Channel Focus North America 2019 - Summary

May 15th and 16th saw a record attendance at the 22nd Annual Channel Focus Conference in Carlsbad CA. Over 270 key Channel Executives representing virtually every major company in the IT/telecom industries. To quote Larry Walsh CEO of 2112 Group, “If you didn’t attend Channel Focus, the annual executive education and collaboration event produced by Baptie & Co., you missed out.”

With over 45 speakers and moderators, 30 sessions addressing the industry’s most important issues, and 39 workshops that allowed delegates to share thoughts and ideas on their most pressing issues. It is no wonder that Channel Focus is the Industry’s most important event every year.

This year’s opening keynote Gavriella Schuster of Microsoft highlighted key new developments and tools like the use of AI in to and through partner marketing. Our top speaker, Micheal McCullough of Akamai gave a fabulous presentation on ‘Making the Most of the Honeymoon Period – Engaging, Enabling and Committing New Partners’ and Rob Rae of Datto brought along 3 of his partners in a panel addressing ‘How to Build a Long-Term MSP Engagement Strategy’, a panel that was voted the number 2 session of the entire event.

The top 2 most popular workshops were ‘What are the Skillsets Today’s Channel Account Managers Will Need?’ and ‘Channel Conflict – How Do You Reconcile the Needs of the Direct Team and the Channel Partners?’

Both the welcome and evening events were very well attended, providing an opportunity for delegates to meet and network in a convivial atmosphere.

Overall, Channel Focus scored a remarkable 8.8 out of 10. A mark not just of the event but the fabulous contributions from our Speakers and Moderators.

I’ll finish with a final quote from Larry Walsh “The Baptie & Co. team truly outdid itself with this year’s Channel Focus. Mark this event on your 2020 calendar. You’ll be thankful you did.”