The 2022 ChannelPro SMB Forum tour, an in-person event held in six cities throughout the U.S., hosted MSPs and integrators on November 2-3 in City of Industry, Calif., at the Pacific Palms Resort, the last venue of the year.
Throughout the year, the two-day event series from The ChannelPro Network featured industry-leading experts and channel professionals who addressed the top subjects MSPs care about—recruiting and hiring, security, growth strategies, sales and marketing, and making money with Microsoft Azure. The sessions, designed to provide actionable, business-building advice, were delivered in interactive, informative, and entertaining formats attendees won’t find at any other industry conference. Each event also offered time for networking with peers and a vendor expo hall.
And in a new collaboration with peer group facilitator MSP-Ignite, ChannelPro SMB Forum attendees as well as MSP-Ignite peers participated in a guided, open peer group meeting as part of the pre-day events in California on Wednesday. The top issue raised by the MSPs in attendance was hiring and retention, followed by business development. Participants had the opportunity to share ideas and strategies on those topics and more.
“Bringing MSP-Ignite to our West Coast event was a great opportunity for ChannelPro SMB Forum attendees to do even more peer networking in a guided format that allowed them to discuss and get feedback on issues that impact their business,” says Michael Siggins, president and publisher of The ChannelPro Network. “We were excited to have MSP-Ignite join our event both here and earlier in September when we were in the Washington, D.C. area. We look forward to continued collaboration with MSP-Ignite at our 2023 events.”
The peer group meeting was followed by a sales and marketing workshop hosted by Titanium sponsor Dell Expert Network, which included a Dell Solutions showcase of their latest technology and a $1,000 cash giveaway. A welcome reception was held in the evening.
The main day throughout the year featured a social media workshop led by experts from channel legend Janet Schijns’ JS Group. On Thursday, COO Barbara Goworowski coached attendees on proven, practical techniques used by social selling masters. Attendees also get free access to an extensive series of online follow-up lessons.
The rest of the educational sessions on the main day included:
The Security Slam—In an edge-of-your-seat presentation, cybersecurity practitioners James Carroll, Zach Hill, and Leia Shilobod told true-life stories of incredible hacks, unforgiveable customer errors, and high-stakes incident responses—experiences attendees can apply to help protect their clients more effectively. Judge and cybersecurity expert Jayson Ferron presided over the storytellers.
Peer to Peer: Winning with Microsoft Azure—MSPs Stephen Monk, CEO of Noverus Innovations, and Vince Tinnirello, CEO of Anchor Network Solutions, led an audience discussion on providing Microsoft Azure services and solutions, including what to offer and where to begin profiting from Microsoft’s public cloud platform.
The Employee Recruitment Dating Game—In a Sixties-style game show, MSP business owners Charles Henson, Corey Kirkendoll, and Leia Shilobod used their best recruiting skills to woo a potential job candidate during an “interview.” Their entertaining and informative session showed audience members ways to overcome real-world employee interview challenges.
Managed Services Strategy Survivor—The fun continued as three of the industry’s top managed services consultants, Rayanne Buchianico, Allen Edwards, and Shawn Walsh, fielded tough questions about the M&A strategy and more that today’s MSPs need to survive in a changing market. A good time was had by all, even the ones who got voted off the island! A great way to wrap up a great day.
“The ChannelPro SMB Forum content lineup covering the latest trends, technologies, and solutions to help MSPs and their customers achieve business success has been enthusiastically embraced by attendees all year, and our Los Angeles event was no exception,” says Rich Freeman, executive editor of The ChannelPro Network. “Our presenters consistently deliver the information channel pros need, with a lot of fun thrown in to make the day interactive and engaging.”
Attendees also voted to award vendor sponsors in the following categories:
- Best Cloud Solution – CaaB
- Best Hardware Solution – Dell Expert Network
- Best New Solution – audIT
- Most Innovative Solution – Egnyte, Pia, Quickpass (tie)
- Best Partner Community – Pax8
- Best Software Solution – Huntress
- Best Revenue Booster – ConnectMeVoice
- Best Add-on Product – audIT
- Best On-Stage Presentation – Redstor
- Best Expo Hall Presentation (Gold and above) – Dell Expert Network
- Best Expo Hall Presentation (Silver) – GlassHive
- Best Distributor – TD SYNNEX
- Best Product/Tech Support – Sophos
- ROI Lightning Round Winner – TD SYNNEX
- Best Vendor Participation – ConnectMeVoice, Nodeware (tie)
- Best in Show – Redstor
Thanks to our Titanium sponsor Dell Technologies/Dell Expert Network; Diamond sponsor Gradient MSP; Platinum sponsors Fortinet and ID Agent; Sapphire sponsor Datto; Premier Gold Sponsor Huntress; and Gold sponsors 7 Figure MSP, AppRiver, CaaB, ConnectMeVoice, ConnectWise, Cytracom, Egnyte, Ingram Micro, Mailprotector, Pax8, PC Matic, Quickpass, Sophos, and ThreatLocker.
And thanks to our Silver sponsors 1WorldSync ChannelOnline, Arcserve, Arista Networks, The ASCII Group, audIT, Augmentt, Barracuda MSP, Beachhead Solutions, Blokworx, Breach Secure Now, Choice Cybersecurity, Cyolo, Dark Cubed, Field Nation, GlassHive, HacWare, Infosec, Nextiva, Nodeware, Perimeter 81, Pia, Probax, QNAP, Redstor, Seagate Technology, SMB Techfest, Storj, Syncro MSP, Talentscope, TD SYNNEX, US Signal, Wildix, and Zorus.
Next year the ChannelPro SMB Forum expands to seven cities. ChannelPro will also host a cybersecurity conference in Southern California. Stay tuned to ChannelProEvents.com for additional details on locations and dates.
And don’t miss ChannelPro’s final event of the year, the Cybersecurity Online Summit: Smart Security on December 7. To register, go here
