There are lots of channel events for VARS to choose from in both Canada and USA. It is usually better for Canadian VARs to attend Canadian events because they will be meeting vendors who actually are investing to come meet them in Canada to build partnerships. VARs as well as vendors do need to choose well as many events are simply not delivering ROI value to either party. ChannelNEXT is the longest running independent event for the Channel in Canada. Their success may be a result of their willingness to constantly evolve with the market conditions. They also modify their venue from East, Central and Western to accommodate these slightly-different Canadian markets.
There are many networking activities that help foster relationships and partnerships between vendors and VARS. A typical VAR can easily generate over 5 profitable partnerships by attending a single event. A Vendor can generate at least 12 solid partnerships from each event. There is a maximum of 50 VARS and 25 vendors who can attend these events to ensure that everyone gets enough face-time over the 2-day event. Only decision makers may attend. These may be some of the key ingredients as to why the delegates get enough face-time to get to know each other and explore meaningful partnerships.
In an experimental move to keep the full event experience to only 50 VARS while opening its doors to more VARS, ChannelNEXT is moving to downtown locations this year. This will allow more VARS to attend the day-only expo between noon and 3pm on day 2 of each event. All VARs must register to attend and space is limited.
"Each year, we close off our attendee list at 50 VARS, leaving many others not being able to attend. The content we deliver is truly valuable and now we can open our doors to many more VARS, even if it is only for the expo on day 2 of the event. We will review how this goes and adjust in the future" comments Gerlinda Ringe, Event Manager.
Another success factor is their seminars. They do deliver valuable leading-edge insights for VARS to grow their business and it is always on the latest market trends. While some VARS may not be new to some of the content, there is usually something important that everyone will learn. This year, the content will be focused around Managed Services, Cloud, IT Security, Networking, Storage, Social Network, CRM, e-Commerce and aligning marketing with sales. You could describe it as a 2-day boot camp for VARS in a luxury hotel.
Julian Lee, President of TechnoPlanet comments "We get a lot of feedback from VARS and vendors so we are constantly molding our content based on the hottest trends. Every VAR can get something valuable from the event. The more they engage with the delegates, the more they will get out of the event as we know some VARS have generated over 10 profitable partnerships from just one event. Some VARS tell us that they also get great ideas just by talking with other VARS. After 10 years of doing these events, I think we are actually getting better each year."
Here is a sample of what VARS can expect this year at the three ChanneNEXT events. See http://www.channelnext.ca for more information
1) Everything you need to know how to build or improve your VAR Business for Managed Services and The Cloud. This panel discussion will feature several leaders in the sector. An MSP will be hosting this panel discussion and fielding questions from the audience. If you are currently doing or thinking of doing Managed Services or Cloud, then this is a must-see presentation.
2) See the best "ready-to-sell" Cloud Solutions for Data Storage, Disaster Recovery and Virtualized Desktops. You will learn how you can profit from the Cloud starting today.
3) See solutions to help manage your Managed Services, improve efficiencies and generate incremental revenue opportunities. Offering Managed Services is not enough. Learn how other MSP are streamlining their MS offering and extracting more sales opportunities at the same time.
4) Social Media Networking for VARS to market their business and become "thought-leaders" (a big step above a trusted advisor). Some VARS dabble a bit in Social Networking and may not be paying enough attention to its potential. Explore how Social Networking can help you with most of your marketing needs! Learn how becoming a thought-leader in your field and local market can be achieved through Social Networking.
5) Just about everyone is on a Social Media Network. Learn about the real security threats that can affect you and your clients. Learn how to protect Social Media tools from becoming a disastrous IT security problem for you and your clients! Security really matters more and more each day in Social Networking!
6) Get up-to-date on the very latest in IT Security threat management and cloud protection. With the ever evolving IT security challenges facing everyone, some vendors are evolving towards a more real-time/cloud protection service. Come learn how and why it is a great time to be selling security protection as a Managed Service.
7) How to fill up your sales pipeline and keep it filled with qualified sales opportunities. It is probably the biggest challenge facing most VARS every day! You will learn how you can easily improve your game to get this job done right and in a sustainable way!
8) Real-time e-commerce, e-procurement and e-quotation to close more sales and streamline your business operations. While this can help you add a B2B or B2C web store, that is only 20% of the value/benefit. Learn how you can leverage real-time access to over 800,000 IT products from leading distributors such as Ingram Micro, Tech Data and Synnex to buy better and save time. Learn how you can generate real-time sales quotes to your customers and up-sell every time! Learn how you can empower your sales team to close sales anywhere, anytime! Learn how to market and sell 24/7.
9) See a CRM solution that your sales reps will actually want to use to manage their clients while prospecting for new sales opportunities. We all know about the poor adoption or utilization rate by sales people on CRM solutions. Some numbers say as low as 10% actually use the CRM tool effectively. Poor usage rates translates into a poor ROI. Come see one Canandian-made solution that just may be one of the very best. Besides its ease of use and mobile capabilities, you will be amazed how it can help each sales person to "hunt" for new business automatically!
10) How to leverage the Green Evolution of Business to benefit your bottom line. E-waste is clogging up our landfills and reeking havoc with our environment in Canada – just research it for yourself, if you do not believe it! We will offer a simple idea that many VARs are already doing to help solve this problem. VARs will impress their customers, generate new sales and actually turn e-waste recycling into green money, with minimal effort!
All this, plus the latest solutions and opportunities in Networking, Storage and much more… Come learn how to improve your VAR business, generate more profits and beat your competition in just two days! If you are not already registered to attend, please reserve your spot at your nearest event http://www.channelnext.ca
It is absolutely FREE for VARS to attend!
