ITEX 2010—What a Great Event

Wow, ITEX was phenomenal this year. For those of you that attended, and there were many, I know you agree because I have heard the feedback. What makes ITEX such a great show? To me the number one attribute of ITEX is the networking opportunity; most of the industry decision makers attend the show. When I say decision makers I mean dealer/reseller principals and senior management. Company owners and senior management have a unique perspective on the industry and having the opportunity to speak with thousands of this group provides untold benefits to all, including companies like mine in the consulting field.

The second benefit of ITEX is the education. Unlike many shows, where the sponsors get all of the speaking spots (Nothing against listening to a software or hardware vendor giving their perspective on the industry but after all, won’t the vendors pay you to listen to them), ITEX vets the presenters and chooses those that bring benefit to the dealer/reseller community. For less than $100, the entry fee, attendees get to choose from dozens of educational tracks on all aspects of the business. SD has presented for years and this was the first year we had a booth at the show, and we were asked to speak months before we were asked to consider exhibiting.

If I had to critique the show I will say that I was disappointed with the “Hybrid” moniker. Every time I hear hybrid I think of a car or fuel option. It seems to be the most over used word in the English language these days. I can’t pick up a newspaper or magazine without reading about some company, industry, or option presenting themselves as hybrids. I think it supplanted “solution” as the most ubiquitous word in the business press. ITEX is more than the hybrid dealer, covering education on all aspects of running a successful company. That was reflected in the educational options offered at ITEX.

Strategy Development consultants presented in many areas of the business and each of our classes had approximately 200 participants. David Ramos presented on self managed teams and opportunities in the color space. Ed Carroll presented on professional service. Mike Woodard presented on creating the ideal service and IT team as well as managing the base to control service cost. And I (Tom Callinan) presented on repositioning your business model, which was essentially business planning.

So if you look at the educational offerings presented by Strategy Development we covered sales management, color opportunities, professional services, service operations, and business planning. And, there were dozens of other well (albeit the SD seminars were sold out…) received educational offerings.

If you missed ITEX you missed a great event, and we missed you! We’ll be at the BTA Northeast and Southeast events as well as InfoTrends Solution Summit 2010 in Chicago. Like ITEX, all of these events provide a great ROI. The BTA events have solid education and networking opportunity, on a regional level, and InfoTrends provides enough research to make the trip well worth the effort. If you cannot make these great events we hope to see you next year at ITEX 2011 in DC.