Despite the recession, managed services conferences hosted by vendors seem to be maintaining their momentum. The latest case in point: The upcoming Kaseya Connect user conference — which typically attracts more than 250 MSPs and corporate IT managers — is sold out for 2009, according to Kevin McGuirk, executive VP of corporate marketing for Kaseya.
Of course, face-to-face conferences are under intense pressure amid the recession and the growing popularity of online events. But highly targeted IT events, designed for very specific audiences, seem to be holding up reasonably well in the recession.
Autotask proved that by hosting the well-attended Autotask Community Live conference in March. And this week, more than 300 managed service providers and solutions providers converged in Dallas for the 2009 HTG Summit and peer group meetings.
Plenty of additional MSP-oriented events are on the calendar, including:
- Managed Print Services Conference, San Antonio, Texas (April 26-28)
- MSPWorld Orlando, from the MSPAlliance (April 30-May 1)
- SMB Nation, near New York (May 1-3)
- Ingram Micro Seismic Partner Conference, Dallas (May 4-6)
- CompTIA’s Managed IT Services Summit, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. (Oct. 7-9)
- N-able Partner Summit, Scottsdale, Ariz. (Oct. 14-16)
- ConnectWise Partner Summit, Orlando (Nov. 4-6)
Are managed services events immune to the recession? Certainly not. While established and aspiring MSPs are still signing up for the events, I sense that sponsorship dollars for the conferences are becoming a bit more difficult to secure. And we’ll see if attendence holds up as we move into the conference busy season.
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Posted In: Events | Professional Services Automation (PSA)
Tags: Autotask Community Live! | ConnectWise Partner Summit | Ingram Micro Seismic Partner Conference | Kaseya Connect 2009 | Kaseya User Conference | MSPAlliance | MSPWorld | N-able Partner Summit | SMB Nation
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Got a note from a reader asking why CompTIA’s Breakaway and Everything Channel’s Xchange weren’t on the list. Two-part answer: Those events certainly are strong and have managed services content, but my original thought process was to focus on smaller, more targeted MSP events. Also, my ultimate excuse: I was running for a flight.
If I missed any other events feel free to post a comment below.
I sure am glad we got our reservation(s) in… would be embarassed to be tied in so closely with the Kaseya name and not get in the door! Looking forward to all the news about the new modules and components.