On the heels of last week’s first-person account of ITEX 2019, we thought it would be productive to survey a few of the people who either attended, sat on a panel or both, to gauge their feelings as to the annual show’s effectiveness.
Overall, ITEX 2019 received good marks, along with some constructive criticism. We’ll start with West McDonald, who cruised the show floor and sat in on a panel discussing the necessary steps to doing seat-based or device-based billing platforms for print. McDonald, now the vice president of business development for Tigerpaw Software, is a familiar face on the show circuit and a veteran of past ITEX expos.
McDonald, who penned his own blog on his experiences at the show, was encouraged by the classes he attended, many of which were standing room only. He felt the presentations were more educational and lacked the “sales pitch” mentality that can be an unfortunate reality with community-driven talks.
“That’s really important. I think we’re at a place in the marketplace now where a lot of people feel there is nothing left to learn,” McDonald noted. “That couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
The Good and Bad
He also enjoyed the show floor and the solutions vendors, along with the opportunity to catch up with the many friends and colleagues in attendance. Conversely
As a suggestion, McDonald would like to see ITEX close the show floor while the educational sessions are taking place. That would enable and encourage the vendors to attend the sessions as well as opposed to managing booths. He likes that CompTIA closes its show floor during ChannelCon to allow attendees and booth holders the chance to take in the educational tracks, and encourages ITEX to follow suit.
To continue his thought on the format, closing the expo hall would add more value to the half-day exhibit, especially for those who spent much of their time learning on the first day.
McDonald feels the industry needs to avail itself of the educational and networking opportunities ITEX presents. The belief that the show “isn’t what it used to be” comes from the belief that there’s nothing new to be gained by going.
“We all need to do a better job of being inspired, growing our businesses and making a difference,” he said. “If we do that, ITEX will be a better show because we’ll be a better industry. That’s on us, not on (show owner) Marc Spring.”
Transformation Conversation
One dealer that came out in full force was Impact of Lake Forest, Illinois. Mike Fair, vice president of managed print services for Impact, was among a group of executives who sought to learn about innovation and transformation in the industry.
“As a leader in the industry, it’s important to see what other dealers, partners and vendors are doing and what they see for the future in the different segments of our business,” Fair said. “Our Director of Strategic Services, Doug Green, was a panelist in one of the breakout sessions regarding cloud solutions, and it was great to see him deliver his expertise in front of other leaders. We are looking forward to the extension of this event as we move into a new age of managed services.”
Another familiar face on the office technology show tour is Chip Miceli, president of Pulse Technology in Des Plaines, Illinois, who was at the IBPI meeting but also did a couple of dealer panels during the educational seminars. Like McDonald, he was heartened by the strong attendance for subjects such as MPS and the Staples-DEX Imaging union that has garnered much attention the past few months.
Ears to the Ground
“Everybody wants to know what the next step is and what they need to learn to go on and be successful,” Miceli noted. “That’s what the whole industry is looking for: do I stick around in this business and try to make it work, or do I sell out and go on my merry way?”
Miceli is surprised that there are still a lot of dealers looking for education on the MPS front, but he wasn’t shocked at the flock of attendees wanting to know what the ramifications of the Staples’ union will be in the long run. He also sat in on a panel about statistics on the second day, but attendance was not as brisk.
“People tend to come for the first day, then go home or go gamble,” he noted.
