Comments on: Managed Print Services Conference: End-Users Welcome

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:09:30 +0000

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

By: Ed Crowley

Ed Crowley — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:30:58 +0000

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.

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:46:46 +0000

Greg: Thanks for the timely perspectives. Readers: Greg pens an engaging blog called Death of the Copier.

By: Greg Walters

Greg Walters — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:40:37 +0000

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 -