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Hi, good afternoon everybody.
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My name is Carrie Richardson and I am the host of the WIN Podcast.
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With me today is Jennifer Roy, who is the CEO of Nucleus Networks in Vancouver, Canada.
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Jennifer, thanks so much for joining us today.
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We are talking about planning for events like Pax8 Beyond as an MSP, and I'm hoping to give people advice on how they would go about getting the attention of an MSP like Nucleus.
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Tell us a little bit about your history with Nucleus, the business, and then we'll move on to how would someone get Jennifer's attention at Pax 8 beyond.
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Sounds great.
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So I joined Nucleus back in 2001 as the Chief operating Officer and then took over as CEO in January of 2024.
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So I've been with with Nucleus for about four years.
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Been in the space for about 14 years.
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But fairly new to Nucleus.
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As you mentioned, our head office is in Vancouver, but we service all across Canada with offices in Vancouver, Victoria, prince, George Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto.
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We are part of the Lyra group.
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Lyra is our midco that oversees, about 85 MSPs under their umbrella.
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So fairly large ecosystem of managed service providers.
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From my perspective.
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I've got this enormous peer group of people I can learn from and, including the executives and team at Lyra.
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You joined Nucleus in 2021 and you became CEO in 2024.
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What was that transition like?
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Our previous CEO, Martin DesRosiers, he had led Nucleus for a decade.
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I know you're very familiar with Martin.
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So big shoes to fill.
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When I took over in January of 2024 I had worked really closely with Martin up until the transition.
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I'm still today learning 15 months later.
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Still learning new parts of the company that I hadn't been part of before.
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So it's been exciting.
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It's been a lot of hard work.
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But I like hard work, so it's been good.
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Now Lyra's growth trajectory has been impressive, but Nucleus's growth trajectory has also been impressive.
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So how are you maintaining that organic growth cycle?
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You said, I can't remember the exact numbers, but double digit growth three years in a row.
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Yeah, I think actually it's been even longer with double digit growth.
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So very successful.
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I think a big piece of that is having the right partnerships,having the right team members.
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We have an incredible team here.
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A lot of 10 plus(years) tenured employees and management team.
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I'm one of the most recent management team in our organization.
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So almost everybody has been here, 10, 15 years.
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And that really helps us drive success.
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We focus a lot on maturity of the organization, processes, documentation.
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So that has really helped with our growth plans as well.
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And again, strategic partnerships like Pax eight is a really big piece of our growth.
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For people who haven't met Jennifer, you've probably met or interacted with or seen posts from Karl Fulljames online, which brings me to the next question.
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When you're planning to attend an event like PAX eight beyond, how do you, Karl and the rest of your team plan who's going to do what?
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What are your goals going into that event?
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Right, he's incredible.
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I'm very grateful to have him on my team.
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So Karl and I have attended a fair amount of events together, and so what we typically do is divide and conquer for the sessions.
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So we look at the agenda, we go, okay.
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These ones are more technical.
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Karl, you're gonna go to these ones.
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These ones are more operational or sales or marketing.
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Jen will go to these ones.
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So we try to divide and conquer and then share notes at the end of it.
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So usually you'll see us huddled at the airport or on the plane kind of debriefing each other and sharing information.
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And in terms of, the pavilion floors or the vendor floor we try to be pretty strategic.
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We like to look at any booths where maybe we've never heard of a product or we've never explored it.
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So that first pass will be who's new?
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Who do we wanna see?
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We also do a gap analysis before we go Maybe there's vendors we're looking to replace or maybe there's a need that we've identified and we need to have a new strategic partner.
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So our top priorities is who's new and what is our current need and who can help fill those needs.
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What specifically do you look for when it comes to interaction?
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At the event, how do you like someone to approach you?
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What will catch your attention and keep you for five or 10 minutes versus what are the things that you're like"absolutely not.
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The more fun booths will tend to get our attention.
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So if you have a booth where you've got, a game or you've got something that is gonna gauge interest we're gonna stop.
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Or if you have cool swag, I'm not gonna lie, my team really loves swag.
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I'm not as big on swag, but they really love cool swag.
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So that might get us at the booth to keep us at the booth for a longer period of time.
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You're gonna need to have a quick pitch that's gonna give us, a high level overview of what your product is and how it's actually gonna impact my business.
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If you're just, having us walk by and quickly scanning and you're just trying to get a huge number of people versus genuine interactions, the likelihood of me wanting to use your product or wanting to continue the conversation is minimal.
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So really looking for those quick, genuine connections that then will lead to further conversations.
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And how do you like that further conversation to happen?
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How should someone interact with you after the event?
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What are the things that really stand out to you?
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For me, email is usually my preferred method.
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I don't set any rules on my email.
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Everything comes into my inbox.
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So if you email me, I'm gonna receive it.
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And if there's again a need and a genuine reason for me to reach out to you, I'll respond and book time for a demo I know a lot of people go to phone calls.
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I'm okay with phone calls.
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I just, I always ask people to be respectful of the fact I'm in Pacific Time Zone.
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The amount of times I get a 5:00 AM phone call from a vendor and that's so off-putting.
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I might be awake at 5:00 AM but I'm not ready to talk business or be sold to at 5:00 AM So I always prefer an email and then schedule a time with me for a phone call.
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I try to be kind, but I work in technology.
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I answer my phone almost all the time.
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So if you call me at 5:00 AM the chances of me answering are high.
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I try to just start calling people out and saying, Hey, it's 5:00 AM this is not a good time.
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You're not gonna get a well received response from me now.
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Why don't you try calling me in a few hours or better yet, email me and we can have a conversation.
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I often will get vendors that call me that can't service Canada.
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And I'll say, I don't operate in the us.
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And they'll continue to have me on a slow drip email or a phone call every couple of days because they haven't booked a meeting.
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And those, are again off-putting for that particular vendor to, not know their audience and not know who they're contacting.
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So if Nucleus is sponsoring an event themselves versus attending an event, what's your usual approach to follow up?
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I look for the relationship.
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Who has a relationship with that prospect or a client.
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So we're, let's say, doing a client appreciation event.
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Who has the best relationship with that client?
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And then I ask everyone to be very strategic.
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Your clients.
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Do they prefer phone calls?
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Do they prefer emails?
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Do they prefer a text, a teams message?
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Whatever their method of communication is how we should send that invite.
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We send out regular updates to our clients through newsletters and blog posts.
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All of that's done through email.
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But for the most part, I think it's really important we meet clients where they're at.
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What is their preferred method?
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And we actually document that as well, so we know what our preferred method is for each of our clients.
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So are you a"go to coffee and breakfast" person or are you a"stay out late and go to the party person" or are you both?
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I am definitely coffee and breakfast.
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I am usually the first one back in my room at these events.
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I'm an early riser, so I am not out late usually at events.
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Karl.
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You might find him on both sides, but usually I'm just at breakfast.
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And is there a session in particular that you're looking forward to at PAX eight this year?
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I'm looking forward to quite a few of the sessions.
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I'm actually on a couple of the panels at beyond this year.
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I'm obviously looking forward to participating in those panels.
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And then I'm looking forward to the keynote.
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Usually the keynotes are always incredible, the different announcements that are gonna come through.
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And a big piece for me at conferences is the networking.
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I find some of the most value in connecting with my peers in the industry, connecting with different partners.
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That's usually what I look forward to the very most on these events is those genuine connections.
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Tell me about the panels that you're participating in at PAX eight.
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What are the topics and where can people find them if they want to see you?
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So on Sunday I will be part of the woman in tech panel.
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That is Sunday afternoon.
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I think it's at five o'clock.
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Don't quote me on that, but I think it's five o'clock.
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That's a power panel.
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It's gonna be a good one.
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I wouldn't miss that one.
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I am very excited.
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And then I'll also be part of the PAX 8 Premier sports marketing panel with Leif from PAX eight.
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So looking forward to that one as well.
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Nucleus was fortunate enough to work with PAX 8 to do an initiative with the Abbotsford farm team for Vancouver Canucks.
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We've got our logo on the ice and we've been, working with PAX eight on a co-branded marketing initiative.
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So I'll be joining their panel to talk about how that's benefited our business.
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Wow, that's a pretty big sponsorship.
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Incredible.
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It's been great.
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Who else is undertaking large sports marketing initiatives right now in the channel?
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There's three of us on the panel.
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It's me, Lisa Williams from Microsoft.
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Dion McMillian is also on the panel, so it's the three of us on the panel, and then Carrie Schiff will be the one who is Oh yeah, so it'll it's the, sorry.
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The CPO is Dion.
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So Dion is on the panel and then Carrie Schiff, She's moderating it.
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How far in advance do you make plans for things like dinners with vendors?
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How booked is your dance card by the time you hit the floor?
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So typically it's pretty full by the time I arrive.
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But I would say it's hit and miss.
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And I always find it funny who invites me out and who doesn't invite me out.
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And again, I'm not the one staying late at the party, so I will often decline if someone is asking, Hey, do you wanna meet for cocktails at 10:00 PM I don't drink alcohol.
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So a 10:00 PM cocktail hour i'll say, Karl, do you wanna go for a scotch?
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And I'll have a coffee.
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But for the most part, I'll decline those ones.
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So I would say usually I'm pretty booked by the time I, by the time I arrive at the conference, my calendar's gonna be pretty stacked.
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So how far in advance should somebody be connecting with you before a major event like PAX eight Beyond or IT Nation?
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If they want to be assured that you'll be able to join them for a meal or a coffee?
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A week or two.
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I'm starting to get my calendar fairly full right now for Beyond and we're what, 10 days out?
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A week or two is adequate.
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We already got to you, so we're good.
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Yes.
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Yeah, we've got something in the calendar.
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You only have so much time as a vendor as well, so you have to be really strategic.
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I want to invest time in, my friends and peers who I don't see very often, high value prospects that maybe we haven't connected with in person.
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And I don't wanna neglect my current clients for the sake of attracting new clients.
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absolutely.
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I can definitely appreciate that.
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I never take it to heart when an existing vendor maybe doesn't invite me out to dinner or whatnot, and I know that they've had a, a dinner.
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Because I understand first of all that it is strategic and I have lots of touch points with them.
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In addition, on the flip side, my calendar is usually pretty full and there may be strategic partnerships I wanna explore.
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So if I have, competing invites it might make more sense for me to go with a new strategic partner versus an existing one.
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It's definitely a balance.
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This will be my first beyond.
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I've been at the last couple of IT nations.
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So previous large events that you've attended, what's really stuck out for you?
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Let me think.
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At it, nation Threat Locker gave away a Hummer that for sure had a lot of people talking.
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Obviously those big grand gestures are not for everybody.
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And nor does everyone have a budget for a big, huge grand gesture like that.
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But I like the idea of stuff that's unique.
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I think at IT Nation there was someone with a basketball hoop at their booth.
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And, I was traveling with my crew that really enjoys basketball.
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They had fun.
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They made silly videos Having something at your booth that's gonna get people to be interested to stop by is always gonna win.
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Having a conversation starter that maybe has nothing to do with your business is just going to gauge interest and get people to be, curious of why you have a Hummer outside of your booth or why you have a basketball net.
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Keep it interesting.
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Are you usually one to book a demo on the floor for a later time?
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Yes.
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I will often book a demo because my calendar fills really quickly.
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I'd rather just do it.
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I'm usually booking a couple of weeks out and I'd rather book while I'm there, get it in the calendar, get it scheduled and then I know that it's on the books, it's done, and I can cross that kind of off my to-do list.
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Whereas once I get home and then I'm back in, the rhythm of meetings and strategy and building my business, I don't necessarily always have that time to go back.
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Whereas I've invested the time in the conference I'm at.
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I'd rather just book the demo on site.
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That was super helpful.
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I hope that everybody listening that's getting ready for PAX eight beyond got a lot of wisdom from your share.
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Advice on how to prioritize follow-ups and engage with MSPs effectively is always valuable to the community.
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And I thank you very much for spending a little time with us today.
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Thanks so much, Carrie.
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I look forward to seeing you in 10 days.
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Yeah we'll be by the pool.
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Amazing.
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Hi, good afternoon everybody.
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My name is Carrie Richardson and I am the host of the WIN Podcast.
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With me today is Jennifer Roy, who is the CEO of Nucleus Networks in Vancouver, Canada.
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Jennifer, thanks so much for joining us today.
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We are talking about planning for events like Pax8 Beyond as an MSP, and I'm hoping to give people advice on how they would go about getting the attention of an MSP like Nucleus.
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Tell us a little bit about your history with Nucleus, the business, and then we'll move on to how would someone get Jennifer's attention at Pax 8 beyond.
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Sounds great.
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So I joined Nucleus back in 2001 as the Chief operating Officer and then took over as CEO in January of 2024.
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So I've been with with Nucleus for about four years.
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Been in the space for about 14 years.
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But fairly new to Nucleus.
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As you mentioned, our head office is in Vancouver, but we service all across Canada with offices in Vancouver, Victoria, prince, George Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto.
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We are part of the Lyra group.
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Lyra is our midco that oversees, about 85 MSPs under their umbrella.
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So fairly large ecosystem of managed service providers.
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From my perspective.
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I've got this enormous peer group of people I can learn from and, including the executives and team at Lyra.
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You joined Nucleus in 2021 and you became CEO in 2024.
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What was that transition like?
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Our previous CEO, Martin DesRosiers, he had led Nucleus for a decade.
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I know you're very familiar with Martin.
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So big shoes to fill.
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When I took over in January of 2024 I had worked really closely with Martin up until the transition.
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I'm still today learning 15 months later.
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Still learning new parts of the company that I hadn't been part of before.
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So it's been exciting.
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It's been a lot of hard work.
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But I like hard work, so it's been good.
00:02:57.664 --> 00:03:03.484
Now Lyra's growth trajectory has been impressive, but Nucleus's growth trajectory has also been impressive.
00:03:03.844 --> 00:03:09.574
So how are you maintaining that organic growth cycle?
00:03:09.574 --> 00:03:13.804
You said, I can't remember the exact numbers, but double digit growth three years in a row.
00:03:14.929 --> 00:03:17.659
Yeah, I think actually it's been even longer with double digit growth.
00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:19.939
So very successful.
00:03:20.250 --> 00:03:25.049
I think a big piece of that is having the right partnerships,having the right team members.
00:03:25.079 --> 00:03:27.899
We have an incredible team here.
00:03:27.899 --> 00:03:32.269
A lot of 10 plus(years) tenured employees and management team.
00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:35.599
I'm one of the most recent management team in our organization.
00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.989
So almost everybody has been here, 10, 15 years.
00:03:39.069 --> 00:03:41.199
And that really helps us drive success.
00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:46.269
We focus a lot on maturity of the organization, processes, documentation.
00:03:46.269 --> 00:03:49.219
So that has really helped with our growth plans as well.
00:03:49.530 --> 00:03:54.909
And again, strategic partnerships like Pax eight is a really big piece of our growth.
00:03:55.519 --> 00:04:06.149
For people who haven't met Jennifer, you've probably met or interacted with or seen posts from Karl Fulljames online, which brings me to the next question.
00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:15.719
When you're planning to attend an event like PAX eight beyond, how do you, Karl and the rest of your team plan who's going to do what?
00:04:15.849 --> 00:04:18.340
What are your goals going into that event?
00:04:19.370 --> 00:04:20.269
Right, he's incredible.
00:04:20.269 --> 00:04:22.725
I'm very grateful to have him on my team.
00:04:22.754 --> 00:04:28.764
So Karl and I have attended a fair amount of events together, and so what we typically do is divide and conquer for the sessions.
00:04:28.764 --> 00:04:31.014
So we look at the agenda, we go, okay.
00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:32.780
These ones are more technical.
00:04:32.780 --> 00:04:34.519
Karl, you're gonna go to these ones.
00:04:34.569 --> 00:04:38.139
These ones are more operational or sales or marketing.
00:04:38.470 --> 00:04:39.579
Jen will go to these ones.
00:04:39.579 --> 00:04:42.459
So we try to divide and conquer and then share notes at the end of it.
00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:48.759
So usually you'll see us huddled at the airport or on the plane kind of debriefing each other and sharing information.
00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:54.970
And in terms of, the pavilion floors or the vendor floor we try to be pretty strategic.
00:04:55.030 --> 00:05:02.379
We like to look at any booths where maybe we've never heard of a product or we've never explored it.
00:05:02.379 --> 00:05:05.350
So that first pass will be who's new?
00:05:05.709 --> 00:05:06.819
Who do we wanna see?
00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:16.235
We also do a gap analysis before we go Maybe there's vendors we're looking to replace or maybe there's a need that we've identified and we need to have a new strategic partner.
00:05:16.235 --> 00:05:22.935
So our top priorities is who's new and what is our current need and who can help fill those needs.
00:05:24.144 --> 00:05:29.125
What specifically do you look for when it comes to interaction?
00:05:29.754 --> 00:05:33.055
At the event, how do you like someone to approach you?
00:05:33.425 --> 00:05:39.485
What will catch your attention and keep you for five or 10 minutes versus what are the things that you're like"absolutely not.
00:05:40.555 --> 00:05:43.194
The more fun booths will tend to get our attention.
00:05:43.194 --> 00:05:50.625
So if you have a booth where you've got, a game or you've got something that is gonna gauge interest we're gonna stop.
00:05:50.625 --> 00:05:54.584
Or if you have cool swag, I'm not gonna lie, my team really loves swag.
00:05:54.615 --> 00:05:57.324
I'm not as big on swag, but they really love cool swag.
00:05:57.664 --> 00:06:02.084
So that might get us at the booth to keep us at the booth for a longer period of time.
00:06:02.084 --> 00:06:09.664
You're gonna need to have a quick pitch that's gonna give us, a high level overview of what your product is and how it's actually gonna impact my business.
00:06:10.064 --> 00:06:23.870
If you're just, having us walk by and quickly scanning and you're just trying to get a huge number of people versus genuine interactions, the likelihood of me wanting to use your product or wanting to continue the conversation is minimal.
00:06:24.019 --> 00:06:30.250
So really looking for those quick, genuine connections that then will lead to further conversations.
00:06:31.105 --> 00:06:33.504
And how do you like that further conversation to happen?
00:06:33.504 --> 00:06:36.355
How should someone interact with you after the event?
00:06:36.355 --> 00:06:38.724
What are the things that really stand out to you?
00:06:39.214 --> 00:06:42.185
For me, email is usually my preferred method.
00:06:42.305 --> 00:06:44.074
I don't set any rules on my email.
00:06:44.134 --> 00:06:45.724
Everything comes into my inbox.
00:06:45.724 --> 00:06:48.034
So if you email me, I'm gonna receive it.
00:06:48.064 --> 00:06:58.594
And if there's again a need and a genuine reason for me to reach out to you, I'll respond and book time for a demo I know a lot of people go to phone calls.
00:06:59.105 --> 00:07:00.245
I'm okay with phone calls.
00:07:00.274 --> 00:07:04.115
I just, I always ask people to be respectful of the fact I'm in Pacific Time Zone.
00:07:04.144 --> 00:07:08.584
The amount of times I get a 5:00 AM phone call from a vendor and that's so off-putting.
00:07:08.795 --> 00:07:18.254
I might be awake at 5:00 AM but I'm not ready to talk business or be sold to at 5:00 AM So I always prefer an email and then schedule a time with me for a phone call.
00:07:19.469 --> 00:07:22.789
I try to be kind, but I work in technology.
00:07:22.909 --> 00:07:25.459
I answer my phone almost all the time.
00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:29.060
So if you call me at 5:00 AM the chances of me answering are high.
00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:34.469
I try to just start calling people out and saying, Hey, it's 5:00 AM this is not a good time.
00:07:34.529 --> 00:07:36.930
You're not gonna get a well received response from me now.
00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:43.310
Why don't you try calling me in a few hours or better yet, email me and we can have a conversation.
00:07:43.509 --> 00:07:47.469
I often will get vendors that call me that can't service Canada.
00:07:47.849 --> 00:07:50.839
And I'll say, I don't operate in the us.
00:07:50.870 --> 00:07:58.289
And they'll continue to have me on a slow drip email or a phone call every couple of days because they haven't booked a meeting.
00:07:58.289 --> 00:08:04.769
And those, are again off-putting for that particular vendor to, not know their audience and not know who they're contacting.
00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:15.329
So if Nucleus is sponsoring an event themselves versus attending an event, what's your usual approach to follow up?
00:08:16.584 --> 00:08:18.214
I look for the relationship.
00:08:18.214 --> 00:08:21.214
Who has a relationship with that prospect or a client.
00:08:21.435 --> 00:08:23.714
So we're, let's say, doing a client appreciation event.
00:08:23.714 --> 00:08:25.754
Who has the best relationship with that client?
00:08:26.175 --> 00:08:28.574
And then I ask everyone to be very strategic.
00:08:28.574 --> 00:08:29.235
Your clients.
00:08:29.730 --> 00:08:30.899
Do they prefer phone calls?
00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:31.889
Do they prefer emails?
00:08:31.889 --> 00:08:34.379
Do they prefer a text, a teams message?
00:08:34.830 --> 00:08:38.629
Whatever their method of communication is how we should send that invite.
00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:43.710
We send out regular updates to our clients through newsletters and blog posts.
00:08:44.019 --> 00:08:45.279
All of that's done through email.
00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.940
But for the most part, I think it's really important we meet clients where they're at.
00:08:49.149 --> 00:08:50.350
What is their preferred method?
00:08:50.350 --> 00:08:54.970
And we actually document that as well, so we know what our preferred method is for each of our clients.
00:08:56.110 --> 00:09:03.730
So are you a"go to coffee and breakfast" person or are you a"stay out late and go to the party person" or are you both?
00:09:04.300 --> 00:09:06.730
I am definitely coffee and breakfast.
00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:10.269
I am usually the first one back in my room at these events.
00:09:10.300 --> 00:09:13.820
I'm an early riser, so I am not out late usually at events.
00:09:14.914 --> 00:09:15.264
Karl.
00:09:15.284 --> 00:09:18.715
You might find him on both sides, but usually I'm just at breakfast.
00:09:20.004 --> 00:09:25.524
And is there a session in particular that you're looking forward to at PAX eight this year?
00:09:25.524 --> 00:09:27.634
I'm looking forward to quite a few of the sessions.
00:09:27.634 --> 00:09:30.754
I'm actually on a couple of the panels at beyond this year.
00:09:30.804 --> 00:09:33.835
I'm obviously looking forward to participating in those panels.
00:09:34.264 --> 00:09:36.455
And then I'm looking forward to the keynote.
00:09:36.554 --> 00:09:40.615
Usually the keynotes are always incredible, the different announcements that are gonna come through.
00:09:40.615 --> 00:09:44.095
And a big piece for me at conferences is the networking.
00:09:44.125 --> 00:09:50.634
I find some of the most value in connecting with my peers in the industry, connecting with different partners.
00:09:51.085 --> 00:09:55.375
That's usually what I look forward to the very most on these events is those genuine connections.
00:09:56.914 --> 00:10:01.804
Tell me about the panels that you're participating in at PAX eight.
00:10:01.855 --> 00:10:06.384
What are the topics and where can people find them if they want to see you?
00:10:07.884 --> 00:10:11.995
So on Sunday I will be part of the woman in tech panel.
00:10:12.044 --> 00:10:13.845
That is Sunday afternoon.
00:10:13.904 --> 00:10:15.735
I think it's at five o'clock.
00:10:15.735 --> 00:10:17.355
Don't quote me on that, but I think it's five o'clock.
00:10:17.355 --> 00:10:18.345
That's a power panel.
00:10:18.345 --> 00:10:19.245
It's gonna be a good one.
00:10:19.245 --> 00:10:20.264
I wouldn't miss that one.
00:10:20.684 --> 00:10:22.394
I am very excited.
00:10:22.444 --> 00:10:29.745
And then I'll also be part of the PAX 8 Premier sports marketing panel with Leif from PAX eight.
00:10:30.075 --> 00:10:32.174
So looking forward to that one as well.
00:10:32.225 --> 00:10:39.034
Nucleus was fortunate enough to work with PAX 8 to do an initiative with the Abbotsford farm team for Vancouver Canucks.
00:10:39.085 --> 00:10:44.215
We've got our logo on the ice and we've been, working with PAX eight on a co-branded marketing initiative.
00:10:44.215 --> 00:10:47.634
So I'll be joining their panel to talk about how that's benefited our business.
00:10:48.444 --> 00:10:50.884
Wow, that's a pretty big sponsorship.
00:10:51.664 --> 00:10:52.294
Incredible.
00:10:52.325 --> 00:10:53.044
It's been great.
00:10:53.625 --> 00:10:58.845
Who else is undertaking large sports marketing initiatives right now in the channel?
00:11:00.414 --> 00:11:01.644
There's three of us on the panel.
00:11:01.674 --> 00:11:07.294
It's me, Lisa Williams from Microsoft.
00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:20.779
Dion McMillian is also on the panel, so it's the three of us on the panel, and then Carrie Schiff will be the one who is Oh yeah, so it'll it's the, sorry.
00:11:20.779 --> 00:11:22.129
The CPO is Dion.
00:11:22.129 --> 00:11:26.539
So Dion is on the panel and then Carrie Schiff, She's moderating it.
00:11:27.110 --> 00:11:32.629
How far in advance do you make plans for things like dinners with vendors?
00:11:32.629 --> 00:11:35.269
How booked is your dance card by the time you hit the floor?
00:11:36.664 --> 00:11:39.995
So typically it's pretty full by the time I arrive.
00:11:40.144 --> 00:11:41.554
But I would say it's hit and miss.
00:11:41.605 --> 00:11:46.075
And I always find it funny who invites me out and who doesn't invite me out.
00:11:46.174 --> 00:11:55.705
And again, I'm not the one staying late at the party, so I will often decline if someone is asking, Hey, do you wanna meet for cocktails at 10:00 PM I don't drink alcohol.
00:11:55.705 --> 00:12:00.064
So a 10:00 PM cocktail hour i'll say, Karl, do you wanna go for a scotch?
00:12:00.064 --> 00:12:01.475
And I'll have a coffee.
00:12:01.735 --> 00:12:04.495
But for the most part, I'll decline those ones.
00:12:04.495 --> 00:12:12.294
So I would say usually I'm pretty booked by the time I, by the time I arrive at the conference, my calendar's gonna be pretty stacked.
00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:19.059
So how far in advance should somebody be connecting with you before a major event like PAX eight Beyond or IT Nation?
00:12:19.059 --> 00:12:25.439
If they want to be assured that you'll be able to join them for a meal or a coffee?
00:12:25.439 --> 00:12:26.129
A week or two.
00:12:26.179 --> 00:12:31.460
I'm starting to get my calendar fairly full right now for Beyond and we're what, 10 days out?
00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:32.830
A week or two is adequate.
00:12:32.830 --> 00:12:34.509
We already got to you, so we're good.
00:12:34.809 --> 00:12:35.139
Yes.
00:12:35.139 --> 00:12:36.580
Yeah, we've got something in the calendar.
00:12:36.659 --> 00:12:39.960
You only have so much time as a vendor as well, so you have to be really strategic.
00:12:40.009 --> 00:12:48.159
I want to invest time in, my friends and peers who I don't see very often, high value prospects that maybe we haven't connected with in person.
00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:53.139
And I don't wanna neglect my current clients for the sake of attracting new clients.
00:12:53.189 --> 00:12:54.000
absolutely.
00:12:54.090 --> 00:12:55.319
I can definitely appreciate that.
00:12:55.319 --> 00:13:04.779
I never take it to heart when an existing vendor maybe doesn't invite me out to dinner or whatnot, and I know that they've had a, a dinner.
00:13:04.830 --> 00:13:10.809
Because I understand first of all that it is strategic and I have lots of touch points with them.
00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:17.620
In addition, on the flip side, my calendar is usually pretty full and there may be strategic partnerships I wanna explore.
00:13:18.189 --> 00:13:25.340
So if I have, competing invites it might make more sense for me to go with a new strategic partner versus an existing one.
00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:26.419
It's definitely a balance.
00:13:27.230 --> 00:13:28.399
This will be my first beyond.
00:13:28.409 --> 00:13:30.299
I've been at the last couple of IT nations.
00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:35.159
So previous large events that you've attended, what's really stuck out for you?
00:13:35.210 --> 00:13:35.809
Let me think.
00:13:35.914 --> 00:13:41.495
At it, nation Threat Locker gave away a Hummer that for sure had a lot of people talking.
00:13:41.595 --> 00:13:44.475
Obviously those big grand gestures are not for everybody.
00:13:44.534 --> 00:13:48.314
And nor does everyone have a budget for a big, huge grand gesture like that.
00:13:48.625 --> 00:13:51.455
But I like the idea of stuff that's unique.
00:13:51.814 --> 00:13:55.414
I think at IT Nation there was someone with a basketball hoop at their booth.
00:13:55.534 --> 00:13:59.475
And, I was traveling with my crew that really enjoys basketball.
00:13:59.475 --> 00:14:00.134
They had fun.
00:14:00.134 --> 00:14:07.169
They made silly videos Having something at your booth that's gonna get people to be interested to stop by is always gonna win.
00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:19.700
Having a conversation starter that maybe has nothing to do with your business is just going to gauge interest and get people to be, curious of why you have a Hummer outside of your booth or why you have a basketball net.
00:14:19.700 --> 00:14:20.539
Keep it interesting.
00:14:21.169 --> 00:14:26.149
Are you usually one to book a demo on the floor for a later time?
00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:27.049
Yes.
00:14:27.149 --> 00:14:31.389
I will often book a demo because my calendar fills really quickly.
00:14:31.490 --> 00:14:32.750
I'd rather just do it.
00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:44.564
I'm usually booking a couple of weeks out and I'd rather book while I'm there, get it in the calendar, get it scheduled and then I know that it's on the books, it's done, and I can cross that kind of off my to-do list.
00:14:44.564 --> 00:14:53.085
Whereas once I get home and then I'm back in, the rhythm of meetings and strategy and building my business, I don't necessarily always have that time to go back.
00:14:53.085 --> 00:14:55.694
Whereas I've invested the time in the conference I'm at.
00:14:55.694 --> 00:14:57.835
I'd rather just book the demo on site.
00:14:59.314 --> 00:15:00.544
That was super helpful.
00:15:00.544 --> 00:15:08.825
I hope that everybody listening that's getting ready for PAX eight beyond got a lot of wisdom from your share.
00:15:08.825 --> 00:15:16.355
Advice on how to prioritize follow-ups and engage with MSPs effectively is always valuable to the community.
00:15:16.384 --> 00:15:19.384
And I thank you very much for spending a little time with us today.
00:15:20.164 --> 00:15:21.034
Thanks so much, Carrie.
00:15:21.034 --> 00:15:22.955
I look forward to seeing you in 10 days.
00:15:23.554 --> 00:15:25.014
Yeah we'll be by the pool.
00:15:25.115 --> 00:15:25.684
Amazing.
