Holiday Greetings from the Conference Group!

Happy Holidays!

The Conference Group wishes you and your families Happy Holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

We appreciate your business and look forward to your continued success in 2010 and beyond.

Warmest Holiday Wishes,

Greg, Kristin and the Conference Group Support Team

Where have we been?

As much as it pains me to consider the thought that this blog may not be read by the masses of telecommunications professionals that belong to my target audience, I do know that at least a handful of you take the time to read my attempts at providing an arguably-witty perspective. This handful of loyal readers may have noticed that it has been several weeks since my last post, which begs the question…“where have we been?” Get your coffee and pull up a chair…

As we all know, fall represents a great time in our industry… one of increased activity and ultimately (and hopefully) more revenue. It also means tradeshows and travel… the old fashioned kind… on a plane. Who would have ever thought the concept of flying thru the air at 35,000 feet would ever be referred to as “old-fashioned”? (more on this later).

This fall took me to Los Angeles (sorry Angels fans…. I was rooting for you to be the recipient of a Phillies beating in the series) and Miami for conferences. “Wow! That sounds like so much fun!” you might be thinking to yourself. Sure it does. And there are parts of these excursions that truly are memorable and irreplaceable. There really is no better place to drink a $25 Mojito than on the strip along South Beach.

Just for fun, let’s revisit the Miami trip for just a few minutes…my travels to Miami started in the usual way, driving to the airport in Philly, but then, heaven forbid, I had to park! My journey to find a simple 8 ft x 12 ft piece of concrete real estate (nothing fancy, mind you) was nothing short of an adventure… This was not your ordinary airport parking lot experience, though. The folks that oversee airport parking lot maintenance felt it a good idea to block entire levels of Garage B (a personal favorite). After driving around, examining every nook of the open levels (with the assistance of the new electronic signage that tells you how many spots in that row are open… operating on what must be a 12 hour delay) I was left no choice but to exit and bother the exit toll booth person to ask his advice. “The only spots left in the entire parking facility are in Garage E”, he offered. (Garage E? Where is that… Pittsburgh?). To get to Garage E, I had to leave the airport, get back on the Interstate and try again… Apparently the staffers were also operating with the same 12-hour delay as the electronic signs… not one available spot in Garage E. At this point, I am faced with the following options: sit and wait for someone to leave, which never seems to happen in airports even though most flights are round trip, visit with my toll booth friend again for updated 12-hour old information on spot availability, or cruise the garage in hopes of a miracle. I decided to go Rambo and venture into an area that was blocked by saw horses. When I turned the corner, I discovered a completely wide open level with a few other mavericks parked right by the elevator… “thank you, God!”

In the interest of time, I will now cut to the return trip and leave the possibilities for South Beach activities to your imagination…

When attempting to check-in and print my boarding pass at the hotel, the system informed me that it was unable to print my boarding pass. Knowing full well that my driver’s license and a smile alone would not get me onto that plane, I planned to use the self-serve kiosks to print my boarding pass. No big deal, right? Right…? Not so much…

Apparently the 2 kiosks USAir set up for passengers to serve themselves were inoperable. The great news is that we (i.e. those of us waiting in the kiosk line… waiting for the one passenger to hurry up and get his passes and/or the repairman to finish with the other one) were not informed that these machines were down. I did what any of us, that is once we are getting dangerously close to boarding time, would do. I approached a human behind the counter for assistance. I was met with a bark that instructed me to get in line…. THE line. The one comprised of dozens of luggage-checking passengers snaked back and forth, for what may as well have been a mile. The bark was replaced with indifference when I assured her that I, along with any others bound for Philly, would surely miss our flight.

Ten precious minutes later, the counter watchdog realized the error of her ways and announced that she would accept anyone heading to Philly for immediate check-in. After receiving the piece of paper that would allow me to see my wife and kids in person, she added “you better run… they will not hold the plane!” Remember the old O.J. Simpson? He had nothing on me that day…

Would you be surprised if I said the overhead bins required some “elfen-magic” (my thanks to Jack Zoblin, my esteemed colleague, for stepping in and taking charge of the overhead situation) to accommodate my small carry-on, or that we sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes before being allowed to take flight? Don’t be…

At this point, I am going to wind down this novel account and let you get back to your work (if you actually made it this far in this post). As we all know, there is no replacement for live interaction with colleagues and clients. These personal appearances, with all of their niceties, can be complemented by the occasional web or video conference. While you can’t “reach out and touch someone”, you can at least “boot up and see them”.

Now you know where we have been…

For more information on the Conference Group’s video and web conferencing solutions, contact us on 877-716-8255 or agents@conferencegroup.com.

The Conference Group's Greg Plum Named to Industry Advisory Board

The Conference Group, a full-service audio, Web and video conferencing service provider, recently announced that Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of channel development, was recently named to a joint advisory board for a publication focused on the telecommunications industry.

The board includes 17 members of the channel community including independent agents, subagents, master agents, VARs, dealers/interconnects, hardware/software vendors, resellers and carriers. Each member will serve a one-year term.

The Conference Group (News - Alert), a company that focuses on Web-based collaboration solutions, is the only conferencing service provider represented on the board, company officials said.

“We are honored to serve on the board, which is comprised of industry leaders,” Plum, told TMCnet in an interview. “The fact that The Conference Group is included is a testament to our efforts over the past decade to build a reputation on quality service and support.”

The goal behind the advisory board is to offer topics that are paramount in the minds of today's telecommunications agents and resellers, Plum said. As a board member, The Conference Group will work with the publication to ensure its content and programs for its annual conference are meaningful to the communications channel. The company will also serve as a regular contributor to the publication’s blog and an online community at LinkedIn.

The appointment highlights The Conference Group as one of the industry leaders, Plum said.

“We are recognized as an integral provider in the conferencing space,” he said. “This is an honor that we do not take lightly.”

The Conference Group is one of the more widely-known service providers that offer on-demand, “reservationless” audio, Web and videoconferencing services on one platform. The services are also available as standalone solutions.

Companies are increasingly using conferencing services to give employees the chance to hold live, “face-to-face” meetings with partners, customers, prospects and investors, even though they are miles apart. The technology also aids collaboration between employees, teams, departments and division heads who are in geographically-dispersed locations.

To help entice more organizations to adopt conferencing services, The Conference Group is offering certain incentives to boost business. For example, the company introduced a 1,000-seat user license of its ReadyShow Web conferencing with unlimited access for flat rate of $99 per month solution.

The new rate comes at a time when companies are increasingly using online communications to conduct business. The ReadyShow service offers a host of features, including chatting, slide pushing, polling and streaming video for a flat fee. The platform also lets companies conduct Web tours, demonstrate Web services, or tap online content during presentations. Users can also share desktop applications for software demonstrations and training.

Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering unified communications, telepresence, IP communications industry trends and mobile technologies. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Back to School… The most wonderful time of the year?

It is that time of year again… airing the old (but timeless) Staples commercial with the Dad prancing around the aisles of Staples to the Andy Williams’ classic while his kids look on with dejected faces and shoulders hung low. Have you seen it?

This is the first year my kids were old enough (or cared enough) to grasp the concept of the commercial. My 8 year old son turned to me and said, “Is that really how you feel?” No way! I love the quiet mornings around the house planning for my day and conjuring up ideas to get you excited to sell conferencing. These quiet mornings are about to be replaced with lunch packing, breakfast making, teeth brushing, and carcass chauffeuring to school.

With each passing year, I am more and more reluctant to put away my flip-flops and break out the requisite sweaters to face our mid-Atlantic Autumn days… (Just for the record, as you are reading this, sand is between my toes as I milk this Summer for all it is worth)

The good news is that as the days get shorter, conference calls get longer (and more frequent)! September invariably marks a period of increased conferencing activity. As an agent, now is the time to prepare for the impending spike in need. Why not reach out to your client base, tell them how you feel about back to school, and see if you can help them with their conferencing needs?

For conferencing folk like myself, maybe this really is the most wonderful time of the year…

For more information on the Conference Group, contact us on 877-716-8255 or agents@conferencegroup.com.

The virtual puppy dog…

OK, we are all familiar with the tactic known as the “puppy-dog sale”, which gives a prospect the ability to fall hopelessly in love with your offering, be it a puppy dog, or a Porsche. So much so, they never even consider relinquishing control of their newly-acquired trinket.

In this vein, we are offering you the ability to hook your prospects with a little puppy dog of your own - only this pooch will never get fleas… “Man’s best friend” takes the form of a free trial of ReadyShow® Web and ReadyShow® Video. The process is simple… to request a trial account, click here and provide us with your clients’ contact information (you can even include a list of clients in this one request), and the service for which the trial is requested. We will have their trial account set up and in their hands in less than 24 hours.

This is a great way to offer value to your customer and quite possibly increase your revenue from your existing relationships. After all, who does not love puppy dogs?

For more information on ReadyShow® Web, ReadyShow® Video, or to set up a demo of either, contact us on 877-716-8255 or agents@conferencegroup.com.

What can you get for $99?

How about 1000 participants on a conference? How about 1000 participants on a conference every day for a month?

It’s true. The Conference Group has introduced a 1000-seat user license with a suggested retail price of $99 per month. Conference hosts will enjoy all that ReadyShow® Web has to offer, including slide pushing, application sharing, chatting, polling, and even video streaming of the host… all for a flat monthly fee of $99 per month. Audio bridging charges are additional and options range from reservationless access to dedicated full-time operator assisted service, depending on the size of the event and level of support desired.

With this plan, your client would save just over $3,500 each month if they conducted 1 weekly, 60-minute, 100 participant conference and paid on a per minute basis, at a suggested retail price of $0.15 per minute. I did the math twice to make sure since the savings was so drastic…

If you have been looking for something to “go back to the well” with… this is it!

For more information on ReadyShow® Web, or to set up a demo of the service, contact us on 877-716-8255 or agents@conferencegroup.com.

Just Released: FREE Web Recording!

Effective immediately, the Conference Group has waived the fee associated with recording a ReadyShow® Web Conference. Your clients can continue to record their events, with the audio and visuals synchronized, download the Flash file immediately following the event, and host the file on their website within minutes. The only difference is that now this functionality is provided free of charge. Of course, the normal per minute fees (or flat rate subscription fees) still apply.

For more information on ReadyShow® Web, or to set up a demo of the service, contact us on 877-716-8255 or agents@conferencegroup.com.