Canalys Channels Forum hits sponsor target

Canalys is delighted to announce that the inaugural Canalys Channels Forum has met its sponsorship targets following the addition of McAfee earlier this week. There are now a total of 10 sponsors involved in the forum, showing how broad the industry backing is for this major channels event. The list currently reads: HP, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Nokia, Fujitsu Siemens, Acer, RIM, ViewSonic and McAfee.

“This event is designed to meet the needs of mid-market resellers across EMEA. These resellers must sell solutions that encompass a broad range of vendors and technology areas. It is therefore important that the forum recognises the breadth of their business. We are delighted to have sponsors that bring expertise across applications, security, unified communications, mobile devices, PCs, servers, storage, printers and displays,” said Rita Chaher, Canalys event manager, adding, “The fact that the first ever Canalys Channels Forum has attracted such impressive support shows how much need there is for a high quality event of this type in the region.”

The A-list keynotes are a major factor influencing the popularity of the forum. Many attendees are excited by the chance to see Don Tapscott talk live. Mr. Tapscott is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading authorities on Web 2.0, and his speech is expected to cause many in the audience to recognise new business opportunities. His keynote coincides with the launch of the European edition of his latest book, “Wikinomics – how mass collaboration changes everything”, which will go on sale during the weekend following the conference. Some of Mr. Tapscott’s work can be seen at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF0k6dEm0zQ

The online one-to-one meeting system is also proving to be a popular feature of the event. Attendees gain access to the list of delegates as soon as they register for the forum (excluding the few who choose to opt-out). They are then able to use the secure site to request a meeting with another delegate, a Canalys analyst or journalist, in advance of the conference. Meeting times are interactive and can be mutually agreed. Canalys guarantees that all meetings set up via this system will have a dedicated, private meeting space assigned to them.

Rita Chaher continued, “The content of our event is important, but so is the opportunity to establish and develop business relationships. We have all experienced conferences in the past where we have been left to squint at delegates’ badges and struggled to find the people we want to meet. This system removes that anxiety by allowing people to set meetings up efficiently, in a quiet and confidential manner. There have already been around a hundred meeting requests and, with a couple of weeks still to go, the system is already a huge success. The number may well triple by September 4th.”

With the forum so close, those who have not registered are strongly advised to do so quickly. Visit www.canalyschannelsforum.com or call Rita Chaher on +44 (0) 118 984 0539 to register. The Canalys Channels Forum runs from the 4th to the 6th of September in Monaco.

About Canalys

Canalys specialises in delivering high quality market data, analysis and advice to the world’s leading technology vendors. It is recognised as a key provider of continuous advisory services and confidential custom projects for marketing managers and strategists within blue-chip IT, telecoms, navigation and consumer electronics companies. It has unrivalled expertise in European routes to market for all kinds of high technology products and services in the consumer, SMB and large enterprise segments, and provides worldwide market data and trends analysis.

Receiving updates

To receive future Canalys press releases directly, please e-mail a request with your details to press@canalys.com or complete this form specifying the technology market topics in which you are most interested.