{"id":34401,"date":"2019-05-09T12:13:14","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T19:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=34401"},"modified":"2019-05-09T12:13:19","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T19:13:19","slug":"the-educational-experience-attendees-panelists-chart-the-value-of-itex-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2019\/05\/the-educational-experience-attendees-panelists-chart-the-value-of-itex-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"The Educational Experience: Attendees, Panelists Chart the Value of ITEX 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the heels of last week\u2019s first-person account of ITEX\n2019, we thought it would be productive to survey a few of the people who\neither attended, sat on a panel or both, to gauge their feelings as to the\nannual show\u2019s effectiveness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, ITEX 2019 received good marks, along with some\nconstructive criticism. We\u2019ll start with West McDonald, who cruised the show\nfloor and sat in on a panel discussing the necessary steps to doing seat-based\nor device-based billing platforms for print. McDonald, now the vice president\nof business development for Tigerpaw Software, is a familiar face on the show\ncircuit and a veteran of past ITEX expos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
West McDonald, Tigerpaw Software<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

McDonald, who penned his own blog<\/a> 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 \u201csales pitch\u201d mentality that can be an unfortunate reality with community-driven talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really important. I think we\u2019re at a place in the\nmarketplace now where a lot of people feel there is nothing left to learn,\u201d\nMcDonald noted. \u201cThat couldn\u2019t be farther from the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Good and Bad<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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, McDonald feels the day and a half format doesn\u2019t work as well, particularly given the smaller size of the exhibit hall relative to other expos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To continue his thought on the format, closing the expo hall\nwould add more value to the half-day exhibit, especially for those who spent\nmuch of their time learning on the first day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McDonald feels the industry needs to avail itself of the\neducational and networking opportunities ITEX presents. The belief that the\nshow \u201cisn\u2019t what it used to be\u201d comes from the belief that there\u2019s nothing new\nto be gained by going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all need to do a better job of being inspired, growing\nour businesses and making a difference,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we do that, ITEX will be\na better show because we\u2019ll be a better industry. That\u2019s on us, not on (show\nowner) Marc Spring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transformation\nConversation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mike Fair, Impact<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One dealer that came out in full force was Impact of Lake\nForest, Illinois. Mike Fair, vice president of managed print services for\nImpact, was among a group of executives who sought to learn about innovation\nand transformation in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a leader in the industry, it\u2019s important to see what other\ndealers, partners and vendors are doing and what they see for the future in the\ndifferent segments of our business,\u201d Fair said. \u201cOur Director of Strategic\nServices, Doug Green, was a panelist in one of the breakout sessions\nregarding cloud solutions, and it was great to see him deliver his expertise in\nfront of other leaders. We are looking forward to the extension of this event\nas we move into a new age of managed services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another familiar face on the office technology show tour is\nChip Miceli, president of Pulse Technology in Des Plaines, Illinois, who was at\nthe IBPI meeting but also did a couple of dealer panels during the educational\nseminars. Like McDonald, he was heartened by the strong attendance for subjects\nsuch as MPS and the Staples-DEX Imaging union that has garnered much attention\nthe past few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ears to the Ground<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody wants to know what the next step is and what they\nneed to learn to go on and be successful,\u201d Miceli noted. \u201cThat\u2019s what the whole\nindustry is looking for: do I stick around in this business and try to make it\nwork, or do I sell out and go on my merry way?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chip Miceli\nPulse Technology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Miceli is surprised that there are still a lot of dealers\nlooking for education on the MPS front, but he wasn\u2019t shocked at the flock of\nattendees wanting to know what the ramifications of the Staples\u2019 union will be\nin the long run. He also sat in on a panel about statistics on the second day,\nbut attendance was not as brisk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople tend to come for the first day, then go home or go\ngamble,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the heels of last week\u2019s 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\u2019s effectiveness. Overall, ITEX 2019 received good marks, along with some constructive criticism. We\u2019ll 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 \u201csales pitch\u201d mentality that can be an unfortunate reality with community-driven talks. \u201cThat\u2019s really important. I think we\u2019re at a place in the marketplace now where a lot of people feel there is nothing left to learn,\u201d McDonald noted. \u201cThat couldn\u2019t be farther from the truth.\u201d 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, McDonald feels the day and a half format doesn\u2019t work as well, particularly given the smaller size of the exhibit hall relative to other expos. 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 \u201cisn\u2019t what it used to be\u201d comes from the belief that there\u2019s nothing new to be gained by going. \u201cWe all need to do a better job of being inspired, growing our businesses and making a difference,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we do that, ITEX will be a better show because we\u2019ll be a better industry. That\u2019s on us, not on (show owner) Marc Spring.\u201d 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. \u201cAs a leader in the industry, it\u2019s 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,\u201d Fair said. \u201cOur 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.\u201d 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 \u201cEverybody wants to know what the next step is and what they need to learn to go on and be successful,\u201d Miceli noted. \u201cThat\u2019s 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?\u201d Miceli is surprised that there are still a lot of dealers looking for education on the MPS front, but he wasn\u2019t shocked at the flock of attendees wanting to know what the ramifications of the Staples\u2019 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. \u201cPeople tend to come for the first day, then go home or go gamble,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":26159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34401"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34404,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34401\/revisions\/34404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}