Feb 2016 imageSouce Digital Edition

Expert Analysis
The ITEX Conference:
What’s New & Why You Should Attend
By Jon Reardon | Conference Chair, ITEX, and Group Director, Data Platform Services | InfoTrends
The ITEX Conference has undergone several major changes this year helping to define
a new, fresh, relevant and compelling event. The biggest change was foundational in
nature; that is ITEX 2016 is now under the new management of InfoTrends and BLI.
“…compelling & actionable
content that addresses a
wealth of opportunity.”
From the conference (education) side of the event, our mission
from the beginning was to focus on our core audience, namely,
independent office equipment dealers, IT VARs and managed service
providers. Our 2016 conference team conducted a series of exit
interviews during the 2015 event coupled with in-depth discussions
with equipment OEMS, ISVs, industry thought leaders and channel
business owners… we listened, and at times, painfully so.
The end result was a comprehensive review of the conference from
both a structural and content perspective… from keynotes to tracks
and sessions. We were also guided by our interest in building an event
platform that engenders collegiality, the exchange of ideas based
on case study work, best practices and peer to peer learning while
minimizing a “pay-to-play atmosphere.” Structurally, our challenge
was to reduce the total number of tracks from six in 2015 to four in
2016. Fewer tracks and associated sessions, from our perspective,
support a better concentration of audience and less competition
across same time-slotted sessions. Of course this planning needed
to be bookended by relevant, timely and actionable content coupled
with great presenters… ala ITEX 2016!
Keynote Speakers
Keynotes are a main feature of any conference. Keynote addresses
are normally designed to set the underlying tone and summarize the
core message of an event. ITEX 2016’s keynote lineup lives up to this
promise by fostering a collegial exchange of research, best practices
and peer-to-peer learning. However, ITEX 2016 departs from its past
here as the conference features a total of five presentations. This
sounds like a lot but you’ll understand why my conference team
journeyed down this path.
InfoTrends and BLI industry analyst
executives will deliver 2 keynotes:
Jeff Hayes, Managing Director of Content,
US Office Technology Outlook
In his keynote session, Hayes will provide a
state of the industry review of market trends
and the office technology channel including
insights from extensive interviews with dealers.
He will provide recommendations to help you
evolve your business model and engage with your customers to
achieve sustained growth.
David Ramos, Director of Channel Strategy
State of the Independent Office
Equipment Dealer Channel.
In Ramos’s keynote he will provide an in-depth
breakdown of the topics driving change across
the independent dealer channel landscape
backed by key findings from his 2016 national
dealer survey and further explore today’s leading sales and marketing
practices and overall business challenges.
20
imageSource February 2016