This afternoon I was popped into the “Wearable Tech Expo”. If you didn’t know better you’d think it was an event for a topic no one has heard of. Or something super niche like mini-disks or HAM radio. Not an event for one of the hottest topics in consumer tech. I thought I was at the wrong place. This could have been in the ballroom of a hotel in midtown not the basement (basically) of the Javits. With no main event upstairs it felt like a picnic for two in the belly of a giant whale. 

The main sponsor was Deloitte followed by a bunch of names I’ve never unfortunately never heard of. All seated at folding tables with their signage. This is not the wearable tech scene. Walk into Best Buy or RadioShack and you will see wearables from FitBit and Nike. This event was not “wearable tech” as I know and I’m in the business.

Google!? Where the fuck was Google? They’re here in NYC!? They 2.9 million square feet of office space in NYC. The city’s third largest office building!

The building, which has been owned by Google since 2010, is one of the largest technology-owned office buildings in the world—exceeding all of the combined buildings at Google’s Googleplex headquarters in California. It is also larger than Apple Inc.‘s new circular “spaceship” (2,800,000 square feet (260,000 m²)) headquarters being built inCupertino, California. – Wikipedia

Having gone to Google I/O last month, and seeing the huge launch of the new operating system which includes Android Wear, I am just so shocked that this event is happening. It’s confusing to anyone on the outside and very poor representation of the state of wearables especially in NYC. I don’t know who the intended audience is. Do they not read Wired or watch TV?

With no leaders in the space like Google, Apple or Samsung presenting something big at a “Wearable Tech Expo”, you might as well just have a webinar.