Why Arent We Doing More of These? (Part 1 of 3)
Decisions Virtual Conference 2012
Back in 2006 Microsoft floated an opportunity to several distribution-focused independent software vendors that I was initially skeptical about. The concept was a virtual tradeshow and while it appeared to be a neat concept, it was crazy expensive and I couldnt help but think Is the market really ready for this?
I ended up paying to participate as a virtual exhibitor, and I ended up conversing with potential partners and customers all over the world (but very few in North America). We closed just one opportunity from this event which more than paid for itself, but Microsoft never ran it again – apparently because many participants werent as lucky as me (?).
I mentioned the program to Adam Berezin at MSDynamicsWorld about a year later. At the time no one had money to attend or exhibit at traditional shows, and using this concept you could accomplish your goals for about a third of the cost. Adam decided to give it a try and MSDynamics World Decisions was born…
Decisions Virtual Conference
MSDynamicsWorld has continued to run a virtual tradeshow event called Decisions for years and Im happy to announce that nChannel will be a virtual exhibitor. This event will be held online (of course) and will run on 4 consecutive days as theyve broken out the agenda by Dynamics product. June 18 will feature AX Exhibitors, June 19: GP, June 20:NAV and June 21:CRM.
If you havent experienced a virtual tradeshow before as an attendee, this is a prime opportunity to get your feet wet and experience the value a virtual tradeshow can bring to your sales and marketing efforts. If you are a customer of Microsoft Dynamics, this is a fabulously inexpensive way to get exposure to other products and get to know other vendors in an environment that is similar to being in a chat room. For some reason, we all seem to be more confident to approach one another in an online environment vs a show where you converse with booth staff face to face.
A virtual tradeshow is just like the real thing without having to deal with travel, the expense, the food, the parties, and sore feet. Now you wont be able to pick up tradeshow pens, glow sticks, and handfuls of stuff for your kids like you do at other shows, but there are promotions you can take advantage of – and youll learn a lot in a very short amount of time. With no exhibit hours, the show is open all day and you attend whenever you want.
Who Should Attend Decisions Spring 2012?
Decisions Spring 2012 is a virtual event for…
- Business decision makers seeking expert advice on implementation strategy
- IT managers looking for technical insight and advice
- Power users who want to learn more from the experts and share their knowledge
- New users making the switch or contemplating the switch to Microsoft Dynamics.
- Dynamics professionals who want to learn, network, and investigate ISV solutions
- Anyone in the Microsoft Dynamics community looking for an exciting new platform to network and learn!
What I cant figure is out, is why the business world doesnt take more advantage of these events. Youd think that those of us that work in technology would be all over these virtual events and that customers would eager to participate. In the next several blogs Ill share with you an overview of the MSDynamicsworld event, and provide you with some tips about how to be an engaging virtual exhibitor. Ill also talk a little bit about why customers should attend and how to get value of attending a virtual event as an attendee. Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 of the series on our blog.
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