Dentaltown July 2021 - 16

professional courtesy
column
New Life for New Products in 2021
This year's Townie Choice Awards is the product
showcase we've missed seeing from trade shows
Please take a few moments to review the Townie
Choice Awards preview section that starts on page 74.
The companies featured in these pages want to remind
you that your votes are important. Dentaltown is a
community of infl uencers, and the daily discussions
online are just one way that your voice can help your
fellow dentists. Voting in the TCAs has a lasting impact
and its ballot provides insight on the products you use
in your practice every day.
The lack of live dental trade shows for nearly
two years has led to a signifi cant lack of awareness
of new products. Trade shows were often the
fi rst step in launching a marketing campaign
for a new product. That same lack of access to
live trade shows, though, has created tremendous
opportunity for smart companies to reach out
to the thousands of dentists who regularly interact
on Dentaltown's online forums and many thousands
more who read this magazine every month. We want
to do our best to fi ll that void and continue to support
the real-world experience with products long after trade
shows return.
Write-ins for the win
Last year, we added a feature that allows you to vote
on your favorite new products as well. In many cases, it
can take a new product a couple of years to gain enough
market share to break through on the main ballot. This
new feature makes it possible for innovative ideas to be
recognized. To qualify for this section on the ballot, a
product must have been released in a specifi c 12-month
period that precedes the publication
of the ballot. If your favorite new
product isn't on the list, please use
the option provided to add it as a
write-in vote-in previous years, we
have had a write-in product with a
strong following win its category!
There has been more than enough
discussion and debate about how
important it is to vote. Regardless
of the purpose, when you have an
opportunity to vote, you should take the time to let
your voice be heard. The more dentists who take the
time to vote, the better the data. With better data, we
have a guide to help our decision-making related to
products, equipment and services.
Reviews that matter
I would love to explore your thoughts on the topic
of writing reviews for products. Everyone who makes
a purchase on Amazon has looked at the reviews on a
product at some point in time. Product reviews are here
to stay, and they can be very infl uential.
In the context of Dentaltown, product reviews are
buried in the thousands of conversations happening
every day; dentists are discussing clinical and practice
issues and sharing advice or experiences with possible
solutions. If you had the opportunity to write product
reviews that could live in a special section of our website,
would you take the time to do it? Would you use a feature
like this to make buying decisions? Please share your
comments on the digital version of this article online
or send me an email with your thoughts on the topic.
Reach me at tom@dentaltown.com. Your feedback and
suggestions are vital to our continued success. ■
by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, editorial director, Dentaltown magazine
16 JULY 2021 // dentaltown.com
http://www.dentaltown.com
Dentaltown July 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown July 2021
