SMB Nation: Day 1

The first official day of the SMB Nation is almost over and I’m skipping out on the drinking party to give all you lazy bums an update on what went down (okay, thats mostly a joke, I realize a lot of you had family and professional issues that have kept you from attending) so if you aren’t here you are losing out and you need to make sure you’re here next year.

Morning started with a keynote from Steve Gugenheimer, VP Small Business. He is the guy publishing Orlando’s own Chris Elliott’s stories so it was nice to see how far Microsoft has gone to embrace the small business and small business IT Pro and VAR businesses. On the other hand, I’ve been through a ton of TS2/Connections seminars all over Florida so I did all I could to stay awake. I re-introduced myself to Bob Hood from the Chicago SBS group and I finally met Tavis Patterson, who has been very helpful with his group marketing ideas for us in Florida.

First break I took a minute to meet with Lawrence Kim, the gentleman that provided us with the Imate SP3 phones a few months ago. We had a long chat about mobility, how the community embraces them, where they fit with clients, how they are positioned, etc. I dragged Scott Buchanan into our chat and we spent well over an hour trying to figure out what we can do with Mr. Kim. I’m extremely enthusiastic about what we can do with him, very cool guy.

Stopped by Anne Stanton and gave her a shirt to thank her for the excellent CRM presentation we got in August. Susan Bradley put up our flag in the MVP booth so we’ve made our presence known. It is amazing how many people have heard of us.

I also got to meet Robbie Upcroft and Susanne Dansey from UK. Very nice folks, and it turns out Robbie is from Australia. Took a few seconds to get the foot out of my mouth on that one. Susanne is the UK lady I posted on here a few times, she runs the SBSPI UK board and the british are definately starting to group like we do in US…. and they are a lot more vocal than we tend to be. And yes, she is as gorgeous in person as she is on the picture on this blog (hope this settles all the questions that came up during the last group meeting about the strange people that seem to find my blog in the cyberspace).

I also met Beatrice Mulzer today (the lady that wrote the 70-282 exam primer that I also had a cameo apendix in) and the book cover does not do her justice. I actually spent quite some time talking to her a week or so ago and we got a chance to catch up on the new book plans. If you like the primer you’re going to LOVE her new project. IMHO, this new book will be as popular as Harry Brelsfords famous guide to small business consulting best practices.

Despite all the negative feedback, I went to see Robin Robbins and I am so glad I made it to it. We’ve had a very successful marketing effort at OWN and ExchangeDefender but if you’ve got a limited budget and only grow by the word of mouth, you need to take a look at what Robin has to offer. I was definately “sold” on what she presented. There has been a lot of negative chatter about how she is a marketing and pushy sales person and…. well…. no s***, thats what she is good at! I am sure people get a lot more than they ever wanted to know when they talk with me about Exchange, thats my bag baby! Same with Robin, she is a marketing/sales person. She made an amazing presentation about the package and partners that have experienced a ton of success with her help. I’ve seen your clipart postcards (Yes, Dave, I am talking to you) and you need Robin. The offer at SMB Nation was $1000 for the entire package (which retails for $5k) and Harry offered a $100 buy-in on top of that. Worth the price of admission? Yup.

Last presentation of the day for me was on managed services / plans and I honeslty went in just to see how partners view the “managed” bit. It was quite refreshing, and quite interesting: not everyone is ambitious enough to work 22+ hours a day like some of us try to. Amy Luby, of ISA fame, talked in very realistic, business terms and offered her input in how Mobitech offers “managed services” — another bit of PRICELESS information in my humble opinion. Ever wondered if managed services decrease the face-time with your clients, and how you balance that? Yes? Well, hope you were in Redmond today!

I also got to meet Marie McFadden, from the Microsoft PSS private newsgroups that I know most of you rely on (or at least you should). I’ve been posting stuff in the newsgroups for years, a lot less now that we have such a big community in Florida, and it was very nice to see someone from the support team was allowed to get off the phone/keyboard. Having been a tech support guy in the previous life I have enormous respect for some of these folks.

I introduced myself to Guy Haycock who you will see in a few weeks in Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. He is the Senior Product Manager of SBS marketing and I for one look forward to seeing the SBS tour. As always, I offered our little group for the guinea-pig tests. Same with Jeff Middleton whom I’ve solicited in the past, I am standing behind my promise to let important people know that Florida SBS partners mean business. Expect to see both of these folks in Florida very soon.

After the presentation I found Eric Ligman and… good news… he is alive. Roger Otterson joined a very lively discussion on what else… licensing. And we attacked it from every angle possible! Very real guy, we had a long chat and I think I’m starting to figure out where Eric fits in the entire smallbiz puzzle. Still no Florida person but the hire should come about soon. But definately a person, and no, despite the many questions, he did not have a trailing room of monkeys on typewriters while chatting with me 🙂 Roger also gave me a great overview of how to set my Microsoft community expectations, I really wish he had given me this reality check a few months ago at TechEd. Still have to talk to him about the installfest ideas, will do so tomorrow.

The evening wrapped up with a Texas Holdem poker dinner and I spent most of it hanging out with John Vighetto from South Florida chatting with everyone that passed by. I met just about all the other SBS MVP’s that I have not met the previous day. Chad Gross was there, you might remember him as the gentleman that presented the SharePoint/Infopath for us in Tampa last month. I made it a point to thank him on everyones behalf, I know that was one of the best LiveMeetings we’ve had an it inspired the great CRM presentation by Anne Stanton.

Our old pal Ron Gandiza of Culminis was with us all day long, very helpful, very enthusiastic as usual. Spent even more time talking with

So what have I learned:
1) There are way too many people that know who I am.
2) Nearly nobody seems to be offended by my comments! I must be doing something wrong.
3) I did not get beaten to a pulp by Susan Bradley’s 2×4. As a matter of fact, I got a hug!
4) Just like groups are a great way to meet the community and grow your business skills and professional network, the SMB Nation is a great way to learn from the folks around the world.
5) I am hiring Tim Barrett from the Kentucky SBS UG to be my agent. He talks the way I write, including the profanities I (try to) strip out of my posts. Definately the most entertaining individual here.
6) You *need* to be here. I have been to every Microsoft sponsored event, and Harry is clearly kicking their ass with SMB Nation. It has been exceptional so far!

Note: I will have pictures up soon. I’ve taken a picture with just about everyone whose name I recognized so if you’ve ever wondered what some of these people look like, you’ll know soon. For a bunch of geeks, we seriously can’t work a camera — everyone looks at least 2-3x better in person than in any picture you’ve seen on the net.