I know. This is way overdue and we’ve already moved on to other things. But, I felt the need to do a brief recap of this year’s Channel Focus event, hosted by Baptie and Company. This was my 8th year in attendance and I can honestly say it was genuinely the best year yet!
What made it so great?
I’m so glad you asked! I felt the attendees sharing their challenges, concerns, hopes, and strategies were more senior level and from a broader range of companies. One of the best things about Channel Focus is that although we don’t talk about “who” or “from where” (like ‘Fight Club’ without the fighting) attendees range from some of the largest IT companies in the world to some of the most interesting and agile SaaS solutions.
Channel Focus is a place where IT and Telecom Vendors can come to learn, share, and better their strategies for the coming year. This is unique and unlike other events where Partners attend as well, leaving Vendors hyper-focused on nurturing and forming relationships, and unable to really think about their plans for the year ahead. Of course, those events have their place, but sometimes it’s just nice to take a step back so you can take a leap forward.
It’s all about the content
I also felt like people were so much more willing to share. There were senior executives talking about challenges they experience and how they solve them. Real learning and authentic conversations took place about how the shift in the channel (that’s been happening for a decade) is heavily impacting other elements of business, the industry and technology.
Are you getting paid to say this?
No. As a sponsor, I paid to be there. If I didn’t feel it was worthwhile, I would invest my dollars elsewhere. I was also pleasantly surprised to see how well behaved the sponsors were. In the past it felt like it was a 3:1, attendee to sponsor, ratio. Especially the content and in workshops, sponsors historically dominated the conversations, but, this year I really didn’t feel that way, and it was super refreshing.
Women’s Leadership Council
My favorite part this year was our Women’s Leadership Council, which took place the day before the event kicked off. With over 100 women coming together to learn, share and take action, it was still a small enough group for us to truly have conversations, break-outs, speed mentoring, and even some LinkedIn education and headshots.
Thank you to Baptie and Company
Hats off to Rod Baptie and his amazing team that puts this event together. It’s really a great opportunity for us to talk about what’s relevant and have conversations with people going through the same thing.
Larry Walsh of The 2112 Group also did a great recap here.
If you have any questions about any elements of Channel Focus or the Women’s Leadership Council don’t hesitate to reach out!