February 09, 2010
Conferencing Expert Tapped as Finalist for Executive of Year Award
By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of business development for The Conference Group, a provider of audio, video and Web conferencing services, has been selected as a finalist for an industry publication’s Channel Executive of the Year award.
Plum, who is one of 10 finalists, will be honored during an awards ceremony March 1 at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas. The winner will be announced at the event.
Based in Newark, Del., The Conference Group (News - Alert) operates as a full-service audio, video and Web conferencing company. With a concentrated focus on collaboration, the company has been successful at creating a strong portfolio of satisfied sales partners and clients located in North America and internationally.
Driven by its collaboration services expertise, the Conference Group has developed tailored programs to meet a variety of its clients’ needs. Some of the main strengths of the company include a suite of online, real-time provisioning tools, as well as a strong international footprint providing toll-free access to participants located all over the world.
Plum joined The Conference Group in 2000, at which time he set out to further develop the company’s channel strategy. Since then, The Conference Group has experience substantial growth, expanding program to include hundreds of agents and resellers in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
Mike Saxby, a group publisher working for Virgo Publishing, said after a close race, "Where hundreds of votes were placed, these individuals clearly stand out as the cream of the crop. Each of the finalists should be recognized for the role they play in the success of the indirect channel model.”
To determine the Channel Executive of the Year, the organization solicited nominations from channel partners. To be eligible, a nominee must have been the top person in the company’s channel operations - at the executive level of vice president or higher - at a telecom vendor (network operator/service provider/manufacturer).
Channel partners were then asked to vote for the Channel Executive of the Year based on nominees’ leadership, longevity, innovation and contribution to the indirect channel.
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Amy Tierney
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
From Provider to Consumer…
From Provider to Consumer…
I have been in business development for a conferencing provider for almost 10 years now. That’s right… sales. For 10 years I have worked with thousands of people telling them about how our conferencing solutions will make them more efficient, save them money, and make their businesses more productive. Today, the teacher became the student… er, the customer. With mother nature’s wrath in the form of back-to-back Nor’easters hitting the mid-atlantic region, I found myself smack dab in the middle of a Governor-declared state of emergency for the second straight day.
Oh, Great! Another day with watercooler banter being replaced by the delirious shrills of a cooped up 6 and 8 year old. But what about that full calendar of meetings and presentations? Not everyone is house bound with a raging case of cabin fever… for most of the world, this was just a typical Thursday, the day of the week where we stuff as many activities in as possible to be able to take it easy on Friday (in theory anyway).
First on the docket, a conference call with the fine folks at Phone+ and the Channel Partners Advisory Board to discuss the upcoming conference. Except for my complaining to the others on the call about my snow-induced woes, the call was like all previous advisory board conference calls. Next, a presentation of the latest developments in our wholesale program to a long-time agent who is excited about ratcheting up his conferencing business. Surely, this presentation could have been moved to a more convenient time – one when the country road outside of my house looked less like Siberia and I would have all of the comforts of my office at my fingertips. It could have been rescheduled, but why?
We spent an hour reviewing everything that we would have covered had I been sitting in my office, or even via a face-to-face visit. They even got to see my snow-beaten face, complete with an exaggerated 5 o’clock shadow on steroids, thanks to the integrated video…
Today, this sales guy became a customer. In a former life, my company’s slogan was “Think of Yourself as a Customer”. And what better way to think of yourself as a customer, than to “walk a mile in their (snow filled) shoes”?
I have been in business development for a conferencing provider for almost 10 years now. That’s right… sales. For 10 years I have worked with thousands of people telling them about how our conferencing solutions will make them more efficient, save them money, and make their businesses more productive. Today, the teacher became the student… er, the customer. With mother nature’s wrath in the form of back-to-back Nor’easters hitting the mid-atlantic region, I found myself smack dab in the middle of a Governor-declared state of emergency for the second straight day.
Oh, Great! Another day with watercooler banter being replaced by the delirious shrills of a cooped up 6 and 8 year old. But what about that full calendar of meetings and presentations? Not everyone is house bound with a raging case of cabin fever… for most of the world, this was just a typical Thursday, the day of the week where we stuff as many activities in as possible to be able to take it easy on Friday (in theory anyway).
First on the docket, a conference call with the fine folks at Phone+ and the Channel Partners Advisory Board to discuss the upcoming conference. Except for my complaining to the others on the call about my snow-induced woes, the call was like all previous advisory board conference calls. Next, a presentation of the latest developments in our wholesale program to a long-time agent who is excited about ratcheting up his conferencing business. Surely, this presentation could have been moved to a more convenient time – one when the country road outside of my house looked less like Siberia and I would have all of the comforts of my office at my fingertips. It could have been rescheduled, but why?
We spent an hour reviewing everything that we would have covered had I been sitting in my office, or even via a face-to-face visit. They even got to see my snow-beaten face, complete with an exaggerated 5 o’clock shadow on steroids, thanks to the integrated video…
Today, this sales guy became a customer. In a former life, my company’s slogan was “Think of Yourself as a Customer”. And what better way to think of yourself as a customer, than to “walk a mile in their (snow filled) shoes”?
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