If you’d never heard of quantum computing before attending the Executive Connection Summit (ECS) last month, then you certainly got a crash course in one of the major technologies destined to change the landscape of the business community and beyond. But if Sean Brehm’s hour-long presentation on the conference’s second day left your brain a little flummoxed, take heart. You weren’t alone.
While Brehm’s “Authentic Intelligence” program was definitely an advanced class in AI and quantum computing, there was ample technology and industry-related talk to go around for the 300ish attendees who took in the four-day event at the picturesque Scottsdale Resort and Spa at McCormick Ranch from Jan. 12-15. It was a who’s who of the office technology dealer space, and the manufacturer-agnostic event reeled in OEM speakers from Sharp to Xerox to Toshiba and Konica Minolta. There were 20-plus presentations spanning from Sunday’s press conference through Wednesday’s wrap-up meeting.
Dozens upon dozens of speakers paraded through the McCormick Ranch conference room, punctuated by sponsor presentations and networking breaks throughout the event. The conference was capped by a golf outing on the afternoon of the final day.
Here are just a few of the highlights:
- Mike Saraille, CEO of the Talent War Group—as well as a veteran Navy SEAL—roused the morning crowd with a presentation titled “From Battlefield to Boardroom.” These are the type of presentations have always played well at business conferences; in 2017, retired SEAL Brent Gleeson gave a similar talk at the BTA Grand Slam event in Philadelphia, and there have been others in between. There are ample parallels between battle and business, from strategy to execution, evolving plans and forsaking outdated approaches. Saraille is an excellent storyteller, and kept his audience on the edge of its seats.
- The show had a strong youth movement, beginning with Impact Networking’s “Adopting the Everyday Warrior Mindset in the Boardroom.” Emceed by longtime Impact honcho Frank Cucco, the panel showcased the firm’s burgeoning youth leadership, from new President Mike Lepper to Anthony Cucco and Ashley Barnes. They’re taking the baton to help fulfill the company’s ultimate goal of becoming a billion-dollar dealership. Not surprisingly, managed IT—an area that accounts for about half of the firm’s revenues, will play a prominent role in the quest.
- Continuing the next-gen theme was a panel presentation from the Breakout Team, the young men and women who are setting the stage for future dealer growth via diversifications (and a subset of The Consortium). The panel borrowed from ABC’s Shark Tank program, where entrepreneurs pitch potential lucrative product and service ideas to the group of investors (sharks). Moderated by Konica Minolta’s Laura Blackmer, six entrepreneurs (Lauren Hanna, Stephanie Keating-Phillips, Brice and Blake Renegar, Ben and Kory Philpot) made their cases to the Breakout Team sharks—noted industry personalities Greg Goldberg (BTA), Kate Kingston (Kingston Training Group), Cameron Fisher (GreatAmerica Financial Services), Kyle Spriegel (ARCOA Group) and Jenna Stramaglio (ConnectWise).
The diversifications included many of the popular options. Blue Technologies’ Hanna made a thorough argument in favor of managed IT, and Phillips (AIS-Minnesota) delivered a strong case for production print. The Renegar brothers of Kelly Office Solutions pitched cybersecurity, and the Philpots (Precision Duplicating Solutions) touted the virtues of water systems. Not surprisingly, all four diversifications were selected. Blackmer put the concept of diversification into the context of dwindling page counts on the print side, noting, “I look at diversification not to add revenue and profit, but to replace revenue and profit.”
- Speaking of Konica, CEO Sam Errigo offered up his own take in an afternoon session, touting the importance of net-new for growth and diversification’s role in it, observing “It’s not too late, but it’s late” for those dealers still on the fence. Errigo followed suit with many of the conference’s presentations in pointing out the growing role of AI moving forward (fellow OEM execs Larry White of Toshiba and Mike Marusic of Sharp did likewise).
- In his second day presentation, White drew the conversation back toward print, noting it’s still an $81 billion opportunity. Toshiba’s been riding down the printing side streets of label and receipt units for a number of years. TABS has enjoyed 166% growth in that space since 2017, according to White. Thermal is also on the rise, and he pointed out the company has posted 24.5% growth in MPaaS in the last two years. TABS’ solutions business is up 74% since 2017 as well.
