SMB Nation – 48 hours and counting…
In just over 48 hours from now, SMB Nation 2006 will be kicking off here at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, WA. For those coming in early, there are also plenty of pre-day activities taking place tomorrow as well.
Last year was a big year at SMB Nation where SBSC (Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community) was just getting under way and I was also announcing the formation of the brand new Partner Community Manager Team across the US in my session at SMB Nation. This year, the Partner Community Managers (PCM) from the Northern California (Suzanne Lavine), Southern California (Art Pettigrue), and Desert Mountain (John Hermann) areas will be flying up to attend and take part in SMB Nation with me, so if you are attending from any of those areas, be sure to look out for your PCM and say, “Hi,” if you see them walking around.
In addition, on Sunday the 10th from 11:30 – 12:30, I will be conducting a one-hour session dedicated to helping Partners understand and learn how to make money with Microsoft licensing while also showing your customers how to save money at the same time. Be sure to look for the one-page flyer in your attendee bags with information on the session. We will be covering:
- Licensing Basics
o How are Office, Windows, and SBS really licensed
o OEM vs. Retail Box vs. Volume Licensing
o Open License & Open Value
- Creating services opportunities with licensing (and how many people eliminate services opportunities by not understanding licensing)
- Creating hardware opportunities with licensing (and how many people eliminate hardware opportunities by not understanding licensing)
- Helping your customers get the most from every budget dollar they spend on licensing (and helping them spend less on licensing)
- Promotions, rebates, specials, etc. (Several that will be announced here) that you can use to grow your business this year.
- Plus more
So I look forward to seeing all of you who are attending SMB Nation this weekend and hope to see you at both the SBSC Panel discussion and my “Everything you ever wanted to know about licensing” session on Sunday.
Thank you and have a wonderful day,
Eric Ligman
Microsoft US Senior Manager
Small Business Community Engagement
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights