“Having committed to sponsorship, exhibiting and having eight staff attend IT EXPO East 2009, I arrived with realistically modest expectations. I was anticipating a quiet event with few visitors and what has become the regular gloom and despondency with the global economic situation.To ensure a ROI for Aculab and ApplianX we had arranged a big schedule of meetings with customers, prospects and alliances thereby using our time effectively even if the event was slow.
Well what a surprise I got! When I arrived on the Tuesday the whole place had a buzz about it. Everyone I met was upbeat and energized. At every exhibition session we took quality leads in volume as high as we have ever seen at ITEXPO.
January 2009 was Aculab's biggest month since December 2007 we also have a very strong order book looking out over the next three months. That situation coupled with the atmosphere at IT Expo could easily cause one to question 'what recession?'.
It is certainly not as simple as that, nor are things that rosy. TMC and Aculab share some things things in common, two companies that are exceedingly good at what they do, two companies that are competing and growing in their respective markets. So ultimately the undoubted success of IT EXPO is down to the TMC team, their preparation and execution. But however good TMC are, for a conference and exhibition to be successful it is those involved as participants and visitors who make or break an event. The fact that companies took part, invested in visiting and engaged in three days of positive business dialogue may well indicate that we are seeing some small green shoots of recovery - but it's unlikely a politician or business journalist could currently get away with saying that at the moment! "
Chris Gravett
Sales and Marketing Director
Aculab plc
ITEXPO East 2009
“With a weakened economy, it was indeed heartening to see both big and small vendors at this year's IT Expo, putting their best products out on the line to be evaluated by potential customers. I was amazed by the tenacity of several of the VARs that I was able to chat with at the show. These VARs are the foot soldiers of our business and their optimism bodes well for us this year. It was great to get their valuable feedback not only on our existing products but also on some of our roadmap items. The quality of questions that we fielded from our prospects was very high as was the level of knowledge and understanding of VoIP. I think the entire industry has reached a threshold where all the stakeholders easily understand the benefits of what we are trying to accomplish."
Samir Kakkar
Product Manager
ADTRAN
ITEXPO East 2009
“I suspect that you'll hear from almost everyone that it was a great show! Even with the bad economy, it was fairly well attended and we feel that it was a good show for us!
You guys are awesome!"
Todd Regan, Sr. VP Marketing
AireSpring
ITEXPO East 2009
“I thought the conference was well done, the timing of the exhibit hall good, the location attractive and the Convention Ctr ideal. A very good show. Well managed, well attended. Well attended, good location, a lot of opportunities."
Ed d'Agostino
Arbinet
ITEXPO East 2009
“I must say I too have been listening to such negative news on the streets, TV, media and so on. I did not know what to expect from your show in Miami. I must confess it was probably one of the best shows I have attended for a while. We ran out of magazines by the end of the show, we also met with very quality leads. While walking around the floor talking to exhibitors I was told several times they almost pulled out of the show and this is what they told me, "What a mistake we would have made. This is turning out to be a super show". I must agree with them. People who missed this show missed out on a great opportunity to establish themselves in the market. Well done TMC. Great show!"
Berge Kaprelian
Group Publisher
President/CEO
Beka Publishing
Inside Outdoor Magazine,
ChannelVision Magazine,
GlobalVision Magazine
ITEXPO East 2009
“Very well organized show with good session speakers and booths where you can see new technology."
Edmundo Rodriguez
COMTELESIS
ITEXPO East 2009
“The show was great and, even with the crazy economy, I believe your attendance was strong. The plenary panels were informative and the location was fantastic."
Charles "Chip" Spann
Wireless Business Analyst
Connected Nation
ITEXPO East 2009
“OK, one thing is for certain, it's rough out there! Everyone's cutting budgets, holding their breath, and searching for ways to go beyond just surviving. For this reason, our open source offering ContactQ and its counterpart commercial offering, our Braxtel Contact Center Suite, generated amazing levels of interest at our last two shows. We now understand what's going on. Anything that can be done to automate or streamline communications, enable self service ordering processes, provide repetitive information, and perform other tasks that free live bodies to deal with complex issues of running a business, WILL be investigated. Money is deemed well spent if more orders can be taken, more prospects are reached, and greater instance of first contact resolution can occur while reduced or overworked staff gets the help they deserve. So from this perspective, in these troubled times, our value in helping clients to rise above mere survival and insure profitability is showcased by a venue like yours. Thanks for the opportunity to exhibit with a positive eye to the future!"
Lee McCabe
Director of Sales, North America
ContactQ / Braxtel Communications
ITEXPO East 2009
“In the recent IT Expo East 2009, I could feel a strong sense of community. What really impressed me was how open people were in describing their challenges. I very much appreciated all of the practical tips for improving customer service in a call center environment."
Haim Argaman
Owner and Senior Consultant
Crimsonet Technologies
ITEXPO East 2009
“I want to congratulate you and the TMC team for such an excellent show. This expo as well as the last expo in LA brought together many professional in VoIP business together. It has been a real success for us both the shows in term of new contacts and closing major deals. Thanks."
Fred Hakim
DalCom USA Ltd.
ITEXPO East 2009
“Very informative expo. Will attend the next one. Wish I had more time; ironically I learned about the expo at the last moment and it was in my home city (Miami, FL)!!! Worth every minute and every penny. I was provided free entry from, although I registered at the last moment... Next conference I will plan ahead. Thanks! Very informative. For lack of a better explanation, THE OPPOSITE of a waste of time."
Bryan A. Russell
President & CEO
Earthbound Information Technology Solutions, Inc.
ITEXPO East 2009
“A whopping 61.5% of the attendees fit our customer profile. Resellers, Vars and Service Providers who provide Hosted PBX services to the SMB market. We went home with piles of solid leads. ITEXPO is the show that brings in real buyers."
Moshe Maeir
Chief Flattening Officer
The Flat Planet Phone Co.
ITEXPO East 2009
“I'll say the show was good (some portions even very good). It enableda fairly stress-free environment for people to meet and discuss new topics and opportunities, without the need to go through all the formalities of "the assistant schedule dance". See you in October."
Nir Simionovich
CEO and Founder
Greenfield Technologies Ltd.
ITEXPO East 2009
“One thing that I'm convinced of is that in good or bad economic times, end users and developers have an insatiable appetite for timely, accurate information and networking opportunities. Obviously, IT Expo East provided this to them."
Mark N. Ricca
Partner and Sr. Analyst
IntelliCom Analytics
ITEXPO East 2009
“While the negatives of an economic downturn are obvious, the current situation creates significant opportunities for those with the right value proposition. New providers that deliver compelling cost savings and/or business value are more likely to gain consideration as business decision-makers are forced to think outside of the box. The current stability concerns impacting some of the traditional providers certainly make that an easier case to make. So I think customers are actively exploring alternatives. There seemed to be a lot of excitement at the show around open source-based solutions and new approaches for reaching small business customers like Microsoft's Response Point solution and partnerships. Historically, market share changes the most during downturns. The differentiated value of emerging approaches will speed this realignment."
Frank Stinson
Partner
IntelliCom Analytics
ITEXPO East 2009
“Great location, in the middle of everything. TMC brings the entire industry together, all under one roof for use to see. Year after year, it keeps getting better. Always a good forum to learn what is going on and see what is new in the industry. The show is a good way to make contacts."
Name Not Provided
ITEXPO East 2009
“I have found the Internet Telephony Conference & Expo to be the best bang for my dollars. I also feel that the size of the ITEXPO is just right! It's not overwhelming and getting into and out of the various sessions is a breeze. I have attended the past two ITEXPO conferences and I have found them to be very informative and very enjoyable."
Alan Swanke
Predictable Network Communications, LLC
ITEXPO East 2009
“The show was great. The crew had a great time and got some great leads. Thanks again to you and the TMC team. See you in LA in the fall."
Dan Koch
Director of Business Development
RNK Communications
ITEXPO East 2009
“ITEXPO was absolutely awesome and we did fantastic business at the show. Please save me a good spot for October!"
Don Palmer
SIP Print
ITEXPO East 2009
“Great show and I felt there was a excellent group of buyers."
Mike Storella
Director of Business Development
snom technology AG
ITEXPO East 2009
“Only a week after "Bloody Monday", dire economic news every day, and travel restrictions at most companies, I have to admit, I headed to this first trade show of the year with trepidation. What would the attendance, the mood be like? I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised! The opening of the show floor was very well attended, and not just for the complimentary refreshments: significant business discussions were going on. Some booths had visitors stacked up three rows back.
The attendance at the sessions the following day was just as good; the pinnacle keynote session (for which the room was quite large to begin with) was standing room only. My fellow lunchtime panelists shared a pre-session concern about the interest level by the pending attendees/diners, but again we were pleasantly surprised not only by the attentiveness but the ensuing questions as well.
The overall air was quite positive and upbeat; people seem to be there to do business! "
Debbie Greenstreet
Director of Service Provider Marketing
Texas Instruments
ITEXPO East 2009
“I just wanted to express our thanks to TMC for putting on a wonderful show and for voting STS Telecom the Best Booth at ITEXPO! The number of qualified leads we received surpassed even our highest expectations. The pre-show support was tremendous as was your team's help at the show. We accomplished our goal of reaching new VARs and expanding our brand recognition. We're already looking forward to next year's show."
Bob Jans
Director of Sales
STS Telecom
ITEXPO East 2009
“Being somewhat addicted to the news channels - I arrived at this Spring's ITEXPO East 2009 with my brain freshly seeded with disastrous economic projections and an expectation that I would hear nothing but bad news from my colleagues in our industry. I will also admit that before heading down I was just a bit pessimistic on the show's attendance numbers, even if the show was Miami Beach in the dead of winter. Heck, the normally warm Miami weather even set a tone with record chilly weather - seemingly appropriate for the economic mood.
If you didn't attend last week's show, however, you really missed something extraordinary. The show and attendees were upbeat, the crowds so much better than I had imagined, and complemented by tons of great conference content, that alone would have kept anyone busy for the entire 3 days. What a great way to start of the year in the VoIP industry.
If you believe that ITEXPO East 2009 is a barometer on how our industry is faring during these gloomy economic times, I am one person who has been converted and will openly attest that our segment is looking good. Armed with my list of over 60 vendors, partners, press, analysts and conference presenters that I wanted to be sure to speak with, I was almost shocked to learn that all were doing much better than just OK, and in fact, some doing record business and very, very busy with new opportunities and promising plans for the future.
I'm not kidding you, everyone's business projections were looking positive and healthy, and every vendor I spoke with said they were getting great leads at the show with real business opportunities deliverable in very near future. From SIP trunking and IP PBX options to Open Source and Class 5 solutions for service providers, this show had it all. Newly added featured content at the 4G Wireless Evolution Conference projected a very positive outlook on the opportunity that broadband wireless will soon bring. This show really had it all - and assured me that at bad as things might seem economically on TV - you couldn't be in a more exciting and promising industry segment than IP Telephony.
"
Bill Kelly
Director of Partner Alliances
TelcoBridges
ITEXPO East 2009
“I thought TMC did a great job picking the speakers. The interaction and Q&A were insightful. They were very knowledgeable and did not get up to promote their products/companies. That is something that happens at a lot of forums and it is not appreciated to sit through a 20-minute advertisement disguised in a session.
I thought you had a good mix of topics on the agenda, overall. Having the wireless track was also a good idea to add to the mix.
Looking forward to October."
Hala Mowafy
Telcordia
ITEXPO East 2009
“Choosing to exhibit the ITEXPO turned out to be a fantastic decision. Not only were we inundated with reseller and channel leads, but our technology staff was able to attend sessions and meet with vendors in our industry. We are definitely looking forward to future shows with TMC."
Cristina Ebert
Director of Marketing & Small Business Sales
Venali Internet Fax Services
ITEXPO East 2009
“Everything did go well at the conference. We were very pleased with the traffic and the number of qualified leads we obtained."
Monica Haley
Marketing Associate
VoicePulse
ITEXPO East 2009
“We were also very pleased to see the many companies looking for business from Latin America."
Greg Hamburg
Director of Sales
Voipswitch
ITEXPO East 2009
“ITExpo was a refreshing bright spot in what can be viewed as a depressing economic environment. The number of attendees and buyers present was really impressive and proves that people really are motivated to improve their business operations during these tough times.
You were even able to dial the temperature outside down to a point where people were motivated to come into the show. Nice job!"
Terry Saeger
SVP & General Manager
Volt Delta Resources, LLC (VoltDelta ®)
Enterprise Services and Solutions
ITEXPO East 2009
http://www.voltdelta.com/VoltDelta-Hosted-Solutions/Solutions
703-629-6391
703-421-1939 fax
“We hope to be a part of this show EVERYWHERE.
P.S. Since we are hiring big time, I was also able to fill a couple of positions - saved me the time and money to advertise - I had people come to ME instead of me go to them.
It was truly the place to meet Vendors, Clients, Dealers and seal in relationships that would go well beyond 2009."
Pierre Kerbage
VP of Sales & Marketing
Zultys, Inc.
ITEXPO East 2009