This week I attended MWAi’s Executive Connection Summit in Scottsdale Arizona. Here’s how the welcome packet describes the event:
“The 3rd Annual Executive Connection Summit brings C-Level executives from the Print and Imaging industry together from around the world. Attendees will see proven strategies for IT services providers and Imaging Dealers. Connect with North America’s thought leaders from SAP, INTEL, Samsung, Sharp and OKI. This exclusive format provides C-Level executives the opportunity to network with peers, connect and discover unique ways to convert new business ideas into an executable action plan for growth…AND it’s a lot of fun!”
[Tweet “The best event I ever attended and why you should go next year.”]
So now you’re thinking “here goes Andy yapping about another one of his partners.” This is not some vacation or boys week in the dessert with golf and excursions. The only excursions were the breaks between sessions (one of which did have beer). This was two solid days of best practices, discussions, networking and strategies.
What I loved about this show is that it was different than most shows I attend. When I go to a vendor show, it’s all about that vendor, which is understandable and has a purpose. The speakers weren’t up there talking about why you should sell Samsung (or Sharp, or OKI), they were talking about the market, what they see, opportunities, etc. Of course they all highlighted things they do in their own world but it was all part of a bigger story.
The days started promptly at 8 and yesterday ended at about 6 PM, at which point you went to dinner and mingled with attendees. By the end of two days of solid meetings and presentations, the sessions were still almost completely full. I was afraid to go to my room to make a call or take a break because I was afraid of what I’d miss.
We started with an opening event Monday where Frank Cannata ran a couple of back-to-back panels for a small crowd of press and analysts. There was a welcome dinner after that and the drinks were flowing. It was great hanging out with old friends and making many new ones.
The next morning it was game on with a quick welcome from Mike Stramaglio, CEO of MWA Intelligence and host of the event (I don’t know why I feel like I need to mention him…if you’re reading this, you probably know and love him). First up was Kevin Gilroy, VP of SAP. Kevin spoke for about an hour including Q & A about their partnership with MWAi and their commitment to FORZA and the dealer channel.
[Tweet “The market for Cloud based printing will be $1B by next year”]
There was a lot of discussion around how it works and what it can do for the dealers. I know I said these sessions weren’t really commercials from the presenters but I don’t think a lot of people really understand FORZA and how much opportunity there is with SAP and after all, this is MWAi’s gig. Kevin told us that customers want simplified solutions and Cloud guidance. “This is what 16,000 partners are delivering around the globe, every day,” he told us. “Knowledge transfer is the currency that needs to be developed.”
Next was Tod Pike, VP of Samsung who talked at length about Samsung’s role in the Internet of Things and how dealers can play into the connected enterprise. Tod focused quite a bit on mobile workers and Cloud based printing. FYI, the market for Cloud based printing will be $1B by next year.
We also heard from Intel and a bit more on the Internet of Things and what that means to us personally as well as from a business perspective and then Greg Van Acker, VP from OKI talked to us about what OKI is doing in the market. Later in the day a speaker from CISCO talked to us at great length about people, data and processes. He was clearly most people’s favorite speaker and his session was facinating. He gave a great presentation that he brought down to the level of the people the room so that we understood the relevance.
One quote that stuck out in my head was when he kept saying that this year, the number of connected devices will exceed the number of people on earth. Wow. He also mentioned that your digital persona (LinkedIn, Facebook, your buying patterns, etc.) will soon become more important than your credit rating. Food for thought.
There were panels mixed in-between some sessions where you got to listen to and ask questions of industry legends like Ed McLaughlin (Sharp’s previous president), dealer panels discussing prospects within the print imaging industry, including discussion around barriers (Perry proTech, Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office, CBI, DPOE), panels on services and new business opportunities with production ink/wide format, 3D printing and vertical approaches both in and outside of our industry (Frank Mallozzi/EFI, Mark Matthews/AirWolf, Jan De Kesel/in-MAP, Mike, Ralph Hess/n’Ware).
[Tweet “Every mission critical device needs protection”]
Bob Palmer from BPO talked about the office equipment market and solutions, how OEM’s and channel players use solutions to pull hardware and how businesses want to gain more value from hardware by using it to expand beyond print. Great session.
Sharp’s president Doug Albregts, probably one of my favorite presenters in general (he’s just awesome on stage) talked about Sharp’s return from the brink and how dealers can use data and take service up a notch. “Service is the Holy Grail.” Like OKI and Samsung, Sharp has a significant investment in FORZA. “We think FORZA is a one of a kind tool and MICAS (their Cloud based diagnostics tool) doesn’t work without it.”
Steve Galloway, president and CEO of ESP, THE power protection company spoke about how today’s leaders can survive and advance, a play on Jim Valvano’s well known speech from many years ago. He discussed IT spending and how it much opportunity there is in this $4.3 TRILLION market. Where is this opportunity exactly? Every mission critical device needs protection and you can provide it to them.
The list of speakers and topics went on and on. 3D printing, security in our world and just in general, MPS and how 72% of SMB customers don’t have it (LMI), document management/ECM, finding incremental revenue, new programs and services available to help dealers protect themselves and find new areas of growth.
I am freaking exhausted. Not only did we run pretty much from 8 – 6, but the dinners were incredible networking events and I didn’t get bed before 2 once the entire week. Not because I was out boozing, but because I was involved in one amazing conversation after another, both with people I had never met before and with people I’d met many times but didn’t really know very well.
Other than one speaker that was a little overly techy for most of this crowd in my opinion, I couldn’t find a single person that had anything negative to say about this event. And that one speaker was good; he just was not from our industry and had a hard time bringing the relevance of his content back to our level.
What did people get out of this event? Ideas, relationships and strategies. I met people from England, Belgium, Monaco, Japan, China and everywhere in-between. The hotel was beautiful and a perfect venue. The food was excellent thanks to sponsors like Intel, Great America, OKI, ESP and others. The content was even better. And the company was sublime.
[Tweet “Knowledge transfer is the currency that needs to be developed”]
I have never walked out of an event with so much knowledge, insight and perspective. Next year when they host this event, do yourself a favor and take a few days to attend. I promise you that you won’t look at this as a waste of time. This was not a golf outing or an excuse to go somewhere warm to sit by a beautiful pool. It was one of the most interesting, informative and well-run events I have ever attended and I applaud Mike, his boss Jenna, Michelle, Gavin, Hiro and all the other wonderful people at MWAi that put this together. Thank you for all that you do for our industry.
~Andy