TAN Video Script 3/10/6

Hi, I'm Dan Baldwin, the editor of this web site, Telecom Agent News .com and this is a website video video tour to help you understand what's on the site that you shouldn't miss.

The most important link on this website is the subscription link you'll find over to my right. If you're not already subscribed to our weekly email newsletter click the pause button here which is the middle one and then click on the "Subscribe Free Now" link to get yourself subscribed so you don't miss anything that's happening in the telecom agent industry.

Speaking of what's happening, check out the Vendor announcements to my lower right. Click on any of the links to see what our vendor members are doing for you. Many have new products, prices and promotions. IT would probably be better if your customers and prospects heard about what's going on from you rather than your competitor so click on what interests you.

Down below the vendor announcements you'll find industry news

N - And I'm Nancy Baldwin, the president of Telecom Association.

After our news summary we'll spend a little time talking about how we're now using and recommending video in our  

D - As promised, today's show is titled "Dan & Nan's Excellent Adventure in Vegas" 

N - And we've come semi-prepared to share the cool things we experienced at last week's Channel Partners tradeshow produced by Virgo.

N - But before we do all that allow us to draw your attention to a very special matter - the fact that you're watching us instead of reading us. We do the reading & you do the watching. Kind of like watching us read.

D - That's right Nancy, our reading aside, Telecom Association has broken the bonds of text and clipart. With this telecast we are entering into the new dimension of  full video that encompasses both motion and sound. Cool, huh?

N - Cool indeed Dan, but believe it or not we're here not to showcase ourselves but to show all of you out there in telecom agent land how you can revolutionize your own marketing communications with your own audiences of customers and prospects. Start communicating with them through video. To see what's possible just click the "Tradeshow Videos" link below to see all the example videos we recently recorded at the tradeshow.

D - If we can do it trust me, you can do it.  And over the next several weeks and months we're going to show you how! If you can't wait just put us on pause and click the link below that says "How to make video". 

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N - And now to the tradeshow review. Dan, question number on everyone's mind is "Was it worth going to?" 

D - Absolutely without question.  If you're any kind of telecom distributor you won't find another show on the planet that offers a more affordable way meet the exact technology and telecom vendors you want to talk to. 

These folks can be hard to track down on the phone sometimes but when you go to the show they're all standing in 10 by 10 or 10 by 20 booths which makes it pretty easy to get any and all questions answered about any program or service.

Bottom line, if you're a telecom agent, channel partner or any sort of telecom or technology value added reseller or VAR you can't afford not to go to these shows. If your clients expect you to be on the cutting edge of new solutions you need to be where those solutions are being rolled out and getting on a first name basis with the vendors who can get the new services implemented for you and your customers.

N - So for the agents, partners & VARs it's a no-brainer. Go to the show to meet over a hundred vendors with the new cutting edge services that your clients and prospects are asking about.

But what about the vendors Dan, is it worth it for them to show up & exhibit? Are they going to meet enough new agents at the show for them to retire their investment in having a booth at the show?

D - The answer to that question is yes. Getting business from agents is all about inspiring confidence in agents. If you're not exhibiting at the show the agents want to know why. Are you running out of money? Are you changing your business. Exhibiting at the trade show tells both your current and prospective agents that you're solid today and you'll still be around tomorrow.

And if you don't exhibit at the show you're going to miss meeting the new generation of agents, the ones that sell hardware in addition to services who are used to meeting technology hardware agents at the various technology hardware shows. There isn't another show that does a good job showcasing telecom & technology services. Channel Partners is the show and I think that vendors and distributors expect to find each other there. 

The bottom line for vendors seems to be whether they think the quality of the show is trending up or trending down and the vendors I spoke to said the Channel Partners show is trending up and that they plan on exhibiting at the next show in Washington DC

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N - So the exhibit hall gets two thumbs up. Over a hundred vendors with cutting edge services. Everything a distributor could want.  How about the educational seminars. How did they stack up Dan.

D - What with all the meetings you're trying to take with vendors and agents it can be tough to even get to the seminars but I did personally attend and videotape both general sessions. You can watch them by clicking the links below labeled "VoilaIP/Charles Barkley" or "What Buyers Want".

The perceived quality of the sessions goes it probably depends alot on your expectations. We're all marketers of some form or another and the show is pretty much all about getting excited about selling telecom and technology. Well the content definitely showed up at the sessions but the delivery could probably be made a little more "salesy".

I mean hey, we're all about sales right? Now I don't necessarily need all the rah-rah you might find at a national Mary Kay sales seminar but when you go to see a future basketball hall of famer who has won a gold medal at the olympics you expect to get fired up - you shouldn't need to worry about your blood pressure dropping to the point that you might actually slip into a coma.

But hey, Mr. Barkley did his job - he got people thinking about Viola IP and he did warm up quite a bit when he got to the question and answer part of his talk.

The last session, "What Buyers Want" was great - borderline genius. To get the people you want to sell to on a panel and hear what they honestly think about the way you prospect, sell and follow-up.  You just can't ask for anything more out of an educational seminar.

What you can ask for is better sound quality. they had three tabletop microphones for six panelist but it was almost impossible to hear them. I'd highly recommend that all non-professional speakers who speak in the future be outfitted with a wireless lapel microphone so you can hear them no matter what.

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N - So in summary, if you just go for the exhibit hall the show is absolutely "worth it". And the seminars are worth it if you find something on the agenda that particularly appeals to what you're selling. so what are we leaving out? 

D - Well while you can't touch it or point to it but I did feel that the show had a very positive aura.  Everyone seemed excited about both the show, the current state of the business and the prospects for a profitable future. It didn't seem that long ago when alot of people seemed to be wondering if any of us would still be around in a year or two to come to a show. The doom and gloom has been replaced with optimism and I think it's because the vendors have done their jobs by launching exciting new telecom and technology products and services that end-users want to buy and distributors want to sell.

N - Gee Dan, I'm all warm & fuzzy now, Thanks.

N - Well for all you parents out there you know that the only real reason to go to a trade show is to get cool things to bring home for the kids

here's what we got.