A Week at the Races

From the starting gates to the final furlong, it was another successful virtual event for the Network Group community last week. Education and entertainment have been the pillars of success in these events, which couldn’t have happened without the ongoing support of our members and partners.

We started at the post in anticipation of our first day, with an update from Chairman Perry Ashby before breezing into partner workshops. ConnectWise, Datto, and Inbay joined us for some exciting updates and education.

Day two brought us a change of format, having previously hosted speed-pitches at both in person and virtual events, we changed to 30-minute roundtables featuring six of our vendor partners, with members each joining two on the day. This format allowed shorter engagement pieces, while still allowing ample time to present the message and creating more Q&A time to facilitate open conversation. We thank AppRiver, Avast, Terra Computer, Sol Distribution with Alcatel-Lucent, and SonicWall for joining us on the day.

Heading over the halfway hurdle into day 3, we took a virtual trip over to the US with our friends Liongard for an informative webinar on building a revenue team for your MSP. Adam Slutskin led us through the profile of a salesperson and all the way through the sales process.

Shortly after we were under starters orders with racecards at the ready, and pizza & beer aplenty for a proper night at the races. Vendor partners headed up our teams; with Datto, Epson, Grenke, Liongard, Sol Distribution, Privatise, and ITQuoter all vying for their place in the winner’s circle.

Into our betting rings for a team huddle and tactics talk pre-race – do you go for the fancied or favourites, or the dark horse? A few horse (and cheese) races later, with old friends catching up, and new connections made, the networking and fun of the event was unparalleled. We finished up with the Sheep Stakes, and it was no blanket finish, with clear winners being Team Privatise – congratulations to Rafi and the team!

We welcomed long-time friend of the Group, Carl West of GfK, to join us on Thursday morning to share some insights into the economic climate and consumer confidence. A very timely and relevant session for both our MSP and retail focused members, with key takeaways being shared that will no doubt be shaping future plans for members. After a short break, we were very excited to introduce and launch ITQuoter to the Group. Acting CEO Nick Paul joined us with colleagues Gary Henderson, and Matt Phillips to run through the ITQuoter offering and how it will benefit member businesses.

Down the home straight on day 5, with Adrian Webster motivating us on Friday afternoon. Adrian is the son of a Yorkshire coalminer, former milkman, riot police officer, and salesman. He shared his TNT philosophy, that’s Tiny Noticeable Things, along with inspirational leadership tips, delivering outstanding customer service, and more. Adrian’s enthusiasm and inspiring message led to our final session of the week being referred to as ‘one of the best sessions in all the years I have been a member’ – Edward Martin, Edward Martin Computer Services.

Network Group would like to again extend our thanks to our sponsoring partners for joining us and sharing their expertise throughout the week: AppRiver, Avast, ConnectWise, Datto, Epson, Grenke, Inbay, ITQuoter, Liongard, Sol Distribution with Alcatel-Lucent, SonicWall, Terra Computer, and Privatise.

Our next event will take place on 7th & 8th July in a virtual setting. Keep an eye on our website and social media pages for announcements and details.