ChannelPro SMB Forum Hosts MSPs in the Nation’s Capital

The 2022 ChannelPro SMB Forum tour, taking place in-person in six cities throughout the U.S., hosted MSPs and integrators in the Washington, D.C., area on September 7-8 at the Hyatt Regency Dulles.  

The two-day event series from The ChannelPro Network features industry-leading experts and channel professionals who address the top subjects MSPs care about—recruiting and hiring, security, growth strategies, sales and marketing, and making money with Microsoft Azure. The sessions, designed to provide actionable, business-building advice, are delivered in interactive, informative, and entertaining formats attendees won’t find at any other industry event. Each event also offers time for networking with peers and a vendor expo hall.

And in a new collaboration with peer group facilitator MSP-Ignite, ChannelPro SMB Forum attendees as well as MSP-Ignite peers participated in a guided, open peer group meeting as part of the pre-day events on Wednesday.

“Bringing MSP-Ignite to our Mid-Atlantic event was a great opportunity for ChannelPro SMB Forum attendees to do even more peer networking in a guided format that allowed them to discuss and get feedback on issues that impact their business,” says Michael Siggins, president and publisher of The ChannelPro Network. “We are excited to have MSP-Ignite join our Los Angeles event on November 2-3 as well.”

The peer group meeting was followed by a sales and marketing workshop hosted by Titanium sponsor Dell Expert Network, which included a Dell Solutions showcase of their latest technology and a $1,000 cash giveaway. A welcome reception was held in the evening.

The main day throughout the year features a social media workshop led by experts from channel legend Janet Schijns’ JS Group. On Thursday, COO Barbara Goworowski coached attendees on proven, practical techniques used by social selling masters. Attendees also get free access to an extensive series of online follow-up lessons.

The rest of the educational sessions included:

The Security Slam—In an edge-of-your-seat presentation, cybersecurity practitioners James Carroll, Zach Hill, and Leia Shilobod told true-life stories of incredible hacks, unforgiveable customer errors, and high-stakes incident responses—experiences attendees can apply to help protect their clients more effectively. Judge and cybersecurity expert Ian Thornton-Trump presided over the storytellers.

Peer to Peer: Winning with Microsoft Azure—MSPs Stephen Monk, CEO of Noverus Innovations, and Luis Alvarez, president and CEO of Alvarez Technology Group, led an audience discussion on providing Microsoft Azure services and solutions, including what to offer and where to begin profiting from Microsoft’s public cloud platform.

The Employee Recruitment Dating Game—In a Sixties-style game show that had audience members laughing and cheering, MSP business owners Luis Alvarez, Charles Henson, and Corey Kirkendoll used their best recruiting skills to woo a potential job candidate during an “interview.” Their entertaining and informative session showed audience members ways to overcome real-world employee interview challenges.

Managed Services Strategy Survivor—The fun continued as three of the industry’s top managed services consultants, Rayanne Buchianico, Allen Edwards, and Shawn Walsh, fielded tough questions about the M&A strategy and more that today’s MSPs need to survive in a changing market. A good time was had by all, even the ones who got voted off the island! A great way to wrap up a great day.

“The ChannelPro SMB Forum content lineup covering the latest trends, technologies, and solutions to help MSPs and their customers achieve business success has been enthusiastically embraced by attendees all year, and our Mid-Atlantic event was no exception,” says Rich Freeman, executive editor of The ChannelPro Network. “Our presenters consistently deliver the information channel pros need, with a lot of fun thrown in to make the day interactive and engaging.”

Attendees also voted to award vendor sponsors in the following categories:

• Best Cloud Solution: CaaB and Egnyte (tie)
• Best Hardware Solution: Dell
• Best New Solution: Pia
• Most Innovative Solution: Pia and Redstor (tie)
• Best Partner Community: Datto
• Best Software Solution: ThreatLocker
• Best Revenue Booster: Gradient MSP
• Best Add-on Product: Breach Secure Now, ConnectMeVoice, Egnyte (tie)
• Best On-Stage Presentation: Huntress
• Best Expo Hall Presentation (Gold and above): ThreatLocker
• Best Expo Hall Presentation (Silver): Redstor
• Best Distributor: Pax8
• Best Product/Tech Support: Datto
• ROI Lightning Round Winner: Redstor
• Best Vendor Participation: 7 Figure MSP
• Best in Show: Redstor

Thanks to our Titanium sponsor Dell Technologies/Dell Expert Network; Diamond sponsor Gradient MSP; Platinum sponsors Fortinet and RapidFire Tools; Sapphire sponsor Datto; Premier Gold Sponsor Huntress; and Gold sponsors Acronis, AppRiver, Axcient, CaaB, ConnectMeVoice, Cytracom, Egnyte, Ingram Micro, Pax8, PC Matic, Quickpass, Sophos, and ThreatLocker.

And thanks to our Silver sponsors 1WorldSync ChannelOnline, 7 Figure MSP, The ASCII Group, audIT, AvePoint, Barracuda MSP, Breach Secure Now, CompTIA, Cyolo, Dark Cubed, Devolutions, Hornetsecurity, MSP360, Nextiva, Nodeware, Ooma, Perimeter 81, Pia, QNAP, Redstor, Seagate Technology, TD SYNNEX, TitanHQ, US Signal, Wildix, and Zorus.

Next up on the ChannelPro SMB Forum tour is November 2-3 in the Los Angeles area. To register, go here.

And don’t miss ChannelPro’s two upcoming live virtual events:

• Business Management Online Summit: Cracking the Growth Code on October 11. To register, go here.
• Cybersecurity Online Summit: Smart Security on December 7. To register, go here

For more information on all ChannelPro events, go to ChannelProEvents.com.