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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

59:59

Smart Cities w/Advantech’s Charlie Wu

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/09/01

“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

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54:23

Item Level RFID w/SML’s Dean Frew

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/08/25

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

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39:48

Warehouse Tech Survey Deep Dive

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/08/18

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,

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01:01:04

TEC Bytes 7 - The TEC Awakens

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/08/11

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

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54:23

Cloud-Based Solution Selling w/Star Micronics’...

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/08/04

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

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50:07

Touchscreen Tech for Healthcare Workers w/Elo’s...

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/07/28

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

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01:08:15

Marketing Design Resources w/Barcoding’s Krystal Cotriss

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/07/21

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

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57:35

Retail Consumer Behavior w/Honeywell’s Tony Boncore

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/07/14

Retail obviously isn’t the same as it was pre-pandemic, but much of what’s changed is for the better and was already beginning to happen anyway. This week, Tony Boncore, Honeywell’s Global Retail Marketing Manager, is on the show to help us talk specifically about how consumer behavior and demand have moved the needle. What is he seeing now and expects over the next year or so? Are retailers essentially becoming distribution centers? What about the challenge of returns? How should retailers change

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55:36

Spatial Intelligence w/Pathr’s George Shaw

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/07/07

Spatial intelligence is a way of understanding the movement of people and objects through physical spaces, but the AI and analytics necessary to gather and use that data require an expert. That expert is George Shaw, Founder & CEO of Pathr.ai, who joins us to explain Pathr’s methodology and tech. How does this data benefit retail? What other industries benefit from spatial intelligence? How do they address privacy concerns? #VARValue - For VARs interested in fitting Pathr solutions into their tech

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54:12

The Supply Chain Crisis w/Code’s Dave Frick

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/06/30

Tired of hearing/talking about our broken supply chain? So are we! However, not talking about it doesn’t solve any problems or help us understand what to expect next, so we’re diving in and consulting an industry veteran, Code Corp’s Director of Operations, Dave Frick. He fills us in on what he’s been hearing and seeing. What’s next? What’s working and what isn’t? Are other challenges looming? What’s changed about planning & forecasting inventory? How can VARs help supply chain partners that are too

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59:26

TEC Beefs

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/06/23

We’re pretty tech positive on this show. We love technology and science and its potential to assist and improve our lives, jobs, and the world’s various problems. But sometimes innovation can be very frustrating, which leads us to a few of our “TEC Beefs”—things that annoy us, frustrate us, or completely confuse us. This week, we’re getting some of that stuff off our chests. Are some scientific studies unnecessary? (i.e. How we see faces in everyday objects) Subscription services that

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58:21

Retail POS Survey Deep Dive

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/06/16

Selling point-of-sale technology is probably one of the hardest asks in the reseller channel. While there are thousands of businesses that need it, there are also a LOT of options on the market. So what moves the needle? What do retailers like or dislike about their current system? What would they change? What would make them switch? In connection with our recently published findings on BlueStar Nation, we’re doing a deep dive into the survey results from over 80 retail owners about the technology

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53:41

Remote Engagement for Senior Health w/Independa’s...

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/06/09

There are more people in the world over the age of 65 than under 5. That means a huge amount of money and resources are devoted to health care for an aging population with increasingly fewer people to attend to their daily needs. That’s where technology comes into play, but with much of that population still uncomfortable with modern devices, how do you engage seniors to stay on top of their health, maintain connections to friends and family, and manage chronic conditions. Independa’s Founder & CEO,

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01:01:31

100 Episode Retrospective & Tech Trivia

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/06/02

Holy podcast, friends…we’ve reached 100 episodes! That means it’s time to reflect on where we came from and where we’re going next. How do we feel about our earliest episodes? Should anyone listen to podcasts at higher speeds? What are some of our favorite episodes, guests and moments? What do we think we’ll be talking about at 200 episodes? Finally, we play another round of Tech Trivia with returning champ Whitney Gerrety & new contestant Patrick Troutt. It’s the episode that doesn’t even know how

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54:19

Niche Use Cases for Touchscreens w/MicroTouch’s Bill...

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/05/26

We’re touching stuff again! (Sort of…) Touchscreens are, of course, very common in our daily lives and we’re seeing more of them in industries like retail and hospitality, but we wanted to know if there were any unique use cases that VARs could take advantage of. MicroTouch’s Bill Nulf joins us to answer that question. How are touchscreens used in correctional facilities? Cannabis dispensaries? Healthcare? Bill also gives us a speed round of additional opportunities. It’s the episode where Dean

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48:13

Upselling Services w/Epson’s Andy Scherz

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/05/19

We know…everyone is dealing with supply, component, and/or labor shortages. You’re ready to sell, your customers are ready to buy, but you simply can’t get the product they need. While we don’t have a quick fix for that (spoiler alert, no one does), something you can sell right now are Services. Epson’s Andy Scherz is back on the pod to explain. What does “services’ mean to him? How do they fit into a full solution provider’s offerings and what’s the benefit? How do we offer services to end users in

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51:11

Mobility & Asset Management in the Field w/Versona...

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/05/12

A lot of discussions around asset or inventory management, mobility, connectivity, cloud-access, etc… revolves around work and processes taking place within four walls, but field-based workers need the same kind of tech, too! This week, Versona System’s Dan Fuller is here to help us look for opportunities for rugged hardware, barcodes, RFID, enterprise devices, and more for businesses who operate in remote areas or are consistently on the go. What’s the pitch for purpose-built versus consumer

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55:05

A VAR’s Guide to Cryptocurrency w/BlockChyp’s Jon Decker

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/05/05

“Crypto is a great buzzword…but you’ve gotta find a practical use for it.” So says BlockChyp CEO Jon Decker, who joins us this week to discuss this aspect of currency and payments that still feels a bit bleeding edge. What does the crypto market look like right now? What’s keeping it from becoming another source of recurring revenue like other payments have? How does this discussion compare to the rollout of contactless payments? It’s the episode that would like to talk to you about

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51:38

TEConnect Replay: Contactless Payments w/Heather...

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/04/28

Dean, John & Marko have been traveling, so we thought we'd revisit our most popular episode from the first year of the pod! It's also a great refresher on the struggle to introduce contactless payments to widespread use ahead of next week's new episode on Cryptocurrency. Enjoy! **** Contactless has become quite the buzzword this year, but contactless payments are not new. This week, we’re joined by two VPs from the world of payments, PAX Technology’s Heather Hatch & EVO Payments’ PJ Tierney. They

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59:49

TEC Bytes 6: Into the Wendyverse

BlueStar Nation ·

2022/04/21

It’s once again time to nibble on a few stories and topics from the world of science, tech and business. Listen for your next watercooler discussion or to impress your friends and family! China’s “Thousand Talents Program” World’s Most Innovative Companies Using AI to Gauge Emotional Intelligence The Wendyverse Global Minimum Tax Best Cities for Remote Work TEConnecting with us: Dean - Space Balloon & Hydra Market shut down John - Raised by Wolves on HBO MAX Talk to us! Twitter -

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