SMB Nation Day 1: NYC Schraged

Day two in New York and the SMB Nation East conference finally started. As I wrote earlier today, I don't want to give you the wrong impression that SMB Nation is all about drinking and partying because it is absolutely about business (at least for me). I am quite a fan of the East event so far because it is far smaller than the big show in Redmond and really gives you a great opportunity to network, meet people, have a decent discussion with people without feeling like you're missing a ton of stuff or lost in the crowd. I'm a BIG fan of the East event, to say the least. For example, I got to speak to the CEO of Connectwise for about 15 minutes today, thats worth the price isn't it? But hey, at the end of the day this business is all about the relationships and people and Harry is THE MAN when it comes to getting that together.

The Bad 

TS2. Honestly, I'm probably the biggest fan of the TS2 seminars on this planet but I have never been more embarrassed of it in my life. Perhaps I'm spoiled by the excellent TS2 guys that I've met while working with Microsoft in Florida but I've never seen a Microsoft employee be so incorrect and so corrected (loudly) by the audience.. so many times. On the flip side, Microsoft really pulled off the representation well. They brought the bus. They brought the PCM. This was a bit of a joke subject early on and honestly, I'm not sure if the guy was new or just had an off day but TS2 presentations are generally several levels beyond what you saw today. Go out to a local event and see what its all about.

The Good

It's all about the size. In more than one way. 

Vendors –  Being a software publisher and an IT services business I'm particularly salesman-agnostic. The nice thing about SMB Nation East is that it was small enough that you really got the chance to talk to people and really have a conversation on what the products do, how they can benefit us, etc. Spent a lot of time talking to Bill Hersh of D&H and on behalf of at least a dozen of us huge thanks to Bill for hooking us up with CAT5 cables so we could get some network connectivity.

Presentations – Would you like to be able to ask a question while Dana is going through the security conversation? Do a live poll and get opinions in a room full of your peers? Well, thats what the size really allowed for today. I was a part of the MVP panel and basically fielded questions left and right and got a really good idea for what everyone is doing. Talked to several dozen people during the day and not just the biz card exchange either, we really got to chat and everyone got to talk to the presenter while the presentation was still rolling. Very smooth. 

Food –  You will not walk away from SMB Nation hungry. 

Fireside Chat – Now for the most part I had no idea what this was going to be. What it sort of turned into (for those of you that attended the presentation with Harry Brelsford and Dean Calvert at SMB Nation 2005) was quite good. To be honest, it really made the day for me and moreso made the trip worth-while for me in just one hour. It was basically senior management from CA and Harry Brelsford fielding questions from the crowd. Let's face it, its uncanny to get that much honest sharing from that high of a level and the discussion was awesome. CA got Scragged and to their credit they were quite up front about what they are trying to do, what they see as threats for us, what they see as opportunities. There was a lot of talk about the future, which is great, it shows that partners are planning. The exchange went back and forth for quite some time and it was amazing. 

The Aftermath

So with day one under wraps it was time to get together and hang out. Again, got a chance to network over dinner and catch up with some people and talk both shop and geek stuff. One of my current pains is scaling the ExchangeDefender infrastructure as it grows past the charted teritory. We were promised a party and the turnout was quite impressive. Again, more networking, more sharing.

Now how do I put this nicely… read up. Good, now read back down. If you are not here, if you are not networking and exploring partner opportunities to serve your customers in the areas where you may not have a really strong footing and experience… well… you just may not be in business long enough to see my next blog from the SMB Nation West. And look up there – this is all DAY 1! This trip was worth-while for me in less than one hour and the presentation is not even half way through.

But you want to see it, huh? Well, here are some pictures, enjoy. 

 Pictures above (you can click on them to pull up a bigger one) are of the SBS security (Firewall Dashboard and ISA 2004). To the right is a group picture of a few CEO's you might now. From left to right: Me, David Schrag, Karl Palachuk, Jeff Middleton and Amy Luby. Yes, Schrag exists. 

 Dinner time: Dana Epp, Andy Goodman, Chad Gross, Jeff Middleton. On the left, Arnie Belini of Connectwise and Steve Luby of Mobitech. 

 Steve Luby and Scott Buchanan. On the left (starting with just a piece of her face) is Paula Kingsley, Barbara Dove, John, Chad Gross, Jeff Middleton.

 Above is a pic of me and Paula Kingsley,fellow Exchange MVP. Yes, Exchange MVP(s). Yes, very cute. Very geeky.

Picture of Chad Gross and David Schrag. Me and Schrag. To give David full credit here, he took the time to introduce himself to me first thing in the morning and handed me a brand new business card, fresh off the inkjet.

 Off to the party. There is a pretty funny story here (apparently they had to reroute the bus to an alternate location because the first one fell through)

 Beatrice Mulzer. Matt the SLA man.

 Pool party. You know these folks by now.

 Pretty picture of Nancy for the Vladville audience. Enjoy. And ladies, ladies, ladies. Don't say I forgot you. Here is some eye-candy for you, me and Dana. You know you love it, come on.

 Beatrice making fun of me. Harry Brelsford calling the evening festivities to an end. Not quite "You ain't gotta take the bus, but if you miss it you can walk back to the hotel."

 Now so far this is the pic of the conference for me. It's funny in a few ways. First, notice how happy Karl and Jeff are – completely oblivious to whats going on. I'm obviously cracking up, both inside and with the shirt out of my pants, having dragged Amy over to take a pic with Schrag. Finally, Amy sizing up Schrag. Ding, ding – Let's get ready to ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuumble!