When it comes to managed services events, most conferences involve VARs and MSPs (managed service providers) sharing best practices with one another. But the Managed Print Services Conference is making a rather interesting move, building two conference tracks — one for end-users and one for channel partners. Here’s a look at the strategy.
First, a little background. I’m not booked to attend the Managed Print Services Conference (April 26-28, San Antonio, Texas) but I’ve been watching its development from afar. Promoting the MPS conference can be a bit tricky during a recession — especially when well-known events like MSPWorld (from the MSPAlliance, April 30-May 1, Orlando, Fla.) and SMB Nation (May 1-3, near New York City) are right around the corner.
But the Managed Print Services Conference is breaking with tradition in the IT channel by inviting end-users (CIOs, IT managers, facilities managers and purchasing departments) to join the conversation. I know the folks at Everything Channel often invite CIOs to speak at their channel conferences. But I think the Managed Print Services Conference is going a step further by building out a content track especially for end users.
Will the strategy work? Will end users show up? Time will tell. But I do know this: MSP software companies are striving to communicate the value of managed services to end-customers. It looks like the Managed Print Services Conference has heard the message loud and clear.
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Posted In: Events | Software as a Service and Hardware as a Service
Tags: Channel Conferences | Everything Channel | Managed Print Services Conference | MSP Conferences | MSPAlliance | MSPWorld | SMB Nation | VAR Events
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Joe – seems the most “push back” I get is from INSIDE the industry.
Folks very eager to tell me what MPS isn’t – in the field, end users(C-level down to IT) want to know more, and are starting to be confused by the message.
Are Toner re-mans MPS?
Are copier dealers MPS?
Are copier manufacturers MPS?
Is the company I order my finished print jobs from MPS?
Can my VAR provide MPS along with HP Blades and VMware?
What is Managed Print vs. Print Management vs. Managed Print Services?
The conference is building and should be a very interesting time -
Greg: Thanks for the timely perspectives.
Readers: Greg pens an engaging blog called Death of the Copier.
Joe,
I wanted to take the opportunity to provide you with some feedback regarding the conference and a few things we learned. First the overall results of the conference were fantastic. We had targeted 100 attendees and we had almost 140 attendees. In the words of one of our Platinum sponsors:
“We were very pleased with the Platinum Sponsorship and found that it gave us access to several new MPS opportunities and key partnership development. I would highly recommend any vendor wanting to drive their MPS channel programs, to consider partnering with Photizo group in this effective platform to access this emerging market.” Robert Simmons, Director of Managed Print Services, Samsung
Our attendance was a very interesting mix of vendors (~30%), infrastructure providers such as Print Fleet (~30%), resellers and dealers (~30%), and end users / press (~10%). While the end user numbers were lower than we would have liked, this group was particularly hard hit by travel restrictions and budget constraints. The conference had a full roster of sponsors, and 13 exhibitors.
We learned a lot from our first conference. For our next conference we are launching a viral marketing program to attract end users, a pre-conference workshop, and many other improvements.
The bottom line, we feel the conference was an incredible success. Every other conference I have spoken at or attended this year has seen attendance down by 50% or more. We were blessed with an incredible attendance, and a unique dynamic due to the diverse segments of the industry which were represented. After the meeting, a group of over 100 individuals met to hold a formation meeting for the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA). In effect, this became the first MPS industry meeting.
We are so excited about the results that we have announced a second conference in Europe (Amsterdam) this October, and we have announced the second annual North America MPS conference for May of 2010. More information is available at our web site.
Hey Ed: Congrats on the event’s success.
But please note we’re not in the business of running/posting comments that include sponsor endorsements for your services/events.
It’s great Samsung loved the event. But in the future, I’d prefer to have people speak for themselves rather than have prepared marketing/sponsor quotes posted in our comments area.
All that aside, we look forward to hearing more about your European conference and your 2010 North America conference as the agendas come together, etc.
-jp