In a world increasingly defined by automation, analytics, and AI, there’s one thing technology still hasn’t replicated: the quiet power of a handshake, the exchange of a story over coffee, the mutual nod of understanding between two people who’ve weathered the same professional storm. Relationships — real, human connections — still matter in business. Arguably, more than ever. And that is precisely why you need to be in Chicago for NeoCon and Design Days.

Last week, we talked a bit about scheduling dos and don’ts during NeoCon. This week, I’m going to try to help with what to look for while you are attending NeoCon and Design Days. Since your time will likely be split between the two Chicago locations, it is important to make the most out of your time. If you are a designer, you are probably on the lookout for specific products for specific projects, but if you have some discovery time built into your schedule (as I suggested last week), here’s a few suggestions to be as efficient as possible.

I’ve attended at least 25 NeoCons and if there is one mistake I make over and over again, it is not managing my time properly at the event. At most industry events, that’s not much of a problem since at a typical furniture show, you can see everything on the floor in a day, if you work quickly. That’s not the case when you get to Chicago for NeoCon and Design Days.

I’ve always been shocked by the lack of data in our industry. As an industry, we know virtually nothing about, well, ourselves. Our closed industry keeps data close to its vest, which might benefit your individual company, but does not help the collective group. Amanda Schneider, founder and president of ThinkLab, is trying to change that.

I remember sitting at a conference in New York about six or seven years ago — I can’t remember what it was — and there was a speaker from cutting edge Bay area design firm IDEO. She said futurists at the company were already designing for a world where humans no longer work. It is a world where technology, AI and robots would take over all the work we do.

When was the last time you experimented with something different in your office? You know, tried something new or tried a new way of doing things? If you are scratching your head trying to think of the last time you tried something different, you are not alone. Embracing experimentation is scary.

There are a handful of events during the year that I truly look forward to attending. One is the INDEAL Champion Conference. I love the Champion Conference because it is one of the few annual events that truly moves the needle.

I distinctly remember the first time I visited Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. When I walked to the rim of the crater and gazed out across the lake in the center, it was visually overwhelming. I couldn’t get my head around what I was seeing. It was too beautiful; too vast. It was simply too much to take in.

I attended a meeting this week where one of the participants was wearing a pendent about the size of a pen cap around his neck. It was plain gray and he wore it around his neck like a piece of jewelry. I asked about it and he said it was a Plaud NotePin.

It is one of the first AI-enabled devices designed to help keep us organized during meetings. Here’s how it works: With the push of a button, the Plaud device records meetings, transcribes notes and uses AI to organize the meeting content into to-do lists, sets dates and deadlines and organizes the notes into actionable items.