The Conference Coach™

Carolyn Bradfield

I have attended a lot of meetings, events and trade shows.  In general, whether you are attending, presenting or exhibiting, those events come with lots of frustrations and drawbacks.  Often when I leave one, I swear them off only to forget my less than great experience and come back again the year after only to ask why am I here again?  If ever a group could make me forget about all the previous bad experiences I have had with meetings and trade shows, it’s Intelisys out of California.

Intelisys is a large master agent group that works with sales agents who consult with companies to offer telecommunications services.   Each year they have an annual event called Channel Connect that brings suppliers and agents together for 3 days of education, sharing and socializing.  Before coming, Copper Conferencing employees attending filled out an online form with our activity preferences and when we arrived in Napa, California, we received a personal agenda that mapped out our day to day agenda.  What a concept!

Although the Intelisys staff swears this isn’t true, nobody seemed stressed or was running around at the last minute.  That gave them the opportunity to visit, personally greet their guests and participate in the activities that they had coordinated.   Our company, Copper Conferencing, provided water bottles for the vendor exchanges, golf, wine tastings and other events.  I was trying to figure out how to move those bottles from shipping to the events, but the staff at Intelisys outsmarted me and magically those water bottles showed up where they were supposed to be – no coordination on my part required!

Even though we were a group of suppliers, competitors, and sales agents, I felt that this was more like a family reunion.  The team at Intelisys knew everyone personally, remembered their names, acknowledged their accomplishments and provided those extra touches I will remember

Intelisys agents are independent business owners and are very interesting people.  My best memories of Channel Connect are meeting Julie and Julie, two dynamic women that do it all – sell a lot of telecommunications, raise racehorses, and are experts at professional football.  Or meeting Andrew, one of my golf partners, who patiently allow the girls on his team to duff the ball without getting frustrated.  Or meeting Wes from Plano who has such a hunger for his company, he’s all about new ways to grow it to new heights.

Channel Connect was one of those rare events with no frustrations and no hassles.  It was perfectly executed.  Even more important, it felt like family and I’m honored that we were invited to come.  Now, I have a year to polish my golf game so if I’m lucky enough to play with Andrew I can help him win.  And Jay, I’m hoping for that hole in one so make sure to have the car keys ready for me!  Thanks Intelisys!

Want to learn more about Copper Conferencing or our business partner program?  Contact us at partners@copperconferencing.com or 866.382.0592.