After about forty minutes of driving, Nick and Tyler finally arrived at the South Miami Exhibition Center.
They were greeted by a staff member of the exhibition named Jerry Morgan, who was in his thirties and spoke kindly, which somewhat relieved the two of them.
After filling out the relevant documents, Jerry looked at them for a while, then smiled at the two and said, "You two students, the innovative technology you submitted for processing is very good. According to the information you provided, it has a very promising market economic development outlook.
However, many students register for the exhibition every year, and our exhibition hall space and time are limited.
Therefore, we need to review and screen the submitted technologies to reasonably arrange the exhibition area based on your technological achievements.
I wonder if you could provide us with a more intuitive display of your technological achievements, preferably videos or photos, as that would be more convincing."
"Yes, but they were taken with a phone?" Tyler quickly replied.
Jerry smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, as long as the video is clear. Can I watch it on your phone first?"
"Of course sir."
With that, Tyler immediately took out his phone and showed it to Jerry as if presenting a treasure.
"Mr. Morgan, look, this is what we filmed during the test..."
Seeing Tyler's demeanor, Nick smiled wryly and shook his head. These video materials were filmed by Tyler during the test, solely for later test analysis, and he hadn't expected them to be useful now.
Seeing Jerry's eyes light up more and more, he also breathed a sigh of relief.
After watching a few videos, Jerry's attitude underwent a complete 180-degree change. If before he was merely kind, serving them with a professional smile, now he could be described as enthusiastic.
He invited them to the nearby lounge, personally handed them a bottle of water, then sat down and enthusiastically said to Tyler, "Young man, I have great confidence in your technology. Arranging it in Hall C will definitely not be a problem.
How about this, send this video to our official email, clearly marking your technology name and exhibition certificate number."
"Okay, I'll send it right away." Tyler said, his face flushed with excitement.
"No rush, come, drink some water, drink some water!" Jerry urged the two.
Watching them take a sip of water, Jerry smiled at them and said, "I've worked at this exhibition for five years and have met many promising young people. It's quite rare to see someone like you come up with such a high-quality innovative technological achievement.
The year before last, a Miami University student team came up with a technology related to autonomous driving. Although it was not yet mature, it was noticed by an international automotive brand, which directly invested fifteen million to acquire their innovative technological achievement.
And last year's St. Petersburg's University team, they launched a technology related to artificial intelligence and deep learning, directly receiving 20 million US dollars in investment.
From my years of experience, your technology is definitely not inferior to theirs."
"Thank you, Mr. Morgan." Tyler said, overjoyed, and even Nick's face unconsciously broke into a smile.
Seeing the smiles on their faces, Jerry took a sip of water, then continued to smile and say to them, "It's like this, I've worked here for so long, and I've accumulated some connections. Among them are department heads of large technology companies and project managers of venture capital firms.
I wonder if you're interested, I can help you arrange a meeting. You can talk to them, and I believe they will be very interested in your technological achievement."
"Thank you, Mr. Morgan, we..." Tyler was about to speak when Nick, who had realized what was happening, coughed meaningfully, interrupting him just in time.
Nick finally understood why this person was so enthusiastic after watching their video. So, this was what he was after.
Well, to encounter this right after arriving, how realistic.
This person must be a broker, or what we commonly call an intermediary. Given this guy's skilled professionalism, it seems he's done this quite a bit over the years.
For students like them, who are just starting out and completely in the dark, getting to know those big companies and venture capitalists through such a broker is actually a good thing.
However, most of them are particularly shady, taking advantage of students' lack of social experience to trick them in various ways, so Nick naturally had no good impression of this Jerry.
But now this guy held their lifeline, and to avoid being tripped up, he really couldn't refuse directly.
He now also understood that the reason this guy was so enthusiastic was because there was profit to be made.
He would disclose useful information to those companies and venture capitalists in advance, then seize the initiative before others could make contact.
And what this guy earned was this intermediary information fee, or commission. If the cooperation succeeded, this guy would get even more from both parties.
Strictly speaking, this is neither illegal nor against regulations; it's just a reasonable utilization of one's resources.
Perhaps this is also why this guy has been willing to stay in this position for five years, unwilling to move.
At Nick's reminder, Tyler finally came to his senses and immediately smiled at the guy, "Mr. Morgan, let us go back and think about this. We'll contact you once we've thought it through."
"That's fine too." The guy glanced at Nick, then enthusiastically said to Tyler, "But you need to hurry, once this opportunity is missed, it's gone. Here's my business card, contact me when you've decided."
"Thank you, Mr. Morgan." Tyler took the business card, glanced at it, then put it away and changed the subject, saying, "Mr. Morgan, when can our venue be confirmed? I heard we still need to set up and decorate it."
Jerry nodded upon hearing Tyler's words and said, "Today we will categorize your information, and the specific location will be available tomorrow morning. Then you can enter the hall to prepare.
As for the setup and decoration of your venue, we don't have any special requirements, just clean and tidy will do.
However, I suggest you still do some minor setup and decoration, make a few display boards or something, that would be more intuitive.
In this regard, I happen to know a few design and decoration companies. I can introduce a few to you."
"Uh, no need, Mr. Morgan, we'll just set it up casually." Nick said with a smile, politely declining.
Hearing the guy's tone, Nick knew exactly what he was planning.
If he really let this guy introduce them, not only would they owe him a favor, but they would probably also be ripped off by him.
"Alright then, if you need anything, you can call me." Jerry stood up, glanced at him, but maintained his smile.
Nick and Tyler immediately stood up, thanked him, and then took their leave.
Watching the two walk away, the smile on Jerry's face instantly vanished. He looked at the documents on the table, then pulled out his phone and dialed a number, a smile reappearing on his face as he spoke.
"Hello, sir, this is Morgan from the exhibition. Among the students who registered today, two of them brought a very good product, and I think you'll definitely be interested. Okay, I'll send the information to your email, you can take a look first."