It's a VAR Camp Canadian Tour!

I figured I'd check in for those of you who continue to check in with the news of our next three VAR Camps coming to three different Canadian cities. We're in various stages of planning for them, but here's what I've got for you so far:

VAR Camp Vancouver - August 19, 2008
Our first VAR Camp in the Vancouver area! Join Ingram Micro sales and marketing, along with soon-to-be-announced vendor partners, for a brief evening of food, drink, and networking. Only two hours of your time offers direct access to ask the questions you want to the vendors that matter to you.

VAR Camp Toronto - September 4, 2008
We're underway a little early this time around with our 10-minute vendor seminars and open Q&A, including our guest speakers Suzanne MacDonald and Paul Vandenegel from Ingram Micro's Credit department. Why start early? Because from there we're moving into a full guided tour of our 500,000 square foot distribution centre! Finally, we'll join the Reseller BBQ and Vendor Fair event in progress where you'll enjoy some great BBQ food and an opportunity to meet some of our new and emerging vendor partners.

VAR Camp Montreal - September 5, 2008
Enjoy 10-minute seminars with open forum Q&As with our select vendor partners followed by access to the exclusive Components event, normally offered only to our system builder resellers. Food and drink are provided.

We're On, Rain or Shine

VAR Camp has arrived and we get underway tonight at 5:30 here at the crossing of 77 Foster Crescent and 55 Standish Court in Mississauga. A heads-up to all that the event will go forward rain or shine, although we're told the rain should end any minute now and make way for clearer skies for the afternoon drive.

See you there!

Full Speaker List Announced

We're one week away from VAR Camp here in Mississauga and I'm happy to report that our list of five speakers is complete. Although the speaking portion of VAR Camp will only run a little over an hour next week I'm happy to report we've secured a pretty solid list of speakers on some interesting topics for you. Here's the agenda:

5:30 Registration, Networking, Food and Drink
6:00 Introductions
6:05 Green Productivity with Andrea Dwight, Andrea Dwight and Associates
6:20 Open Forum with Matt Organ, HP SMB Sales Specialist
6:35 Best Engineered PCs with Corey McGowan, Lenovo Canada
6:50 Why Lexmark with Vito Tacogna, Lexmark
7:05 Business Intelligence with Seena Gill and Sandra Murphy, Ingram Micro

Keep in mind all seminars are only 10 minutes long and followed by an open forum to help you get answers to questions or some helpful business building advice. Matt Organ's Open Forum means no presentation at all, simply open time for you to get answers straight from HP. All times are estimates so arrive early to get some food and drink and a good seat!

Guest Speaker for VAR Camp II

It's my pleasure to announce our guest speaker for next Tuesday's VAR Camp here in Mississauga; our event will kick off with Andrea Dwight of Andrea Dwight & Associates who'll be speaking briefly about Green Productivity. Andrea Dwight & Associates is a firm focused on business planning, energy assessments, lean manufacturing programs, process and efficiency assessments, and the aforementioned green productivity. I had the pleasure to meet Andrea at the recent Green Living Show and was fascinated by some of the things her firm can do when it comes to advisory on "greening your business" and trimming down that bottom line. Be sure to arrive early for food and drink and to catch Andrea's presentation and open forum!

VAR Camp Toronto II Is Coming!

Good news for our Toronto-area resellers as our second VAR Camp is scheduled and we're booking up speakers right now. Hold Tuesday, June 3 free in your calendar when things get underway at 5:30PM with some more great food and drink.

At our March meeting you asked for more information on our business intelligence and lead generation department and I'm happy to report Seena Gill will be a speaker at this event talking about just that. If you've got any questions in advance I'll be sure to pass them along.

Confirmed guests also include Hewlett-Packard, SMB Alliance, Ingram Micro Publications, Infrastructure Technology Solutions Division, and Partner Smart Rewards. Stay tuned for more announcements, and our official invite to come very soon.

Cheers,
Rick.

Thanks for Attending VAR Camp!

Allow me to thank everyone who attended our first VAR Camp this past Monday night, I've heard extremely positive feedback in the 36ish hours since we closed the doors and it's got me excited about our next one in June. Hopefully you won't mind a small survey in the coming week to illicit a bit of feedback so we can ensure the June event is even better!

Some extra special thanks to HP for providing some great food and drink, to Cameron's Brewing for driving through the sleet and snow to make their delivery and ply us with their fine Auburn and Cream Ale, and to Alexander S Bosika of MobileMonday Toronto for his insight and advice towards the art of corporate networking. I'll be at his venture capital event on Monday, I'll look forward to seeing a few of you who'd noted you planned to attend as well!

Sandra and Ankit have told me they'll have some information to you as soon as today on the marketing services offering, and Seena Gill of our Business Intelligence team has already accepted my request to speak in June. Should be a good show!

Cheers,
Rick.

The Show Must Go On!

If you're checking the site today it's probably to find out if the weather is bringing us down. The good news (I think) is that it's not - VAR Camp will go on as planned.

Our speakers have all indicated to me they'll be able to make it, and the Cameron's truck is scheduled to arrive any minute with an ample supply of Auburn Ale and Cream Ale. I should note there's Coca-Cola and bottled water for those that prefer a non-alcoholic selection. The food is ordered and will arrive just about the same time as our guests.

Hope to see you at 5:30! We're exceptionally easy to find at Hurontario and Britannia in Mississauga, or click here for a Google map.

Cheers,
Rick.