Derek Vaughan provides us with a comprehensive review of HostingCon 2007 and even looks forward to next year.
HostingCon 2007 has recently concluded in Chicago, Illinois - and Web Host Directory, in coordination with the hosting and dedicated server experts at The Hosting News, offers this summary and overview as presented by the attendees, exhibitors, and speakers themselves.
First, the particulars - HostingCon 2007 was held in Chicago at the Navy Pier from July 23-25, 2007. The event featured educational and speaking sessions, networking opportunities and events, and a large exhibit hall populated by vendors serving the web hosting community. This year's event had the theme 'The Future of Hosted Services' and the speaking and educational sessions supported this directive. Here is what those on the ground in Chicago had to say about this year's show.
According to Aaron Phillips, Vice President, FastServers.Net, ''HostingCon 2007 provided the opportunity for FastServers.Net to connect with current customers, partners and potential clients at the show. Face to face meetings live on the show floor allowed our team to gather solution details, provide live quotes, and win new business with customers around the world. Relationship building is one of the key building points for everyone at FastServers.Net and meeting face to face to provided an accelerated and in depth look at our operations and the people that make things happen. This event provided us the distinct pleasure of making that happen and it carried over with a relaxing cruise to continue talks, answer more questions, and socialize with 360 guests of HostingCon 2007.
In regards to other happenings at the show, I sincerely enjoyed the 'Power House' dinner provided by TechPad Agency. This brought together the top leaders in the industry into a smaller gathering that provided us an intimate look into personalities and thoughts on the web hosting industry, specifically from a marketing perspective. This even was not only educational in nature, it provided (at least one table) with non-stop laughter for a couple hours straight and brought a new meaning to 'root'.
Joe Bardenheier, Vice President of Corporate Development at the Endurance International Group commented, ''I really enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm of the attendees and the show. It seemed like people were getting business done and having fun as well. Everyone we met with were key decision makers. As a speaker in three sessions, one on each day, I felt that they were all well attended, even the early morning and late Wednesday ones. The audience participated and asked some great questions.''
George Roberts, Show Organizer and CEO of Interjuncture summed up his thoughts about this year's HostingCon, ''We are really happy with how the show turned out this year. We had record attendance numbers again this year, great networking and business being done, and some really great and thought provoking sessions. We've gotten really good feedback on our keynotes from this year, and the surprise visit of late night TV host Carson Daly during Richard Rosenblatt's keynote was great too!"
"We had great turnout at our networking events - approximately 750 on Monday evening and 500 at the barbecue on Wednesday. We'd like everyone to save the dates for HostingCon 2008 - July 28-30, 2008. We'll post more information on our blog, including photos from this year's event, at: www.hostincon.com/connect/info/blog/.''
Ben Fisher, Vice President, TechPad Agency - a speaker and exhibitor at the show added, ''The highlights of the show had to be the networking events. Seeing everyone that we have worked with for years and really having a chance to deepen existing relationships was fantastic. Business can be conducted virtually, but a face to face meeting conveys so much more. We attended the TopHosts/Fastservers cruise and the barbecue on Wednesday evening, both were a lot of fun and we definitely want to thank the people responsible!
Overall the show appeared from the outside as a flawless event, big kudos to the staff at Interjuncture, Sue Church, Frank Spaulding and George Roberts really put forth a huge amount of energy to make HostingCon 2007 a success - and it showed. We had a lot of fun speaking and were told we delivered some great value during the presentations on Monday. Also, many of the sessions and keynotes were applauded by attendees as being of high caliber. We are looking forward to HostingCon 2008!''
Troy Augustine, President and CEO of iNET Interactive (owners of www.WebHostingTalk.com) mentioned the following, ''HostingCon, as always, is a great way for us to meet with our clients and partners in what is otherwise a largely virtual industry. Of course, we also launched the Web Hosting Wiki at HostingCon as well.''
Takeshi Eto, VP Marketing and Business Development with asp.net web hosting provider DiscountASP.NET viewed the show as an attendee and had the following observations: "As a Windows Hosting provider, it was great to see Microsoft in full force at HostingCon and to be able to interact with their team and learn more about Microsoft's next wave of innovation. It was interesting to hear Analysts, Marketers, Technology Vendors, and Hosting Service Providers discuss their take on the future trends of the Hosting Industry during the keynotes and sessions.''
Lou Honick, CEO with HostMySite.com was tapped to speak in both an individual session, and as a panelist in one of the keynote presentations. Here's Mr. Honick's summary of Hostingcon 2007, ''I think the highlight of HostingCon was the keynote panel. Not that I’m biased or anything, but it essentially became a discussion of where the industry has been and how web hosts need to evolve to remain relevant. I enjoyed participating and debating the future technological direction of our industry. While we may have disagreed on where things are headed in terms of technology, I think we all agreed that it is important for hosts improve the focus of their business by soliciting and integrating feedback from their customers into their operations and strategy. Our customers are the ones who will truly shape the direction of this industry over the next 5 years, and the hosts that succeed will be the ones that listen the best and execute well based upon that information.
Overall, I was very impressed by the conference. I think the community spirit of our industry is impressive. It isn’t often that you find an industry so fiercely competitive, yet still full of professionals willing to share ideas in the interest of bettering the community as a whole. The sessions were very well executed and relevant to the industry in general, but I'd like to see a greater focus on managed hosting and the enterprise market at future conferences. HostingCon 2007 was a also great opportunity for networking and I would highly recommend future conferences to others in the industry.''
Gabriel Murphy, Chief Executive Officer with Aplus.Net was also a participant in the conference and could be seen reviewing vendors on the floor of the exhibit hall. Here are Mr. Murphy's comments, ''HostingCon is always time well spent. The sessions are usually informative and, even as the head of a major hosting firm with a decade of experience under my belt, I often come away with a renewed perspective and some ideas I hadn't had before. Perhaps that's because this industry, and technology in general, changes so rapidly, that it’s essential to network within the community in order to get a real perspective on where the industry is, and where it's going. To that end, HostingCon remains an essential resource to the entire web hosting community.
The speakers were very informative. HostingCon does a great job of reaching out to those leaders within the industry who have real expertise and insight, and putting them in the position to help keep the rest of us informed and up to date. And the social events were valuable as well, providing a rare opportunity to get everyone in the industry under one roof and trade ideas, stories, insights, and of course, the occasional attempt at humor.''
One final note - if you are contemplating exhibiting at HostingCon 2008 (July 28-30, 2008) when the event returns to Chicago next year, sign up now. If you commit to reserving your booth space within the next 10 days - you will save 10% off your booth fees. That can add up to real money. Also - the best spots and booth spaces are available now - they will start to get snapped up as time goes on. For any further details use the 'contact' info at www.HostingCon.com.
This content was written by Derek Vaughan and is provided courtesy of The Hosting News.
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