So How Was Boston?

By Peter Radizeski, President of RAD-INFO

Show wrap-up for me is about asking as many folks in the hotel lobby packed up to go home about their show impressions. As always, there were those who didn't think there were enough people at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo this week in Boston. However, I think there were lots of people in Boston. Most of them just happened to be in meetings. When I spoke with Microcorp, Network Innovations, TBI and others, they were slammed with consecutive meetings. My schedule wasn't as jammed, but it was full, especially on Monday.

The VoIP Boot Camp had a full room. The keynote from Tiffani Bova had a full crowd. The show had a lot of booths - some from new entrants like Switch and Data, Telx, MessageWire, snom and Rapid Link. AT&T, Verizon, Qwest and Embarq all had booths. The largest booth was PAETEC’s.

There were a bunch of parties, many of them cruises. It was almost like 2004 again. (Now that we are bringing the show back to South Beach next September, maybe we'll return to the all-night parties at the Delano.)

More and more, for attendees, this show is about strengthening relationships. It is also about plotting a course. If you are an independent agent dropping coin to attend, you want to get the most bang for your buck. Today that means a schedule and a purpose.

Even the carriers came with a purpose. Mainly product or program launches.

Level3 expanded whom agents can sell to. The Technology Channel Association had its first official recruitment meeting. Covad baptized its refinished VoIP service. Lightyear used the show to publicize its cellular partnership and merger.

But no one created more noise that TNCI, which used a GoDaddy marketing plan for its Equity Plan. Did you see their signs at Logan Airport? With all that brouhaha, it was a challenge for some (like Virtual In Person from WBS Connect) to get attention.

So if you didn't see enough agents, you need to rethink your strategy for Miami. Maybe even for Vegas.

I was disappointed in the turnout for TCA’s meeting, but I don't blame the show. As an exhibitor or presenter, it's your job to have a marketing plan and to execute it. You can't expect or blame others. TCA was focused on getting organized, formulating the message and bringing in vendors. We did not effectively do outreach to the agent community. That's the next step. I take full responsibility for that. So if you didn't achieve your desired goals from the show, whose fault is that?

Peter Radizeski is president of RAD-INFO. He is a member of the PHONE+/Channel Partners Conference & Expo Advisory Board.