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PODCAST

BlueStar Nation

BlueStar Nation

BlueStar Nation is the podcast that tackles the hot topics, trends, and emerging technologies impacting the specialty IT reseller channel, software companies, MSPs, and hardware manufacturers. Hosted by John Martin & Dean Reverman. Tell us what YOU want to hear about: nation@bluestarinc.com

technology marketing

All Episodes

01:09:41

Warehouse Automation w/Zebra’s Andre Luecht &...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/11/22

Labor and economic issues have recently led to some contraction in the warehouse market. Still, Zebra’s 2023 Warehousing Vision Study indicates optimism and growth for the future, led by the growing adoption of automation technology. This week, Zebra’s Andre Luecht and Hy-Tek Intralogistics John Klare, Jr. explain what they see and hear from warehouse leaders and affirm the study’s findings. How are decision-makers implementing sensor-based technology? What’s frustrating (and helping) them with

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53:52

Retail Innovation & Customer Experience w/Toshiba’s...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/11/16

As holiday shopping ramps up, we spoke with Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions’ Fredrik Carlegren, who helped us break down an excellent white paper that lays out three obstacles facing retailers to improve the customer experience through technology. What does Fredrik think got us where we are today? How do we close the gap between intention and implementation? How do brick-and-mortar stores bring digital experiences in-house and turn a profit? What should VARs & ISVs do to help their retail

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01:10:49

Modern OS Architecture with Google’s Brandy Au & HP’s...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/11/02

Operating systems are necessarily more complex than ever. Still, they must also be simple to use, reliable, and secure, especially the OS that runs digital signage and kiosks for retail or hospitality businesses. This week, Google’s Brandy Au and HP’s David Gosman join the show to explain the OS progression, trends, and current needs. How are market forces and modern hardware changing operating systems? How does ChromeOS benefit signage and kiosk deployments? When should you recommend Android or

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01:01:58

TEConnect Replay: Customer Journeys & Experiential...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/10/26

Retailers are never going to stop being interested in improving the customer experience. We have more to discuss in upcoming episodes, but we thought we should revisit this episode with CDW's Andy Szanger. * * * (Originally released Aug. 3, 2023) Consumers are returning to brick-and-mortar stores, but after years of convenience and digital shopping, expectations for seamless, fast, and maybe even fun visits are higher than ever. This week, CDW’s Andy Szanger joins the pod to discuss how retail

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01:04:38

In-House vs. Third Party Color Label Printing...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/10/19

Outsourcing some aspects of a business can be beneficial, but when it comes to color label printing, especially for highly regulated and rapidly changing industries, it’s best to do it yourself. This week, Epson’s Andy Scherz & Mark Middendorf, passionate advocates for color labeling, join the show to explain and help you make the case to end-users. When does it make sense financially to print in-house? How does it help with regulatory compliance? How much waste is incurred with third-party

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01:03:51

TEC Bytes 13 – A Nightmare on TEC Street

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/10/12

Looking for more interesting articles, surveys, and topics to share with colleagues and clients? Dean & John are riffing on six more water cooler subjects for your listening pleasure. It’s the episode that shoehorns some creepiness in time for Friday the 13th! Topics Discussed: The most famous streets in the US Americans' attitudes toward retirement What powered the world in 2022? Best countries for adventure Oldest & youngest states Fun facts about Google at 25 TEConnecting with

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01:07:33

VARTECH 2023 Recap

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/10/05

BlueStar’s VARTECH is consistently the #1 reseller channel show, and this year’s global event in San Antonio, TX, broke attendance records. We’re recapping the highlights and key moments for those who couldn’t go. What was the theme, and how did it fit with keynote speaker/musician Jimmy Yeary? What did we see on the CodeZone tradeshow floor? Which ISVs shined during TEConnect Live? What were the evening events like? It’s the episode that wouldn’t last three seconds on an angry bull. #VARValue -

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01:02:40

How to Use Generative AI for Your Business (Live at...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/09/28

By now, most of us have dabbled with ChatGPT or another generative AI, but what can it do to help improve our daily work and businesses? James Korte joins the guys for an episode recorded live at VARTECH 2023 with an audience that had plenty of thoughts. We recap the marketing uses, James updates us on what the image generators can do, and we look at a list of other ways you can deploy this technology. Finally, we compare and contrast ChatGPT, Bard, Bing Chat, LlaMA, and Claude. Slides shown

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01:01:56

Replacing Legacy POS in 3 Steps with Jeremy Julian

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/09/21

A “legacy” POS can be a reseller’s bane as they strive to introduce upgraded technology and modernization to retail and hospitality. CBS’ Jeremy Julian (host of The Restaurant Technology Guys Podcast) is back on the show to explain his three-step approach to encouraging POS replacement. How does he define a legacy POS, and why are businesses hesitant to update? What should end users consider, why is connectivity important, and what does the ideal VAR/ISV look like when an opportunity comes along

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50:11

TEC Bytes 12: A TEC for All Seasons

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/09/14

As the crew recovers from VARTECH ‘23, here’s another round of interesting lists, stories, and water cooler topics to ponder. The US's top-ranked podcast subjects Best beer cities in America Americans' relationship with alcohol Which jobs will shrink the most in the next decade IBM quantum computer reaches key milestone Ranking brand reputations TEConnecting with us: Dean - Cruise cuts its robotaxi fleet and Brady Bunch home for sale John - TEC Beef - school technology Talk to us! X/Twitter -

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46:34

Removing the Risk of Emerging Technologies w/Intel’s...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/09/07

The term “emerging technologies” can come with a lot of baggage for VARs who may not be interested in taking on the risk of unproven solutions but could also miss out on the benefits of embracing the next trend as it takes off. Intel’s Justin Christiansen joins the pod this week to help us take a practical approach to those concerns. What stories does Justin tell to explain the transformative experiences of emerging tech? How does Intel help the reseller channel drive success? What advice does he

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01:09:18

POS, Payments & More w/Andrew Kim, Andy Szanger, &...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/08/31

We have another panel of amazing guests with a live audience watching and asking questions. This time, we’re talking POS & payment trends and other topics important to retail & hospitality. Our guests? Zebra’s Director of Product Management (POS/Payments) Andrew Kim, CDW Director of Strategic Industries Andy Szanger, and Retail Management Hero CEO Jeff Riley. Is the shift happening toward mobile & tabPOS, especially in SMB? How will PCI 4.0 implementation impact payment solutions? How

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01:22:37

Generative AI, Employee Experience, Cybersecurity &...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/08/24

An epic AI trilogy deserves an epic conclusion, so this week, we welcomed LG’s Mike Stachura & Aaron Addison into the studio for various topics and a lot of laughter. First, we discuss some predictions for generative AI’s impact on business. Next, we dig into the importance of addressing employee experience by featuring the story of Fordlandia. Finally, what does Constantinople have to do with cybersecurity? It’s the episode that knows how to be professional and charming at the same

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57:38

AI in Retail w/Honeywell’s Tony Boncore

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/08/17

Part two of our AI trilogy focuses on the specific benefits and use cases for retail, and we turned to the globe-trotting Tony Boncore from Honeywell for his expertise. How has AI already been part of retail? What are retailers’ current expectations and barriers to adoption? How does AI impact checkout and inventory management? What is Tony watching for in the next 5-10 years? #VARValue - For VARs interested in developing partnerships to go to market with AI solutions, where do you recommend they

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01:18:56

Unique Use Cases for AI & ML w/meldCX’s Raffi Vartian

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/08/10

This week begins a trilogy of episodes with artificial intelligence at the center of the conversation. To kick things off, meldCX’s VP of Business Development, Raffi Vartian, is here to give his experienced perspective. How does an AI expert view the explosion of interest in recent months? What are “visual analytics,” and how does it fit into what resellers are currently doing? How does AI take digital signage to the next level? What’s the use case for education? #VARValue - Are these AI solutions

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01:01:58

Customer Journeys & Experiential Shopping w/CDW’s...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/08/03

Consumers are returning to brick-and-mortar stores, but after years of convenience and digital shopping, expectations for seamless, fast, and maybe even fun visits are higher than ever. This week, CDW’s Andy Szanger joins the pod to discuss how retail tech can improve customer journeys and create an “experience” that keeps them coming back. How much do consumers value their time? Why is improving employee experience just as important as customers? Are experiential solutions just for Tier 1

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01:06:49

TEConnect Replay: Can AI Replace Your Marketing...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/07/20

The AI conversation has not slowed since we recorded this episode in the spring, so it was a good time to revisit our conversation with Barcoding's Jody Costa about generative AI tools, their potential to improve marketing efforts, and what to beware of. We'll return with a new episode next week on Customer Journey and Experiential Shopping! * * * (Originally released March 2, 2023) Unless you’ve been on a severe information detox, you’ve probably seen more than a few stories recently about AI and

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01:14:57

Getting More Out of Marketing w/IPCMobile’s Tolgar...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/07/13

Most businesses know they have to do some marketing to let potential customers know who they are and what they do while retaining existing business, but this week, we’re taking those efforts up a notch. IPCMobile’s VP of Marketing, Tolgar Alpagut, joins to explain how. What is attribution mirage, and how is it harder to know where to market? What’s the baseline for effective marketing? Is organic or paid posting on LinkedIn better? Are we over-relying on shiny new tools like AI and

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56:00

What We Learned from 100 Retailers About Self-Service...

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/07/06

We’re back to dig into a new BlueStar Nation survey (sponsored by our friends at Elo!) with 100 actual retailers about the self-service technology they currently deploy. Who did we talk to? What’s their perception of the cost of self-service solutions? How do they use them? How often do they experience technical problems? It’s the episode that doesn’t need any help to get the job done! Full article:

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47:35

EVCSaaS with Ben Simon

BlueStar Nation ·

2023/06/29

Electric vehicle sales are rapidly growing, bolstered by government incentives, environmental concerns, and substantial investment in charging infrastructure—an opportunity for the reseller industry. This week, BlueStar’s Emerging Technologies BDM, Ben Simon, joins us to explain the landscape for EV charging, our partnership with Loop, and how VARs can cash in. What does an EV charging solution look like? What industries and business types should be installing chargers? How do they generate

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