This article originally appeared in the Nov. 2011 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY.
In order for your company to win the marketing game, accurate industry information is critical. Some of that information can be hard to come by unless you have access to the right people and organizations. At ITEXPO (News - Alert) West in Austin I was reminded of a phrase used by the New York State Lottery – “You cannot win if you do not play”. This column will cover my personal experience for a single 24-hour period and how ITEXPO made me a winner.
The clock starts with The First Annual CMO Summit at ITEXPO West, 2011, hosted by Rich Tehrani (News - Alert), CEO of TMC, on Tuesday evening, Sept. 13. Fortunately I was seated next to Fred B. Campbell, president/CEO of the Wireless Communications Association International. Fred shared with me his considerable knowledge of the global wireless broadband industry and the importance of associations for SMBs. Fred pointed out that “Trade associations are a critical and cost-effective resource for companies that need expertise in Washington. An association can serve as your eyes, ears, and a voice in government affairs.”
The opening speaker was Brad VanAuken, the chief brand strategist of The Blake Project. Frankly, I was simply amazed by the amount of essential information presented in such a short period of time. Brad emphasized that first you need to identify and profile your target market and added “Strong brands make promises to their target customers and require customer insight that is gained primarily through comprehensive market research”.
The second speaker, Shawna Vercher (News - Alert), served as a technology advisor to Gov. Jeb Bush and on the national Presidential Campaign for Barack Obama. Shawna’s topic was marketing via social media. Ms. Vercher spelled out the areas where social media is the most effective and also identified some potential pitfalls. For example, if you have a personal social media persona, it will be almost impossible to separate that from your business social media activities, so be very careful about what you post.
On Wednesday I attended the SIP Forum (News - Alert) “State of SIP and IP Communications” session. Several SIP Forum leaders, including SIP Forum Director Mary Barnes, provided detail-packed presentations. Mary provided a high-level summary of IETF Working Group activities, including some estimated dates for several project completions and release dates for the accompanying RFCs. Presentations also covered the latest proceedings of the Fax-over-IP Task Group, including the joint T.38 interoperability testing program with i3 Forum members.
The sessions and experts listed above are only a few of those I encountered in a single 24-period of a three-day conference.
Want to play and win? Visit ITEXPO East in February.
Max Schroeder is senior vice president of FaxCore (News - Alert) Inc. (www.faxcore.com).
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Edited by Stefania Viscusi
