My TA News

TA Vendor Members at the Cloud Partners Trade Show - September 8-10

 
By Dan Baldwin, Editor
714-525-8100 email

• Partner with Total Cloud at Cloud Partners, New Orleans, Booth 610 - Birch 

• Visit Transbeam at in NOLA to Win an XBOX ONE!  Visit Transbeam in Booth #422 

• Granite Telecom Partner News   Visit Granite in Booth #704 

• Strike Gold With MegaPath Unified Communications!  Visit MegaPath in Booth #607

• Telarus Launches Engineering Program to Bolster Enterprise Sales Visit Telarus in Booth #310 

• BCM - The one company that you shouldn't miss at Cloud Partners!  Want to meet with BCM?  Email Frank Wassenbert at fwassenberg@bcm-tel.com 

• Partner with Birch at Cloud Partners, New Orleans, Booth 610 

• Visit TelePacific at Cloud Partners - You Could Be a Winner! Visit TelePacific in Booth #605 

• Win a Camera Drone at Cloud Partners!  TBI  Visit TBI in Booth #606

• BIG Commissions in Meeting Room 1 at Cloud Partners!  BullsEye     Meet BullsEye in Meeting Room 1 at the Convention Center (Sep 8&9: 9am-9pm; Sep 10: 8am-noon) 

• Catch Cloud & VAR Panels Tuesday!  WTG  Visit WTG in Booth #407

• Visit AireSpring at Cloud Partners and You Could Win $500!  Visit AireSpring in Booth #532  

• If you're ready to play, AT&T has a team for you.  Visit ACC Business in Booth #310;  AT&T Alliance & AT&T Partner Exchange in Booth 401 

• Why no one Provider should own your Network!  Bandwave Systems  For a meeting contact: Tom Azelby | 609-456-7643 cell | tazelby@bandwavesystems.com 

• Put the Kibosh on the Competition with AireSpring's September Promo  Visit AireSpring in Booth #532

• Cloud Partners Tip #12 | TBI  Visit TBI in Booth #606 

• Telarus Signs Exclusive Agreement with VXSuite to Add Network and VoIP Diagnostic Software to its Portfolio  Visit Telarus in Booth #310 

• Discuss Your Exit Strategy in New Orleans with MicroCorp  For a meeting contact: Stacy Conrad | 678-810-0311 | stacy@microcorp.com

• Join the WCS Elite Forces - Meet Us in NOLA September 8 - 10  Connect with WCS at the Cloud Partners Trade Show in NOLA, September 8-10:  Control Your Pricing and Commission, Own You Customer Base, Build Value in Your Agency.   Click here to visit the WCS website and schedule a meeting, or contact Darren Nemeth, dnemeth@wcs.com, 888-940-5600. 

• Visit Transbeam at Cloud Partners - Booth #422 

• Commissions on POTS from the largest POTS consolidator in the US and Canada.  Granite   Visit Granite in Booth #704 

• Join us at "The Big Easy" in New Orleans!  WTG  Visit WTG in Booth #407 

• Join MegaPath at NOLA!  Visit MegaPath in Booth #607 

• Roll Throughout The Big Easy As a Telesphere VIP  Click here to register for breakfast or lunch with the Telesphere Team. 

• BCM to Participate in Shark Tank and APEX's Cloud Panel at 2014 Channel Partner's Conference 

• VAR "To Do" List | Ben Bronston - Telecom/IT Lawyer  Contact Ben Bronston to schedule meeting | bronston@telecomlawyer.net | 888-469-0479 

• "Grey Matter Chatter" with Solution Architects | TelePacific  Visit TelePacific in Booth #605 

• JOIN US THURSDAY for CLOUD LIVE!  Aug 14 @ 8:30 am Pacific / 11:30 am Eastern | Intelisys  Visit Intelisys in Booth #532

 

 

 

Did You See These Vendor Email Blasts for September 4, 2014

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
714-525-8100 email

 

TA Vendor Email Blast Headlines for September 4 ....  

Vendors shown in BOLD font below will be at the Cloud Partners Trade Show in New Orleans, Sept 8-10  

• BIG Commissions in Meeting Room 1 at Cloud Partners!  BullsEye  Meet BullsEye in Meeting Room 1 at the Convention Center (Sep 8&9: 9am-9pm; Sep 10: 8am-noon) 

• Catch Cloud & VAR Panels Tuesday!  WTG  Visit WTG in Booth #407

• Visit AireSpring at Cloud Partners and You Could Win $500!  Visit AireSpring in Booth #532 

• If you're ready to play, AT&T has a team for you.  Visit ACC Business in Booth #310;  AT&T Alliance & AT&T Partner Exchange in Booth 401 

• Why no one Provider should own your Network!  Bandwave Systems  For a meeting contact: Tom Azelby | 609-456-7643 cell |  tazelby@bandwavesystems.com

• Fall Back Into Business with EarthLink's September Bonus Opportunities! 

• Telnes Broadband - LinkWatch CloudMonitoring

 

Did You See These Vendor Email Blasts for September 3, 2014

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
714-525-8100 email

 

TA Vendor Email Blast Headlines for September 3 ....  

Vendors shown in BOLD font below will be at the Cloud Partners Trade Show in New Orleans, Sept 8-10 

•  Put the Kibosh on the Competition with AireSpring's September Promo  Visit AireSpring in Booth #532 

• Cloud Partners Tip #12 | TBI  Visit TBI in Booth #606 

• Telarus Signs Exclusive Agreement with VXSuite to Add Network and VoIP Diagnostic Software to its Portfolio  Visit Telarus in Booth #310 

• Discuss Your Exit Strategy in New Orleans with MicroCorp  For a meeting contact: Stacy Conrad | 678-810-0311 | stacy@microcorp.com 

• Join the WCS Elite Forces - Meet Us in NOLA September 8 - 10  Connect with WCS at the Cloud Partners Trade Show in NOLA, September 8-10:  Control Your Pricing and Commission, Own You Customer Base, Build Value in Your Agency.  Click here to visit the WCS website and schedule a meeting, or contact Darren Nemeth, dnemeth@wcs.com, 888-940-5600. 

• Visit Transbeam at Cloud Partners - Booth #422

• BBCOM:  Short Duration ASR Rules 

• Got Africa Opportunities?  HGC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Did You See These Vendor Email Blasts for August 29 & September 2, 2014

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
714-525-8100 email

 

TA Vendor Email Blast Headlines for August 29 & September 2 ....  

Vendors shown in BOLD font below will be at the Cloud Partners Trade Show in New Orleans, Sept 8-10 

• Cloud Partners Tip #10 | TBI  Visit TBI in Booth #606

• Commissions on POTS from the largest POTS consolidator in the US and Canada.  Granite   Visit Granite in Booth #704 

• Join us at "The Big Easy" in New Orleans!  WTG  Visit WTG in Booth #407

• CarrierFinder Takes the Pain Out of Searching for Fiber.  CTG3

• Seeking Increased Sales for your Channel Program? | SalesReach Software 

• Let CMS Help You Demystify the Cloud

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

TA Vendor Members at the Cloud Partners Trade Show - September 8 - 10

 
By Dan Baldwin, Editor
714-525-8100 email

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• Earn BIG Commissions in Meeting Room 1 at Cloud Partners!  BullsEye Telecom  Meet BullsEye in Meeting Room 1 at the Convention Center (Sep 8&9: 9am-9pm; Sep 10: 8am-noon) 

• Join MegaPath at NOLA!  Visit MegaPath in Booth #607  

• Cloudy with a Chance of Beignets | AT&T  Visit ACC Business in Booth #310  

• Why no one Provider should own your Network!  Bandwave Systems  For a meeting contact: Tom Azelby | 609-456-7643 cell | tazelby@bandwavesystems.com

• Visit AireSpring at Cloud Partners and You Could Win $500!    Visit AireSpring in Booth #532 

• Cloud Partners Tip #9 | TBI    Visit TBI in Booth #606 

• Discuss Your Exit Strategy in New Orleans with MicroCorp    For a meeting contact: Stacy Conrad | 678-810-0311 | stacy@microcorp.com  

• Roll Throughout The Big Easy As a Telesphere VIP    Click here to register for breakfast or lunch with the Telesphere Team. 

• BCM to Participate in Shark Tank and APEX's Cloud Panel at 2014 Channel Partner's Conference 

• MegaPath Introduces New Unified Communications Solution!    Visit MegaPath in Booth #607

• Meet Transbeam in NOLA!  Booth #422   

• VAR "To Do" List | Ben Bronston - Telecom/IT Lawyer    Contact Ben Bronston to schedule meeting | bronston@telecomlawyer.net | 888-469-0479 

• Get BCDR in NOLA!  WTG    Visit WTG in Booth #407 

• Be Indispensable - Control Your Pricing and Commissions | WCS    Connect with WCS at the Cloud Partners Trade Show in NOLA, September 8-10:  Control Your Pricing and Commission, Own You Customer Base, Build Value in Your Agency.   Click here to visit the WCS website and schedule a meeting, or contact Darren Nemeth, dnemeth@wcs.com, 888-940-5600.  

• Is Your POTS Vendor Jeopardizing Your Customer With Secret 'Hot-Cuts' Off the RBOC Network?  Granite    Visit Granite in Booth #704   

• Telarus partners can...  Unique commission payouts for unique partners.    Visit Telarus in Booth #310 

• Everyone Loves a Top 10 List!  AT&T    Visit ACC Business in Booth #310

• "Grey Matter Chatter" with Solution Architects | TelePacific    Visit TelePacific in Booth #605 

• JOIN US THURSDAY for CLOUD LIVE!  Aug 14 @ 8:30 am Pacific / 11:30 am Eastern | Intelisys    Visit Intelisys in Booth #532

An Agent's Notes from the Channel Partners Show in Vegas: Day 1

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email

If you didn't make the show because you're too busy closing a big deal, fear not as I am happy to share my notes with you as to what I did, saw and learned.

 

Women in the Channel

I drove in from Southern California to the Venetian hoping to get here in time to attend the "Women in the Channel" event from 5p - 8p. I did not end up making it to the event but the women who did attend reported that it was a terrific gathering of 110 "Power Women" from within the channel, some of whom are pictured below.

Pictured above from left to right are:

Marnie Johnson, President, Infusion Communications
Hilary Gadda, Director, TelePacific Communications
Laura Bernstein, President CRA
Nicole Hayward, Marketing Director, Onsip
Karen Hinds, The Power of Distinction
Nancy Ridge, Telecom Brokers
Bita Milanian, President BMG Consulting
Chris Wilson, President Datatel Solutions
Taffy Baron, President WAAM Communications

I'll publish a more detailed write-up of the meeting when I get one from one of the attendees.

To learn more about future WIC events or to join please visit WomenInTheChannel.com.

 

Public House Meetings

Since the WIC event was the only "show" event scheduled today for the most part, everyone else I recognized were either on the gaming floor or trying to meet with one another in the Public House which is both a bar & restaurant.

If you like beer this place is great. I especially like heavy dark bitter beer with lots of hops and they just happened to have their heaviest beer on sale for $5 which they said was normally $12. Cool. When I asked them why they said it was "too heavy" for the approaching Summer season. Fine by me. I know where I'll be doing all my meetings for the rest of the week.

Speaking of meetings I met with Louis Hayner to learn about his transfer of his Alteva, Chief Sales Officer duties to David Mills. Seems that there are exciting opportunities in store for both Alteva with their new sales boss that comes from a heavy sales training background and for Louis who's going to take a well deserved vacation before seeking out his next grand technology adventure.

My other meeting was with Dale Cooper and Justin Scutchfield of Xact Communications, a "cloud reseller" that I get quite of inspiration from. Dale was a normal "master agent" in the past with eSquared but "saw the light" as well as the importance of evolving away from simple commissions to a full cloud managed services suite.

My insight for the day is a strong belief that people with Louis' skills and background in unified communications and Broadsoft hosted VoIP are going to migrate the way Dale has to focus on the "managed service" that layers on top of the circuits that we're all so used to selling.  Five years from now I doubt there will be many agents left who can pay their bills from simple commissions. 

Carriers and agents who only have network are going to loose in the long run.

 

Chance Encounters

I ran into a guy named Ryan McGill from a company named "Continuum" who said they offer remote monitoring IT services like Kasaya but were at this show looking for telecom providers that wanted to offer the "managed service" of remote monitoring of network service routers and swithces. I said, "Funny you should mention that because I've got a couple people you should meet..."

Going to Vegas Next Week? Print our Channel Partners Conference Checklist

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email

I really like a lot of things but in my top ten I have to include telecom trade shows, Las Vegas and the Venetian Hotel.

And thanks to Virgo, next week I get to do all three at the Channel Partners Conference.

Of course I've got kind of a soft spot for this show since back in August 1996 I helped (as educational co-sponsor) get the very first show in Atlanta, Georgia started along with Gene Foster, Nancy Baldwin and a couple other agent industry old-timers.

But enough about me.

Next week's Channel Partner Conference is all about you and whether it's worth your time and resources to go.

I know a lot of people who go and I know a lot of people who don't go. The people who don't go should really start going - especially this year.

As my friend and colleague Ron Dunworth so elegantly penned in this recent blog post, "managed services" are here and agents need to make the switch!

Personally over two-thirds of my "agent income" now comes in from managed services fees that my clients write a check for each month. I only take commissions if my clients refuses to pay managed services and for some reason I still want the client as a commission only customer.

The last couple Channel Partners Conferences have all been about converting to managed services through different sorts of cloud offerings.  If you don't have a plane ticket for this show make sure you get to the Fall show which I believe is in Chicago.

Anyway, if you are going to this show or the next one be sure to print our Channel Partners Conference checklist for five pages of tips that will ensure taht you get the very best bang for you conference buck.  This is my personal advice having now attended this show going on 17 years.

Questions?  Dan@TelecomAssociation.com or 951-251-5155.

EXTRA:  I asked Khali Henderson which of the show content opportunities she specifically recommended for attendees and she said:

"I think it really depends on what they are interested in.

The Cloud Business Models should be interesting for partners that are still deciding or considering moving up to aggregator or provider models.

•  The Mobility Track will have some good stuff since that’s a pain point for most customers. We’ll be addressing BYOD impact too with sessions on MLM, WLAN Capacity Planning and Security.
• The transformation track will be more business focused – possibly appealing to some who need help with business model change AND communicating that to their customers.
• For traditional agents – the WAN track should be interesting. Also a good primer for VARs that now have to sell carrier.
  
  
• CompTIA Channel Training:  Executive Certificate In Cloud - Intermediate Course - What’s cool about this is they can walk away with an executive certificate. Also, if they don’t get to attend all, they can complete online and test.

 

BullsEye Telecom® Announces Relationship with Telegration

Leading Telecom Reseller Secures New Agreement with Nationwide Telecom and Network Provider

Las Vegas, NV.—March 27, 2012—National provider of integrated telecommunications solutions, BullsEye Telecom®, today announces its partnership with a master agency and leading provider of business telecommunications services based in the Great Lakes region, Telegration, Inc. This new relationship is mutually beneficial for both organizations. They will leverage existing strengths and competencies to bring the best in multisolution communications strategies to accounts nationwide.

“We’re extremely excited about our relationship with Telegration. The company has a well-deserved reputation for delivering integrated business solutions not just in Michigan, but to thousands of businesses across the United States,” commented Bill Oberlin, BullsEye Telecom’s, chief executive officer.

“Telegration has a strong agent network across the country, while BullsEye has the ability to deliver complex solutions in a broad nationwide footprint,” Oberlin explained. This is an ideal situation for both companies, presenting many new opportunities for Telegration to grow its business, while helping BullsEye strengthen its position as a national provider of business communications services. “Telegration’s strong national foothold makes it a great vessel to deliver BullsEye’s portfolio of services across the country,” Oberlin ended.

Through this collaboration, Telegration’s sales team and agents have access to BullsEye’s national suite of voice, data, digital voice, cellular, hosted IP, network security, unified communications and cloud-based managed services. In addition to its complete line of products and services, Telegration clients will also benefit from BullsEye Telecom’s personal account management, consolidated customized billing and powerful online management tools.

Telegration and BullsEye Telecom have shared a long-standing relationship. Both are homegrown Michigan companies with great success stories. Each company has had the opportunity to see the other evolve and grow into key players in the national telecom space.

Listen to Experts speak about Unified Communications using Mobile Phones at Channel Partners!

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email

Why learn the strategies on Mobile Phone and PBX/Hosted Integration?

Educate yourself first so you can understand your business customer’s needs.

The best way to learn what Andrew and other business mobility subject matter experts have to say to your customers and prospects is to attend the:

Mobilizing the Business Communications System session at the Vegas Channel Partners Expo on Wednesday, March 28th at 9am.

Along with co-speaker Trent Shoultz, Director of Field Business Development at Mitel, Andrew and Virgo's Khali Henderson will be speaking on how mobile phones now integrate with all business phone systems including PBX solutions and IP systems and Hosted.

 

Mobility Session Questions to be Addressed Include:

• How do I choose the right device(s)? 
• What applications are best for my business?
• How to integrate Smartphones and my network?
• Will employees & management have real-time voice communications?
• Is this a secure connection, Is it HIPPA?
• Which employees benefit by being mobile?
• Does voice mobilization support cloud computing & visa versa?
• Will this improve employee productivity and morale?
• Which providers' solutions are right for my customers?
• How do we integrate iPad and soft phones?
• What do we do as agents to become experts?

 

Following is the Published Mobility Session Overview:

"Supporting mobility is key to serving today’s business communications needs, but simply offering wireless devices with voice and data isn’t enough. Workers need their mobile devices to function as extensions of their enterprise communications environment. Delivering so-called fixed mobile convergence (FMC) can be done in hosted and fixed environments. This session will look at the available options, their pros and cons and how to determine the best fit for each customer engagement. 

Chicago Confidential: Day 4 - Agent Only Events, WTG's Pier Carnival & Joanna Connor at Kingston Mines

Posted 8/25/11 By Dan Baldwin
TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155

Today was the "long day" at the trade show starting with many seminars, four separate "agent only events" and the trade show floor followed by many late night parties.

I was not able to make it to the seminars but I did attend all four "agent only" events to see how my fellow agents were liking these special events that the Channel Partners organization invested a great deal of resources in.

The first event was a very well attended Selling Techniques Networking Lunch sponsored by Vince Bradley's World Telecom Group (WTG). The room was packed with over 100 agents all grouped around tables that addressed sales concerns for cloud, conferencing, collaboration, hosted VoIP, Ethernet, MPLS, wireless, mobility, SIP, unified communications and energy.

The second and third "agent only events", the Agent/VAR Partnering Workshop and Peer-to-Peer Networking Mixer were more intimat affairs with just under 50 agents each in them.

The fourth event, CPZ: Channel Partners Zone was well attended and featured quite an interesting "smackdown" of many of the issues that were bugging agents at large.

 

The Trade Show Floor

The exhibit hall was opened for its marathon period of over four hours.  I went around to several TA vendors to see what they were putting out as their "booth pitch"

Click below to listen to Charlie Pagliazzo of Granite Telecom on their complete offering for multi-location customers.

 

 

The WTG Carnival Party on Navy Pier

Vince Bradley is famous for getting together with his World Telecom Group (WTG) vendors and putting on the most outrageous and original parties at the Channel Partners trade shows for as long as I can remember. This Fall in Chicago Vince repeated his "Win for Best Party" with his "Carnival on the Pier".

Click the video below to see some of what you missed if you were not there. 

 

 

Last Chicago Music Club Night

As Thursday was my last night in Chicago, I had to pick one last "perfect Chicago music club" to make it five in a row.  My first night I heard Ava Logan at the L26 Lounge in the South Loop Hotel where I stayed. The second and third night I was at Reggies Music Joint.  Last night was Buddy Guy's Legends. But where to go tonight?

I had several recommendations including Blue Chicago, Underground Wonder Bar, and a couple others in the Clark Street area. I finally decided to go to Kingston Mines at 2548 North Halsted at the strong recommendation of Chicago native Larry Lannon, Virgo's Publisher. 

I'm glad I picked Kingston Mines because I really wanted a place full of locals instead of tourists. Kingston Mines did not disappoint. The "locals" turned out to be mostly college students as the club appeared to be in the vicinity of several local colleges.

The real treat was the Joanna Connor Band which played their own songs in addition to "blusey" versions of Led Zepplin, Jimmi Hedrix and other electric guitar classics.  Click the video below to get a taste of the music I heard.