The Conference Coach™

Carolyn Bradfield

The Channel Partners show kicked off with a flurry last night at the Mandalay Bay hotel with an open house in the exhibit hall.  The Copper Conferencing booth was strategically positioned right next to the food and the open bar, so we had a large group of people that hung out and visited with us, some waiting for the drink line to get shorter.

Aside from Copper Conferencing, there were a number of other conferencing companies in our industry who were present.  One of the hot topics for those at the show who know Copper and our industry is our newly-announced partnership with PGi (Premiere Global).  It is common in our industry to have buy-sell arrangements with other vendors.  None of us have the funds or band width to develop everything we sell.

In Copper’s world, we develop a lot of the key technology we are know for such as Connect To Copper, Copper Link, the Phoenix system and a soon to be announced Copper Mobile application for the iPhone and Blackberry.  For other technology, we take advantage of a larger company’s relationships and buying power and form partnerships such as the one we have formed with PGi.  They have helped us add new web conferencing to our product mix with the recent announcement that we now offer Adobe® Connect Pro, Microsoft® Live Meeting and Cisco WebEx®.  The have a much more extensive global network, extending our customer’s ability to execute both domestic and global conference calls.  We are really excited about what this means for the Copper Conferencing customer.

Now, just so you don’t think we’re boring and this is all business, we are having a little fun out here.  Remembering that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, I’ll give you a little peek behind the curtain.  Yesterday, I had a fun meeting with one of our channel partners, who I have promised not to name in my blog.  Come to find out that he took Paula Abdul to his high school prom in his junior year.  (I have asked for pictures as proof, but this seems real!).  She wore teal taffeta and was the best dancer, cutest cheerleader and overall nicest person in high school.  I’m awe stuck and glad to hear that given that I have been an American Idol fan for years!  I hear our channel partner was a stud in high school – tight end, star football player and overall hunk.  (You can still see this in him today!)

We did get invited to a couple of cool parties tonight – going to hear Smokey Robinson and the Miracles if any of you are old enough to remember how great he is and then afterwards were invited to another party at Drais on the Las Vegas Strip.  It may be a long night tonight!

Back home in Atlanta, I hear it’s blizzard conditions, so I may have to take one for the team and stay here a little longer if flights are delayed – I’ll suck it up and be a trooper and try and practice my newly acquired gambling skills to see if I can improve the $15 I have won over the last 2 days!

More from the channel show tomorrow!

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a leading provider or audio and web conferencing and wrap-around services to enhance customer experience. To learn more about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com.