? How do cloud solutions benefit management and back-of-the-house insights? Finally, what’s Star’s philosophy on the cloud? It’s the episode that’s laying in the grass saying, “Hey, that cloud looks like recurring revenue!”
#VARValue – What type of customers should VARs be looking at to sell cloud solutions?
TEConnecting with us:
Christophe - Peripheral connectivity
Dean - Amazon sues Facebook for fake reviews
John - Arlo video doorbell
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Submit your topic suggestions (and get a t-shirt!) - https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Star POS Scanners
Thursday Jul 28, 2022
Thursday Jul 28, 2022
We talk a lot about touchscreen technology in healthcare as it relates to patient experience, but the staff, clinicians, and caregivers like modern touch technology, too! Elo’s Director of Healthcare (and former clinician herself) Katharine Cummings joins the pod to explain how touchscreens create efficiencies. How does the customer-facing stuff (check-in, wayfinding, etc…) benefit staff? Why would healthcare workers prefer touch technology over traditional computers or devices? Where else are touchscreens used in medical facilities outside of clinical work?
#VARValue – What kind of questions should VARs be asking their healthcare customers to uncover touchscreen opportunities? Who should they be talking to?
Healthcare Kiosks Webinar feat. Katharine: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/3673671081680770312
TEConnecting with us:
Katharine - Software partners that consider clinicians
Dean - NASA launches CAPSTONE to scout for lunar station and Space sports
John - Agrivoltaics
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Submit your topic ideas or interests: https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Thursday Jul 21, 2022
Thursday Jul 21, 2022
Having smart content, a strong message, and an understanding of your audience is a great place to start marketing, but without great design, it’s just so many words. We turned to an expert, Krystal Cotriss, Lead Designer & Content Strategist with Barcoding, Inc., who stresses the importance of design to attracting customers, making a good impression, and driving engagement. She’ll help us explore free or low-cost tools anyone with little to no experience could use, from photos to fonts and beyond. We’re also talking website design (one of John’s pet peeves) and some design aesthetics and clichés that Krystal is “over.” Check out her post and bookmark all of the handy links!
#VARValue – Let’s say someone is looking to hire a designer or employ some freelancers. What should they be looking for, asking about, or expecting?
Krystal's blog with a plethora of free resources: https://krystalcarpintieri.medium.com/free-design-resources-for-designers-marketers-more-e6b8bb3dbf0e
Kel Lauren's Best Free Design Resources: https://youtu.be/myYwUoXfxt4
TEConnecting with us:
Krystal - Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus
Dean - Cancer Genome Scanner & Companies Making the Most Money Per Second
John - Alexa speaking as the voice of a deceased loved one
Talk to us!
Twitter - @TEConnectPod
Email - TEConnect@bluestarinc.com
Submit your podcast topics: https://www.bluestarinc.com/us-en/landing-pages/podcast-topics.html
Sponsored by:
Zebra WS50 Wearable Computer