Driving recognition at Channel Expo
This year's Channel Expo will also include the Channel Expo Awards, held at the National Motorcycle Museum. The glittering event will allow channel players to reward those partners who richly deserve it, writes Sara Driscoll
Channel Expo, the only dedicated exhibition for the channel, is not going to be all work and no play.
The exhibition, which runs over two days, 28 and 29 March, will be holding the Channel Expo Awards ceremony on the evening of 28 March at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.
The Awards will be recognising not just the best of the show, but also the best products in the IT industry and are a joint initiative between Channel Expo and the Professional Computing Association (PCA). Categories include the Best to Sell and Products of the Year for vendors, distributors and buying groups to contend, the Channel Expo Show award for the exhibitors and the prestigious PCA Lifetime Honorary Fellow all being awarded on the night.
Entrants in the Best to Sell (both Product and Supplier) and Product categories should come from vendors, distributors and buying groups and are self-nominations. Project of the Year can come from vendors and distributors on behalf of resellers, or the resellers themselves. Any stand at the show may win the Best Stand award. Anyone in the channel may nominate someone for the PCA Lifetime Honorary Fellowship.
Keith Warburton, chief executive of the PCA, said: “It’s important for the channel to recognise excellence and important for them to highlight those vendors who really do look after them. To have awards that cover Best to Sell, which includes Supplier and Best Value-Add, recognise suppliers who let them do exactly what they need to do – such as add value – is a very important function. The channel will only survive if they add value and we want to reward those vendors who let the channel do that.”
Warburton added that while some suppliers are not known to be the easiest to work with for channel players, the awards give VARs and integrators a chance to reward those suppliers who take that extra step to make their everyday business easy.
“Through the product awards we are recognising the broadening range available to resellers. The Project of the Year award will allow VARs and integrators to shout their triumphs from the rooftops,” Warburton said. “A lot of people are doing work and implementing projects that they are justifiably proud of and we want to recognise that.”
To enter the awards, each company should submit a minimum of 300 words and maximum of 1,500, that outline why their company should be considered for the award in question plus a few basic details.
Firms should explain why they think their company deserves to win the award, relating to the awards definitions on the web site – see www.channelexpo.co.uk/awards. Facts and figures, specific achievements and customer testimonials will all be useful. The entry form can be downloaded from the web site. All entry forms must then be submitted via email to [email protected]. The deadline for entries is 16 February 2007 and nominations will be announced on 23 February 2007.
Marieke Visser, associate publisher at VNU, owner of Channel Expo, said: “Channel Expo is a great event to hold these awards around, because the UK IT channel will be gathered in one place, keen to show off their products and solutions. The awards are there to give much needed recognition to products that channel players, and distributors find easy and worth selling.
“With margins being so tight in the channel, it helps all players from any IT arena to have a differentiator, and if a certain product has won an independent award such as this, it could help make sales.”
Exposing a new-look Channel Expo
Contacts:
Channel Expo (020) 7316 9586
PCA
VNU (020) 7316 9000