"Events, dear boy, Events"
Andy Ellwood - 7:57 am - July 8, 2011
When asked what British Prime Ministers fear worst, Harold Macmillan (Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963), is attributed as saying “Events, dear boy, Events”. We can assume that it was a male journalist who asked the question.
I.T. companies have a similar fear. Events are seen to be important. We spend tons of money on them and always have that late night in the office getting everything ready in time. When we get there, the event passes in a flurry of activity, mediocre food, aching feet and a sense of anti-climax (witness exhibitors flouting show rules and trying to tear down their stands early before the exhibition police catch them.
However much we fear them, we keep coming back and iQuate is no exception. Whatever the pain of the experience, industry events are an unparalleld opportunity for companies to meet potential customers, potential partners and the competition in a lose, less structured way than normal sales engagements. The chance meeting and the unforseen trajectory of random conversations can lead to real opportunites that would not occur afterwards.
I am, therefore, in the middle of planning the iQuate event season right now. If anyone can tell me why events we consider must attends only seem to occur between September and November I would love to know.
iQuate will be at the following events
July 10th-14th Microsoft World Partner Conference, Los Angeles
Sep 28th-29th Gartner EMEA IT Financial, Procurement and Asset Management Summit, London UK
Oct 2nd-6th Oracle OpenWorld, San Francisco
Oct 12th-14th IAITAM Annual Conference, Las Vegas
Oct 16th-20th Gartner Symposium & ITxpo, Orlando
Nov 7th-10th European Gartner Symposium & ITxpo, Barcelona Spain
If you are going to be at any of these, pop along and say hi (but please be gentle with us!)
