The Partner Channel Magazine_Winter 2018

WINTER 2018 | WWW.THEPARTNERCHANNEL.COM
NOTES
The Partner Channel “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” – J.K. Rowling Winter 2018
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Your Story
Where Will
Take You?
A Hero’s Journey
Nine Elements of a Great Story
Keys to a Successful
Partner
Relationship
ON THE COVER
The hot air balloon is the first successful
human-carrying flight technology. The first
untethered manned hot air balloon flight
was performed by Jean-François Pilâtre de
Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes on
November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, in a
balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers.
Want to see balloons in flight? Check out
www.hotairballoon.com, the self-proclaimed
most complete directory of hot air balloon
festivals in the world. Source: Wikipedia
“LAST” ONE
You’re holding a special issue of The Partner Channel Magazine for a
few reasons. First, this is the 10th anniversary of The List! When Jane
Olson started with The Partner Channel, Spider Johnk (then owner)
asked her to start a solution catalog. I think she thought he was joking
at first, but here we are – 10 years later, and it’s still a valuable resource
to Partners and customers looking for Microsoft Dynamics add-ons.
Second, this is my last issue as editor of The Partner Channel Magazine and
president of The Partner Channel. The Partner Channel is teaming up with
Dynamic Communities, Inc. We have partnered with Dynamic Communities on their
User Group magazines, programming, and events since 2007, and now is the time to
bring these organizations together to better serve the Partner community. I’ll dive into
this more on page 12 with “On the Homefront” as I want to talk about the other reasons
this issue is special, and space is limited here!
This issue focuses on storytelling. Shann McGrail shares five reasons why you should
specialize, not supersize, your business on page 14. Adrianne Machina illustrates why
every Partner needs a hero story on page 38. Bill Allen, a newcomer to the magazine but
not the Partner community, talks about the need for storytelling as Partners develop their
brand in the Microsoft ecosystem on page 30. (Side note on that article: Matt Mastrud
has created one of my favorite graphics ever for that one. I’ve been fortunate to work with
such awesome people the last 14 years.)
I have a laundry list of people to thank, and you’ll read about them in a few pages, but I
want to conclude this page with a thank you to those who make this publication possible,
quarter after quarter. Thank you to my team, our contributors, our advertisers, and the
participants in The List.
It’s been a great ride.
This label only applies
to the text stock.
Cover illustration by Matt Mastrud for The Partner Channel ® .
Jenny@thepartnerchannel.com partnerchannel ThePartnerChannel company/the-partner-channel
THE PARTNER CHANNEL ® MAGAZINE Winter 2018
PUBLISHER TPC Publishing
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jenny Davis
COPY EDITOR Kate Mund
WRITERS Bethany Foyt, Jasmine McNellis, and Jenny Davis
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Adrianne Machina, Barbara Pfeiffer, Bill Allen,
Peter Joeckel, Shann McGrail, Tracy Faleide
ART DIRECTOR Shawn Olson
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Dave Swang, Matt Mastrud,
Shawn Olson, and Spider Johnk
ADVERTISEMENT SALES Jane Olson
MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM MANAGER Jasmine McNellis
The Partner Channel Magazine is published by TPC Publishing, a business unit of The Partner Channel,
Inc., with principal offices at 1240 Elm Street, Fargo, N.D. 58102. All postage is paid from Fargo, N.D.
If you wish to be removed from the mailing list, send your request, including name, business name,
and mailing address to the above address, or to Jane@thepartnerchannel.com.
If you wish to add names, the same directions apply.
The Partner Channel ® , Inc. is an independent company and is not affiliated with Microsoft Dynamics ®
or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries.
This is a copyrighted publication ©2018, and all articles herein are covered by this copyright. All rights are
reserved. Any use of the content for commercial reasons or any other form of reproduction of material
herein is strictly prohibited without prior written approval of The Partner Channel, Inc.
Most articles are submitted by independent industry professionals; therefore their views and opinions may
not be those of the publishers. Inasmuch, TPC Publishing cannot be held responsible for any or all
comments or information held within those articles.
This publication is printed in the U.S.A. by Forum Communications Printing.
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