Miami Beach was the latest stop for the ASCII Success Summit, the fifth of nine solution provider-focused conferences ASCII will host in North America in 2016.
The pre-day events on Wednesday, June 22, started with an address by ASCII Group President Jerry Koutavas on “Opportunity Hacking: Finding New Business Online Through Set Processes.” That talk was followed by a half-day of vendor sessions on topics including quoting and ecommerce solutions, security, and network assessments.
In the evening there was an ASCII member meeting in Key Biscayne followed by a networking reception.
On Thursday, June 23, after a networking breakfast, Success Summit kickoff, and business card exchange, attendees heard presentations from ASCII members on “MSP Security Growth, from Start to Smart,” by Jay Ferron, principal of Interactive Security Training LLC and “Breaking into the Financial Vertical, Keys to Unlock the Vault,” by Harry Srolovitz of Praxis Data.
ASCII’s Koutavas spoke on “How ASCII Makes Business Happen—Why Our Network Matters.” Attendees also heard Executive MSP Market Summaries. And Tim Conkle (aka “Texas Tim”), president and CEO of MSP Roland Technology Group, presented a talk sponsored by Cytracom on “Three Pitfalls of Partnering with the Wrong VoIP Provider.”
The keynote was presented by Steely Dan co-founder and former Doobie Brothers musician Jeff Baxter, who now advises top military and civilian groups on counter-terrorism, next-generation and future technologies. He told attendees about his unconventional journey “From Doobie Brother to NSA Security Expert.”
Vendor presentations were given by Carbonite, Data Deposit Box, Datto, IT Glue, Itopia, Lenovo, StorageCraft Technology Corp., and Technology Marketing Toolkit. Attendees also had the opportunity to browse the solutions pavilion, meet ASCII staff, and vote on vendor awards.
Award winners were as follows:†
Pre-Day
- Best Education – CYBERShark
- Best Technical Demo – CNET
- Best IT Workshop – CYBERShark
Main Day
- Best Rapid Pitch – Pax8
- Best Keynote Presentation – Cytracom
- Best Creativity & Innovation – Data Deposit Box
- Best IT Management Tool – IT Glue
- Best Partner Incentives – StorageCraft
- Best Market Opportunity – Technology Marketing Toolkit
- Best Security Solution – CYBERShark
- Best Productivity Solution – Autotask
- Best Storage Solution – Datto
- Best Cloud Solution – Itopia
- Best Revenue Generator – StorageCraft
- Best Channel Program – Cytracom
- Top Distributor – Pax8
- Best Partner Involvement – Autotask/QuoteWerks/StorageCraft
- Best of Show – Cytracom
The ASCII Group IT community is made up of a supporting network of 2,000+ MSP/VARs worldwide. ASCII provides a portfolio of IT business-building services that range from turnkey marketing campaigns to a highly utilized peer-to-peer business referral and lead network.
Next up: The Success Summit heads to the Northeast on August 17 to 18, in East Brunswick, N.J.
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