ChannelPro-SMB, the premier source of business and technology insights for channel partners serving the small and midsize business market, completed its third of four live events in 2015 in Rosemont, Ill., this past week.
Affectionately dubbed the Channel Therapy Tour, the event promised to cure what ails attendees and sent them home with all the expert sales, marketing, product, and operations advice needed to put their businesses on the path to a healthier bottom line.
The full-day, live event for channel resellers, integrators, consultants, and cloud and managed service providers offered interactive, in-depth conversations with some of the industry’s top channel pros who have pioneered profitable businesses from cloud and managed services. A showcase of SMB vendor solutions provided additional learning opportunities and enabled channel pros to get one-on-one advice on employing new technologies and services to better serve their customers.
The event kicked off with a welcome cocktail reception on Tuesday evening, September 1, sponsored by MAXfocus.
On Wednesday, event sessions included Managed and Cloud Services Checkup, a panel discussion with well-known channel pros; Managed and Cloud Services Operations Lab, hosted by industry expert Karl Palachuk; Managed and Cloud Services Marketing Lab, with marketing guru Herman Pool; Managed and Cloud Services Sales Lab, presented by sales veteran Gil Cargill; Value Pricing Techniques to Maximize Margins, by industry guru Erick Simpson; and a Hardware Lab featuring trends in technology, hosted by ChannelPro-SMB‘s Technical Editor Matt Whitlock and sponsored by Intel and ViewSonic Corp. At the sponsor showcase, attendees were able to discuss the latest solutions for their SMB clients with leading vendors as well as network with peers.
Hewlett-Packard Co. presented the Platinum sponsor keynote. Gold sponsor presentations were given by Datto Inc., Eaton Corp., F-Secure Corp., Ingram Micro Inc., MAXfocus, Samsung Business, StorageCraft Technology Corp., and ViewSonic Corp.
Silver sponsors for the event included†Aditum, APC by Schneider Electric, ASCII Group Inc., Autotask Corp., Axiom Memory Solutions, BlackStratus, Buffalo Americas Inc., Cargill Consulting Group Inc., ChannelOnline, CompTIA Inc., Crexendo Inc., Data Deposit Box Inc., Equilibrium Consulting, ICN Group, Intel Corp., Ninja RMM, OKI Data Americas Inc., RapidFire Tools Inc., RingByName, SaasMax Corp., Small Biz Thoughts, SMB Nation, SMB TechFest, SPC International Online Inc., SYNNEX SMB Connect, Tech Data Corp., Third Tier, Tigerpaw Software Inc., Vertical Axion, and Vijilan Security LLC.†
The event concluded with attendees honoring vendor sponsors with the following awards:
- Most Innovative Solution – ViewSonic
- Best Hardware Solution – HP
- Best Software Solution – StorageCraft
- Best Partner Community – MAXfocus
- Best Partner Program – Datto
- Best Cloud-based Solution – MAXfocus
- Best New Solution – Data Deposit Box
- Best in Show – Datto
- Best Sponsor Selfie Video – APC by Schneider
One additional ChannelPro SMB Forum event will be held in New Jersey on November 3. Interested attendees can preregister at†www.ChannelProForum.com.
“By participating in the ChannelPro SMB Forum, channel partners have a unique opportunity to learn about today’s top IT trends from colleagues who have learned by doing and paved the way for their success,” says Michael Siggins, publisher of ChannelPro-SMB and an event host. “They can also take advantage of the showcase of vendor solutions that will enable them to meet the growing IT needs of their SMB customer base.”
To ensure that everyone at the ChannelPro SMB Forums can freely participate in the conversation, seating at each event has been limited. Interested parties should register immediately at http://www.ChannelProForum.com.
Interested sponsors should contact Joel Zaidspiner at 561-422-5119 or Lisa Sherman at 917-388-9531. More sponsorship info can be found at: http://ChannelProForum.com/sponsors/how-to-sponsor.
The ChannelPro SMB Forum is part of the ChannelPro Network. Our network includes websites, events, research, and the monthly magazine ChannelPro-SMB.
The ChannelPro Network provides targeted business and technology information for IT channel partners who serve small and midsize businesses. The network delivers expert opinion, analysis, news, product reviews, and advice vital to a channel partner’s business success.
No other media company focuses on the small and midsize marketplace like The ChannelPro Network. http://www.ChannelProNetwork.com
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Photography: All Corporate Video & Photo
