Game On! Attendees, Exhibitors Share New Playbook at Channel Partners Expo

The telecom game is changing. That was the message from industry keynote speaker XO Communications CEO Carl Grivner March 10 at the Spring 2008 Channel Partners Conference & Expo, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Some 3,000 channel partners and their suppliers were on hand for the event, which offered some additions to the telecom sales playbook.

“The demand for bandwidth is here today and is only going to increase,” said Grivner. The overall takeaway was that IP traffic will quadruple by 2011, new players such as Google are reshaping competition and the rules on cellular spectrum will shift.

Grivner followed a kick-off keynote by football legend Ron Jaworski, the ESPN Monday Night Football broadcaster and former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, sponsored by AireSpring Inc. and Magellan Hill Technologies.

The playing field also stands to change due to regulation as much as technology. Grivner said, noting that regulation hinges on the 2008 presidential elections. Nancy Lubamersky, vice president of strategic initiatives for TelePacific Communications, delivered an insightful overview of regulation and its effects on agents. She, too, noted that the next president will play a critical role influencing issues such as forbearance and net neutrality.

PHONE+ also announced Brian Twomey, president and CEO of TNCI, as the winner of its first-ever Channel Executive of the Year award. And several agents walked away with some great prizes in the Channel Partners Expo Giveaway sponsored by Associated Telecommunications Network (ATN) (see sidebar below).

They also walked away with some great advice. Mark Landiak, president of Corporate Dynamics Inc., moderated a roundtable discussing best practices for growing and transforming a business. Panelist Jay Bradley, president of telecom services for Intelisys, advised attendees to “know thy partner” — urging partners to do business with other partners that they know and trust, and make doing business with them as easy as possible.

Concurrent educational sessions on Monday and Tuesday covered hot topics such as adding Ethernet in the first mile, Microsoft OCS, the secrets of selling SIP trunking, software as a service and TEM. The education program concluded with a roundtable on the business case for hosted VoIP solutions. John Macario, president of consulting firm Savatar Inc., led a discussion that touched on identifying the right customers for such solutions, along with selling to a customer’s needs as opposed to just selling them technology.

More than 150 exhibitors were on hand to help agents find solutions to fit their customers’ changing requirements. Thousands crowded into the expo hall for the opening night reception, co-sponsored by AT&T and PHONE+. Check out the Best-in-Show winners and the show photo gallery.

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Channel Partners Expo Prize Winners Named
Three lucky attendees received prizes to add to their Vegas winnings, thanks to the Spring 2008 Channel Partners Conference & Expo Prize Giveaway, sponsored by Associated Telecommunications Network (ATN). On Monday and Tuesday of the show, ATN presented prizes to qualified attendees based on a random drawing. Comtel’s Ben Humphreys was the lucky winner of a $1,500 Macy’s gift card; and Northwest Telecom Associates’ Pamela Meyer was the recipient of a $1,000 Best Buy gift card. The grand prize was a $2,500 American Express Gift Card. Coast To Coast Cellular’s Mercy Forosisky was the lucky winner of this prize, having qualified by having her “passport” stamped by participating exhibitors by the deadline and entering the random drawing. Prior to the show, ATN also sponsored the Early Bird prize, which awarded $1,000 and three nights’ accommodations at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to Adam Park of Xela Communications LLC.