It’s Friday, and the Nine Technology team is back in the office following our first appearance at the MSPWorld expo in Los Angeles. Now that we’ve readjusted to East Coast time, now is a great opportunity to reflect on how the conference and exhibition went for us, and what we (and the event organizers) could do differently to help us drive business. First and foremost, hats off to Charles and Celia Weaver for the amount of time and energy they put into making their little corner of the ITEXPO as successful as possible. My first involvement with the show was at my keynote address on MSPs’ use of social media. By all accounts, my presentation was a rousing success, and was among the best attended sessions in the MSPWorld tracks. I enjoyed having the chance to highlight how MSPs like Carceron, eTegrity, TurboTek and INTRUST are making the most of their stature as business leaders and connecting with potential customers through these channels. We took a survey of the attendees of the keynote about their social media habits, and next week, we’ll release the results, so stay tuned. Our exhibit on the show floor wasn’t quite what I anticipated, though. ITEXPO was even more telco-centric than I expected, so many of the people walking by our booth off in the back of the convention center weren’t interested in what we offer. But the people who did stop and chat with Alex, Adam and me were excellent leads, and I’m glad to have connected with them. The “Powered by Nine” online backup and recovery solutions got a good showcase there in Los Angeles, and we’re ready to move forward. As to improving the event, I think MSPAlliance and TMCnet (the group that stages the ITEXPO) would be wise to consider what makes the regional MSPWorld events so successful. It’s the conversations and the collaboration, not the formal tradeshow format. Space should be set aside for the MSPWorld attendees and exhibitors to have pre-arranged and impromptu meetings. Just put us in a room with some hors d’oeuvres and a table of soda and beer and we’ll make it a party. Another big thanks to Charles and Celia for all their hard work, and for their commitment to this segment of the IT market.
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Co-Founder & President
Co-founder and President of MSPAlliance. Instrumental in creating certification programs, the MSPWorld conference, Leadership Council, and peer groups. Holds a Graduate Certificate in International Business from UC Berkeley.