For the present

The wraps are about to be removed on the plans for this year's CRN Partner Connect event in Coventry. Fleur Doidge reports.

The long run-up has begun this week to the second Partner Connect event, to be held this year on Thursday 17 May at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Technology providers and their partners that want to be involved should contact the team soon -- there's no time like the present, as the saying goes.

Some changes to this year's exposition have already been made, based on feedback from last year, that will be music to the ears of standholders and delegates alike. For example, the seminar programme for 2012 will be held in an area within the trade show hall itself, rather than across the thoroughfare in another set of lecture theatres.

Having the seminars sited nearer the stands will ensure that the trade area keeps its footfall up even while seminars are in progress, allowing exhibitors to maximise the potential return on investment.

If there is a burning issue you would like to see within the seminar programme at Partner Connect, contact CRN.

Special business services area

Face-to-face meetings remain important to all modern businesses, despite the ongoing march of communications technology. So the word coming down the ranks from CRN' s publisher is that there may also be a special Business Services area to look forward to this year, where resellers will get an unparalleled opportunity to pitch to their peers for services that support and complement their own offerings.

The channel's premier networking event - which is billed as the sector's only dedicated business and networking extravaganza -- will again be held in the central location of Coventry, with a view to encouraging maximum participation from all round the UK. It aims to bring together a broad spectrum of key players to communicate with each other, facilitating the generation of a range of new business opportunities.

Top names in the channel will be in attendance. Sara Yirrell, editor of CRN, said the full programme is currently being designed and planned. However, the seminars are once again likely to prove popular with attendees to the one-day show. They are designed to enable participants to augment their understanding of where the technology industry is heading, and learn how to apply that knowledge more profitably as resellers, integrators, distributors, or other pro-viders of technologies or related services and support.

"We always work hard to put as much thought as possible into the education programme. We wish to make it as directly relevant and useful as possible to attendees. We understand that busy channel executives have no need to travel to an event to hear information or messaging that can be sourced easily elsewhere - so I can promise the seminars will be exclusive and tightly targeted in terms of their content," said Yirrell.

The smorgasbord of seminars will unpackage further developments in noted trends for 2012, including but not limited to mobility, "big data", consumerisation, and cloud computing.

Last year saw the channel benefit from hearing industry giants Microsoft and Google talk about their approach to cloud and the related revenue streams for resellers.

Microsoft's small to mid-market solutions and partner group general manager Barry Ridgway and head of technology for partners James Akrigg looked at the best ways to profit in this new era of computing - the biggest shift in the market since the advent of the personal computer 30 years ago.

Peter Lorant, head of enterprise partners at Google Enterprise UK, explained the need for increased transparency and shared vision, and outlined Google's channel strategy. Other big names that sent representatives to speak to the UK channel at Partner Connect in 2011 included IBM and trade body CompTIA.

There will also be opportunities for channel companies themselves to hold forth and be questioned by their peers. Those keen to be involved should contact CRN as soon as possible.

Foundation for new relationships

Partner Connect is aimed straight at the heart of the IT channel, providing a foundation for partners to foster new relationships and reinvigorate current ones. The events team expects up to 1,000 quality attendees, many of whom will be looking for new products, solutions and services.

Surveys of attendance in earlier years have confirmed that many of those attending will be C-level executives, and that a great deal are likely to have responsibility for buying decisions in some way.

Exhibitors also get access to extensive, year-long multi-platform marketing at a one-off cost that includes white paper uploads, directory details, and the stand package itself. Exhibitors can also become technology partners or sponsors of the event, which offers even more opportunities to get in front of the channel.

Ricoh Arena (pictured, opposite), on the outskirts of Coventry, includes, as well as its world-class sports stadium, the 6,000 square-metre, fully climate-controlled Jaguar Exhibition Hall - a mecca for high-profile events. Power, gas, telephone, and fibre optic networking are all supported at the arena.

The column-free space features various food kiosks, 5mx4m vehicle access entrances, and access to parking for a couple of thousand cars. Ricoh Arena is off the A444, easily accessed via Junction 3 of the M6 near Coventry. Central Coventry is about six miles away.

The arena has 71 rooms and suites for overnight accommodation and a bar/bistro. Coventry of course also offers a wide range of hotels and guest houses.

A bright future

Doug Woodburn, deputy editor of CRN, said he is looking forward to catching up with the whole channel once again in Coventry. Last year saw a diverse range of channel companies explore the road ahead at Partner Connect, he noted.

"It was the right decision to cancel Channel Expo and design a new event specifically for the channel. Over the past two years, we have seen the new event improve in focus, and the education programme in particular has been going from strength to strength," he added.

Woodburn (pictured, left) noted that CRN has a drive to construct events that genuinely serve the needs of resellers and other technology providers.

Planning for the Channel Conference 2012 is already under way and CRN has a number of projects in the pipeline to be revealed in due course. As ever, the year will be rounded off with the Channel Awards.