Ambition Mission

SMB IT Providers are about to be bombarded with invitations to the 2008 conferences.  This is actually a good thing, in fact a very good thing. 

Choice is good!  It was only 4-5 years ago when the pickings were slim, in fact there was really only one, SMB Nation (www.SMBNation.com).  A few years ago, Microsoft took an idea from Harry Brelsford’s playbook and decided to do a pre-day conference to the World Wide Partner conference and the Microsoft Small Business Symposium was born.  (no link yet - this link goes to the 2007 WPC http://www.microsoft.com/partner/events/wwpartnerconference/).  Then, out West was born a great collaboration of SMB companies and the SMBTN was formed along with the SMB Summit, now in its 4th year (www.SMBSummit.com).  But that’s not all!  Industry guru Jeff Middleton, creator of the widely popular swing migration, decided to put on a different type of conference and 2008 will see his second conference (www.SBSMigration.com).  Other organizations, such as the ICCA, are in a resurgence and are having an SMB focused conference in 2008 as well (www.ICCA.org). 

So many choices!  What is an SMB IT provider to do?  What conference is going to hold the most value?  What conference should you attend?  Most smaller SMB IT providers can usually only budget for one, unless there happens to be another in their backyard.  Even larger players in the SMB space are confused, though deciding what the “deal & feel” for each event will be and trying to determine where to best place their conference budgets.So, for what it’s worth, here is my two cents on the “skinny”, the “deal” and the “feel” of each event.  Of course, because I am focused on helping and training Partners, I will be at all of them - with different content, different focuses, etc.. all aimed with a different attendee in mind. 

So here goes, I hope it proves helpful:In order of the date the conferences occur (you can also check out the www.AmbitionMission.com/events for more info):

• SMB Nation (East) - NY/NJ March - SMB Nation is the original.  The 3rd annual East derivative of this conference with approx 200+ attendees is geared to “sbsers,” IT consultants and SMB IT providers looking to grow their business.  The event in NJ will have business sessions and a ton of info on Microsoft Response Point, which if you haven’t heard, is Microsoft’s phone system for the SMB Market.

• SMB Summit - Dallas, TX April - the 4th annual conference is shaping up to be a tremendous event.  The focus is two fold for this 4 day conference - the first 2 days are all about Cougar (next version of SBS) & Centro (a mid market version of SBS).  - the last two days are all about business sessions.  One Man shops be warned, a lot of the sessions are geared to IT providers with 3 + employees.  Expect about 500+ partners in attendance.

• SMB Nation (East) - not a typo - in early May, SMB Nation East is in Toronto.  This conference will likely be very similar to the one in NJ with one significant difference - no Response Point (it’s not available in Canada yet).  Our friends in the Great White North don’t get conferences up there too often, especially focused on SMB so I am expecting more than the 200+ attendees than in NY/NJ.  This will be a mostly business focused conference and I’m looking forward to seeing what is all abooot.  (couldn’t help it)

• SBS Migration - New Orleans - May.  Jeff Middleton is not a fan of the normal power point session lecture style conference.  Expect a lot of interaction learning from experts with experience.  This is an intimate (and fun - hey it’s in New Orleans) hands on conference with from 150+ in attendance.  As an added bonus, after the 3 day conference, expect about 1/3 to 1/2 of the attendees to board the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship for another 5 days of interaction with fellow SMB providers and a daily conference session on the ship.  I was disappointed I missed the inaugural conference last year, and have heard all good things and after extensive conversations with Jeff, I know this will be even better.

• ICCA - Washington, DC - early June - I am just getting to know this organization and have spoken at some of their Chapter meetings.  The “Independent” part of the name suggests that this conference will be attended by approx 200+ one man shops looking to grow.  The ICCA is serious about its membership so this should be a valuable event.

• Microsoft Small Business Symposium and WorldWide Partner Conference - Houston, TX, July - this is the big one.  WPC is 3 days preceded by the SB Symposium which is a full day.  While WPC is over $1,000 to attend, the SB Symposium is free to SBSC partners (at least it has been the last 2 years).  WPC will host 15,000 attendees representing 5,000+ partners from around the world.  The SB Symposium reaches the 600-1000 attendee marks.  While some SMB IT providers come in town for the Symposium and then split, I think the WPC is one of the best conferences to attend because you get a chance to see a lot more than you’re used to and meet partners who were small once too… It’s expensive, but I think worth it.  Register early for savings (a good tip for all conferences btw).

General conference tips:

• Come early stay late - plan on arriving the early part of the day prior to the first day - there is always something valuable going on.  There is also always something fun and valuable the evening after the last session.  (hint - don’t book an early morning flight - 11:00 AM should be the earliest)
• Plan ahead - get an idea of sessions you don’t want to miss and put them on your calendar with reminders before arriving in town.  You will get engrossed in fantastic conversations with other partners in the “hallways” of the event that you may miss sessions you were looking forward to (most are NOT recorded for later viewing)
• Get a room mate - this cuts your hotel bill (one of the largest travelling expenses) in half
• Bring LOTS of business cards and notebook paper - also develop a system and put time in your schedule upon returning from the conference for the follow up you’ll want to do - otherwise your investment will be (at least partially) wasted
• Listen more than you talk - ask partners questions.  People love to talk about their business.  Be willing to share as well.  These conversations will be the most valuable take a ways upon your return home.

Have fun, safe travels, and I will see you at (one of) the conference!Matt Makowicz“Let Ambition Be Your Mission.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Conferences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.