For MSPs, any given week there is an event. For Trusted Advisors, there is an event every month.

Enterprise Connect moved to Vegas to re-invent itself. They basically moved to the most expensive conference city. There is NOTHING inexpensive about Vegas. $10+ per bottle of water gets really old, really fast. $99 daily resort fees make even $21 per night hotel bills explode. $24 for a slice of pizza and a Pepsi. And don’t try ordering room service because with fees and mandatory tips, a couple of eggs will approach $60.

The problem with an expensive venue is that it adds to the equation of the ROI.  If you are already questioning the trip, it can become the deciding factor.

Channel Partners had meeting rooms everywhere – on all three floors of the Venetian. Some vendors like T-Mobile and Lumen had multiple rooms. [Comment on T-Mobile: I understand Lumen bringing the overwhelming presence, but I couldn’t figure out what T-Mo was pushing. It wasn’t like they were advertising their fiber joint ventures.]

Every TSD has a show that is likely relevant for their partners. Every MSP vendor has a user conferences that is also germane. New tech – like AI – has its own shows. Then, partners often go to conferences to find customers like CIO events or verticals (think NRA and HIMSS). How do big, general events fit in, especially now?

I go to trade association shows like CCA, FISPA and Fiber Broadband to meet consulting clients, but this isn’t where anyone is going to really learn about emerging tech. At least at FISPA, you can learn about best practices and have a great chance at meeting most attendees. That isn’t true of every show.

To most people, conferences have shrunk down to just networking and meetings.  This is probably why Informa is “may introduce speed networking and/or matchmaking-type meetings” in 2027 and is experimenting with Peer Groups.

Fiber Broadband is looking at exclusive C-Suite sessions. At CVX Expo, we carefully curate the sessions to make them pertinent. I have a Channel Chief dinner at every CVX, so we already check the box for C-Suite session too.

I understand trying to find a reason for someone to attend. I co-founded IGNITE Tamp and BarCamp Tampa Bay, running both of those shows for ten years. It is a lot of work to get great speakers who can tell a relatable story.

Informa and others had a short-sighted view with sessions – and still do. Sponsored sessions were worthless. Who wants to pay to attend commercials?

I have been moderating panels at ITEXPO for 20 years. This last year was no exception: why do panelists say yes to a panel and have NOTHING to say? TELCLOUD and NUMEN put VPs on my panels who literally had nothing to say about the discussion beyond their intro/ad. To all the Marketing/PR folks who shop panels for your company: STOP! You are not doing your brand any favors when the panelist repeats, “I have nothing to add.”  [And as a moderator, you just piss me off.]

This of course doesn’t help sell full access passes to the show. My last panel at ITEXPO was on Vibe Coding and it was packed. It was one of the most interactive sessions I was ever a part of. We need more of THAT!

If you have ever attended a BarCamp, it is an Un-Conference. The agenda is created that morning. In Tampa, we often had more than a dozen rooms to use, so almost anyone could have a session. Some sessions were packed due to the speaker or the topic (or both). When Mark Jaquith would talk about WordPress development, it would be a SRO. Other sessions didn’t generate interest. It is a combination of an interesting session title, compelling subject matter, story-telling and getting to the point quickly.

The Ignite format is very different from the TEDx format. TEDx gives speakers plenty of time to tell a story. Ignite is 20 slides auto-advancing every 15 seconds for a 5 minute talk with one minute till the next speaker starts. Imagine explaining Blockchain in 5 minutes? It was done well. You have to be prepared to give your talk. Practice is required for the timing. There is only a 30 second window for error. Over the 10 years we only had a handful of people go over. If panelists took the time to prepare like Ignite and TEDx speakers, imagine the impact?

Of course, speakers for Ignite are vetted. People apply and many are rejected. If the subject seems too much for 5 minutes. If the summary is unclear, so too will be the talk. Sometimes we would pick topics or speakers just to add something outside the usual. The Ignite speakers have to show up for a dress rehearsal too. If you want to put on a serious show, you have to have serious preparation.

Years ago, some of the better Meetup events were small gatherings to discuss specific topics like Blogging. I organized a bunch of them with specific topics like sales, pitching your company, and more. Interactive is the vital ingredient. Today, many conferences could be reduced to a Meetup event: pick a venue, a date and we’ll all gather there. That is the least organizing you can do.

I know that the shows stress over sessions. Too often that stress is because a booth or sponsorship is in the balance for a panel slot. Right there is where the wheels come off. The content should be walled off from the sponsors. As a show waters down the content (especially with sponsored content), selling full passes gets harder. Now the show is just a gathering place. It isn’t a conference any longer. It is an expo hall. Do you think Apple or Google would ever let their show become just an expo hall? Hell no.

There is an element of entertainment to a conference. Keeping the attendees entertained is how word of mouth spreads. Something interesting or remarkable has to happen for people to talk about it. If you read the LinkedIn posts about CP Expo, it is all about the meetings. Even the speakers don’t post about their session. What does that tell you? The Brand story about your conference is Meetings!

Start with this: What do you want to happen to your attendees? 

When we started BarCamp, as the chief organizer, my main concern was how do we wow the attendees? How do we get them to tweet and post and talk about it? Well, back in 2014 (Year 6), we brought in robots! We had lunch, donuts, coffee, water, a wide variety of people from all walks of life, tee-shirts and after-parties. We had sponsors who gave money, time, speakers and showed up! We had a handful of volunteers who greeted and encouraged people all day, providing direction, introductions and encouragement. There is something to say about Brand Ambassadors for your conference.

One of the best run shows I have attended was ChannelCon by CompTIA. CompTIA is now something else, but the show was well fed, well caffeinated and well thought out. It is also for a specific audience: CompTIA’s MSP members. When you have a persona of the average attendee, it is more likely that you can tailor a conference experience for them.

My first show was ISPCON. Those were fantastic.  My first speaking topic was the 50 Idea in 50 Minutes. The CEO Exchange is an idea that is making a come back.

I helped out with several FISPA Live events. That show has a specific attendee persona that it caters to. Those that do not fit that persona don’t usually get a lot out of the show. But you cannot be everything to everyone. Yet you should be something to a small audience.

Content is easier to curate when you know who you are targeting – what is important to them? Who do they want to hear from? What do they want to learn? What will make them more money? This is generally how I think about Content and have for 25 years.

Often, expo halls remind me of a grocery chain. Put the milk and eggs very far from the front door so people have to walk through the whole store to get them. I understand the reasoning, but resent the store for doing it. It seems like the expo hall is designed to be a maze. There is no order to it.

I just finished the survey for CPExpo26. I’m not sure asking about sustainability will in anyway produce solid feedback about the show.

As an attendee, it comes down to the ROI or the experience. Did I learn something that I can leverage to make $3000 this year? Did I meet someone who will have an impact on me this year?

How to stay relevant? Find out who your Attendee Persona is and figure out how to give them a remarkable experience.

Some other notes:

Peer groups only work if the people in the group are on the same level. It requires a lot of trust to open the kimono. It requires a trained moderator who makes sure people are prepared for each meeting. I have run a few mastermind groups; it is work.

Informa: Maybe provide the partner with a sheet of content. Answer these 8 questions from these 8 sessions and you can get a certificate or a tee-shirt.

Technology is moving at a rapid rate – beyond the ability of most folks to keep up – yet the job of conference creators is to find ways to expose people to that technology. There aren’t enough client use cases, demonstrations and applied knowledge. There’s just marketing slogans.

 

There are a number of pundits discussing CRM systems adding CCaaS and what that means for both CRM and CCaaS.

For my money, CRM systems are mainly crap. They are a closed environment with a lousy UX (user design). They are clunky and create resistance to use. CRM systems are closed for the benefit of the system. Your data is locked in their SaaS. Now you have to pay to access YOUR data in their system. Can you see how stupid that sounds?

To leverage AI, you have to have access to the data. The CRM data is rarely inside an open API environment, because Salesforce or Zoho or whatever want to keep that data inside their system. Now the CRM customers have to use marketplace partners to do anything with THEIR own data.

You want to have AI play with your CRM data? Good luck. Most CRM systems are designed so you have to use their AI Agents and GenAI on YOUR data in their system.

Now CRM providers wants to go to the contact center with their closed system. So now all of your customer data will be locked up. Make it make sense.

CRM software is just a user interface to your SQL data. Today, with Lovable, anyone can design their very own interface to that data. Why be forced to use a clunky interface to input and output your own data? Before the pandemic, SLINGR.io was designing UI’s for businesses to make customer CRM systems. All the customer data sat in an SQL database. Any business that did that would be so far ahead of the game today because all of their data would be in an easily accessible database.

I think for a while, maybe 3 years, SF will win this battle in the enterprise but when Millennials reach the C-suite, that will start to unwind. This generation grew up with the iPhone and don’t like the clunkiness of Windows nor do they like Android – mix that with the advancement of AI coupled with the significance of owning your own data – and this all falls apart.

With CCaaS, while the data is contained in a closed system, the analytics and wallboards allow people to see their data.

Call recording is mixing with AI for transcription, sentiment analysis and more. With the advent of vCons, businesses will be able to own their own call recordings as well as every conversation in a JSON format with metadata. This will be separated from the CCaaS platform, but available to all of the systems: UCaaS, CCaaS, AI and CRM.

Strolid uses vCons to capture omni-channel conversations, record it all, transcribe it all and dump it all into the CRM record (in Zoho). AI touches every conversation for insights and analysis – and ultimately for sales.

When I talked to companies that are Platinum partners with CCaaS vendors, vCons were a way for them to add great value to their customers by giving them their data back and allowing the AI of their choice to eat all the conversational data.

In many ways, the CRM providers are looking for anyway to add value and relevancy, but it is still a closed system.

Ticketing systems have expanded as well. Every software company bloats, making perhaps good-enough software that sits in one interface instead of making an easy open API in order for data to flow. Kind of like 8×8 and Nextiva adding a diet CRM to their CCaaS system.

When you think about it, the bloat doesn’t say much for the category leader, right? If Salesforce made a truly great product that was easy to use and people liked it, there wouldn’t be 1,600 CRM providers in the US alone as of 2025. But  it is the same with any software – there are 2000+ UCaaS providers, many of them also offering CCaaS and CPaaS and soon Agentic AI. There were over 2000 Agentic AI companies funded since 2024. It is a noisy environment for a Buyer to choose from.

I think when you consider the price for both CRM and CCaaS per user and yet the company doesn’t have access to the data. I think THAT will be the swinging point. Some companies have already figured this out and are in the process of extracting themselves from SaaS to Probase and their own LLMs. In a few years, this will be normalized.

All that said, Avaya and Mitel are still around because who would want to godfather the project to replace that rat’s nest of duct tape and bailing wire to move to a more streamlined and modern system? It will be the same with CRM. I remember when Siebel was the enterprise CRM choice. But in this case, Data will be the lifeblood of any organization. At some point all that data will be extracted from silos and SaaS systems and back to the org’s data lake.

From Dave on LinkedIn:

I saw another LinkedIn post about a vendor helping Partners sell to Enterprise.  It is exhausting to see this.

Historically, the Channel was built to handle SMB. Cisco and Microsoft had locked accounts – government, education, manufacturing, and  Enterprise. That left the certified partners 99.8% of the market to service and sell to.

When I started as a telecom agent in 1999 selling BellSouth, partners could not sell to Large Business because SMB funded the commissions. There were many businesses that Partners were locked out of.

Alternative vendors like CLECs opened it up for partners but even the alternative vendors had channel conflict come up with Education, Healthcare and Large business.

There is another part of this that most don’t grasp. Agents or Trusted Advisors are very small business. They typically sell to other small business. They like the transactional nature of telecom. Quick sales. Quick commissions. Not much pre-sales work or post-sales work. This goes for broadband, POTS, SIP Trunks, and the like.

One key point: they are Motivated by this activity of getting ink frequently.

Now go up the ladder to UCaaS. Pre-sale work, post-sale work, longer sales cycle, follow up required. SPIFFs with qualifiers. Commission or SPIFF clawbacks. Now this is getting complicated — and we are still selling to small business.

Note that more sales skills are required as you go up the ladder of products and services. Not every partner has those sales skills. Not every partner is going to remain motivated to sell those services.

To get to Enterprise, as a sales rep you have to like the long game. You have to enjoy the dance. The budget cycles, the networking, the follow up, the planning. In many cases, there are expense management projects that must be done in order to win the deal. Not every partner wants to handle TEM.

The sales cycle is longer, but so is the pay out… maybe.

Enterprises like to do pilots or POC (proof of concept) which largely are not commissionable. This is more time in the sales cycle. More effort. More follow up. More risk. All without getting paid.

I have done enterprise. I don’t enjoy it. Figuring out which project is real – or more precisely, which project the CTO or CIO or VP of Whatever is being bonused on. There isn’t much about selling to Enterprise I enjoyed. There are partners who do enjoy it. And the super-agencies like Bridgepointe, Upstack and Bluewave are built to support that kind of sales cycle and prospect. The smaller agencies may not be.

I have found that the larger clients require a lot of post-sales work. After the sale, I have had to track inventory for the client; handle all support tickets; maintain historical data for when the IT Admin cycles; and so much more. They also are slow payers. I spend more time chasing payments for large clients than I do for small ones. When they don’t pay, the partner doesn’t get paid.

Historically, partners were built for SMB and that is why about 85% still sell to SMB. When you consider that 99.8% of the market is SMB, someone has to service to that segment. Partners, especially smaller agencies, are motivated by quick hits. They aren’t looking for a home run or a touchdown. They like hitting singles or catching a 5 yard slant. SMB all day, every day.

When you have a large client, a lot of your revenue comes from one customer. That isn’t a great strategy.

 

We are almost done with Q1 in 2026. It went by fast. Most of the air in the room has been about AI. Let me take a stab at where opportunity lies with partners for Q2 and beyond.

There are 400M Office365/Microsoft Teams users globally. Maybe 30M are voice-enabled. That leaves a big opportunity to add voice and texting to Teams – even as small as a 9 person office!

Copper is going away. I know we have been hearing it for years, but by the end of 2029, AT&T is expecting it to all be retired. The FCC has approved this. POTS Replacement is hitting mainstream as ads are going to businesses about the retirement. That’s about 8M lines. Don’t forget FWA (fixed wireless access – 5G, satellite and mmWave.

MDU – dorms, apartments, condo complexes, senior housing and other multi-dwelling units. With the housing crisis, more and more apartments are being built. There is always an opportunity to sell internet, voice, managed wi-fi, physical security, and smart building.

Colocation is big right now. Moving IT infrastructure into data centers is still happening especially with businesses who are repatriating servers from the cloud due to cost, security or compliance. Smart businesses are using private LLMs. Best place for cooling, power and bandwidth = data center.

CX (Customer eXperience) – if you can do solution selling – is a large opportunity. Businesses are uplifting from UCaaS and CCaaS to CX and AI. There are a lot of moving parts to this: UC+CC, conversational CRM, chatbots and agents, and data projects. There are many experts at this; don’t feel like you can’t bring one in.

Compliance as a service might be something to consider.

Analytics and Data.

Payments, POS, PCI compliance – this arena is also hot.

Of course, cybersecurity, if you want to go that way. From Pen Testing for Cyber Insurance (SeCAP) all the ways to UTM and other acronyms. Just learning the vernacular takes some time.

Managed IT is also an something the SMB market is hot for.

So many avenues to help businesses with their technology needs.

 

AT&T Pledges $250 Billion for New Infrastructure Improvements.
The company says it’ll invest the money over five years to expand its networks, including a bigger push into rural satellite service.

“AT&T said it will expand its rural coverage through its AST SpaceMobile partnership,” which isn’t exactly expanding the 5G network.

AT&T is buying spectrum from Echostar for $23B. DISH was supposed to build the 4th cellco but Charlie crashed and burned. Now Charlie is selling off DISH/Echostar spectrum to pay down debt.

But AT&T will rely on satellite connectivity for rural according to the news.

“The company also said in its spending announcement that it’ll continue building out FirstNet, an emergency network built specifically for first responders that includes built-in security controls.”

AT&T already spends $6B on legacy and $20-22B on 5G and IP networks annually. So that is half the $250B total. Add in the $23B for spectrum and the $5.75B for Lumen’s FTTH business and we are more than halfway there. This announcement sounds great but when you boil it down, they expanded territory with the Lumen purchase and they still have a lot of copper to replace with fiber.

They are third in cellular behind VZW and T-Mo. They need to do some work shoring up the 5G network to compete.

In comparison of a different 5 year span, “AT&T invested more than $145 billion in its wireless and wireline networks between 2019 and ​2023 as ​telecom operators raced to expand high-speed connectivity.” [source]

With $136B in debt how does $125B more make sense over 5 years?

Also, “AT&T has secured the largest share of BEAD funding for fiber build‑outs, winning about $1.06 billion, according to New Street Research.” It will need to match 30% – or $300M not B.

AT&T operating income fell 7.25% to $6.1B in Q3 2025 despite fiber broadband revenue growing 16.8%. AT&T’s Advanced Connectivity segment produces 95% of EBITDA and grows at 6% annually versus 3% consolidated.

The FCC is about to rule that the ILECs can decommission copper faster. That certainly helps the POTS Replacement group – Granite, Ooma, Telcloud. It accelerates the amount of fiber AT&T has to deploy at a time when they are shutting off high-high margin customers on the copper network.

Side note: cellular, fiber and advanced services like VoIP are non-union. Traditional telco like copper was CWA union work. The faster they get rid of copper, the faster they get rid of the union.

Some AT&T stockholders are peeved because AT&T lost $47B on media assets sold in 2022. The Ellison family is now acquiring those assets for $111B. “AT&T acquired the bundle for $108.7 billion in 2018 and exited for roughly $43 billion in 2022, booking a $47 billion loss in the process. The Ellison family is now paying $111 billion for those same assets.”

AT&T (the LD carrier) bought cable companies in the late 1990s from TCI and MediaOne – names AT&T Broadband – before selling it to Comcast in 2002.