There was a lot of concern coming into this years SMBNation Conference in Redmond, Washington this year throughout the Partner Community. Let me digress... At the SMBNation 2005 conference, Harry and SMBNation had a break out year with some of the best speakers in the industry at their conference. The move to the Microsoft Campus and the use of the Executive Briefing Center really kicked up the quality of the event. In comes Robin Robbins, by far one of the best speakers and industry influencers in the SMB Technology Marketing space I've had the privilege to meet. Robin came in and mesmerized the crowds and sold all of her $1200 marketing kits that she brought with her, which was an overwhelming success for her and the conference.
As you know, when anyone is successful, others are sure to follow and that is what happened last year at the 2006 conference. It seemed like everyone that was delivering a presentation was trying to sell something and it came across like a giant infomercial. Thus the descent amongst the ranks in the attendance this year, and honestly, this was the year they should have attended.
The pre-event day with Robin Robbins return as well as the sessions hosted by Karl Palachuk, Arlin Sorensen, Erick Simpson, Matt Makowicz, and Stuart (Sorry, I forgot your last name Stuart), hosted a great round of discussions on managed services, selling solutions, and of course, why you should buy their new line of books.
This was the only time attendees were hit up to spend $$ during any sessions and these weren't actually parts of the conference. During the sessions, there wasn't a whisper of services or products to be sold. Even when attendees asked Jeff Middleton about his Swing Migration products, he deferred them to the booths in the Vendor Fair to discuss products. This was a definite change in the right direction.
The Vendor Fair area was elbow to elbow again and the support from industry vendors was stronger than ever before. The key players in the Managed Services Space from last year, were there again, such as ConnectWise, Zenith/Infotech, and Level Platforms.
The part that impressed me most was the attendance turnover, 60% of the attendees were first time attendees, which shows the growth in our market place. I'm not sure what Harry and the SMBNation team will do next year as far as a venue since the conference seems to be outgrowing the Microsoft Conference Center, but I know that the Microsoft Across America team plans to be there to support it again.
Watch for news on www.smbnation.com for upcoming details.