May 10, 2025 • 15 mins
Winning MSP Event Planning with Alec Stanners
In this episode, we dive deep into what it really takes to plan MSP events that create community, drive real ROI, and elevate vendor relationships beyond the trade show table.
Featuring Alec Stanners, VP of Business Development at Bvoip and a core leader behind the MSP Initiative and MSP Block Party, we explore how grassroots strategy, thoughtful sponsor integration, and movement-based design can turn a basic gathering into a channel-defining experience.
With a discussion around Pax8 Beyond’s intentional structure to the anatomy of a successful block party, this conversation is packed with tactical insight for event organizers, vendors, and anyone serious about building meaningful moments in the managed services space.
Read more about this interview on the Fox & Crow blog here:
foxcrowgroup.com/insights/how-to-plan-msp-events-that-actually-work
Carrie Richardson and Ian Richardson host the WIN Podcast - What's Important Now?
Serial entrepreneurs, life partners and business partners, they have successfully exited from multiple businesses (IT, call center, real estate, marketing) and they help other business owners create their own versions of success.
Ian is certified in Eagle Center For Leadership Making A Difference, Paterson StratOp, and LifePlan.
Carrie has helped create and execute successful outbound sales strategies for over 1200 technology-focused businesses including MSPs, manufacturers, distributors and SaaS firms.
Learn more at www.foxcrowgroup.com
Book time with Carrie here!
Be a guest on WIN! We host successful entrepreneurs who share advice with other entrepreneurs on how to build, grow or sell a business using examples from their own experience.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carrie Richardson (00:00):
Good afternoon everybody.
My name is Carrie Richardson.
I'm a partner at Fox and Crowand your host for the WIN
podcast.
With me today is Alex Stanners,the VP of BizDev for Bvoip and a
veteran channel event organizerand attendee.
How are you doing today, Alec?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (00:18):
I'm doing really well.
Always a pleasure to get on withyou and, always happy to talk
about events, so this is gonnabe fun.
Carrie Richardson (00:23):
You guys have been doing something interesting
for the last 10 years, which I'msure was not well received at
the beginning, but it's justbecome"de rigeur".
Tell me about that transition.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (00:33):
I've done a lot of events with very big
vendors, which is always fun andcool and great to be at the top
of the chart there with all the,resources.
And then I've been on a startupside and events are expensive
and it's not always easy tostand out, so we took the
startup mentality and did sweatequity.
we put hard work into it andmake it, make something fun
happen where we can bringeveryone together that was born
(00:54):
and really evolved into MSPInitiative, which is our
secondary company.
goal There is networking,education and really just fun.
can we bring a communitytogether?
Can we let everyone connect?
And we heard time and timeagain.
Hallway chats are the mostvaluable thing for the msp.
So can we create another areafor them to chat in?
Carrie Richardson (01:11):
So I had actually forgotten about the bus
until just right now.
I remember seeing you guys inMichigan.
Yep.
When you camethrough in the busin 2020 or 2021?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (01:22):
20 through 22 actually.
Carrie Richardson (01:24):
Yeah, that was a good time.
It was a little different.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (01:26):
So different but a lot of fun.
we still today are meeting MSPsthat met us on those tours Just
such a great time for us.
The world stopped and, thosehallway chats are what drives
this industry so much.
MSPs are struggling with onething or another and how to
position something.
it's not always the vendor'seducation that hits on it.
sometimes another MSP fromacross the country gives you
some tips and tricks and helpyou get there.
So when we saw everything stop,getting that tour bus going was
(01:50):
our answer to it.
It worked out really well and wejust had a lot of fun with it.
Carrie Richardson (01:54):
Tell me about the block party.
We've had the block party on ayacht in Miami.
It's been
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (02:00):
in Dublin.
It's been on Darling Harbor inSydney.
More times than I'd like tocount in Orlando.
We've rented out LIV theFontainbleu and we've done lots
of fun excursions there we'vegone to so many shows and
there's always that weird emptynight, a couple of us will take
out a prospect or two, or apartner or two, and that's
always great.
I love those intimate kind of,interactions.
We still have those, but there'sso many people who don't know
(02:22):
where to go or don't havesomeone that they can go and
meet with or have a crew thatthey can connect up with.
So for all of them, it was kindof, oh, I'm just gonna float off
down the street and go to achilies and get a bite.
Now it's all right.
let's give them something funand something real connected and
central to do.
bringing everyone together in aneasy to go to platform.
where there's security and nosafety risks it's really come
(02:44):
out to be a nice program.
Carrie Richardson (02:45):
Well, you outgrew Blue Martini.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (02:47):
it's really incredible to watch
what's grown.
Blue Martini was pretty largefor what it was.
It was year one, it was eight or900 people, in the building.
then we exploded into the nextyear with, BB King's.
And Opa and, and then that wholekind of crowd up there.
And then that company,unfortunately, collapsed during
Covid one big management companyowned pretty much the entire
second floor.
(03:08):
There was a third bar OPA wasseparate BB Kings.
And then, there was anotherlittle one that was a kind of a
Italian dimly lit, fun vibe.
We worked with them and then Opaand, finally over to ICON Park
when we outgrew it.
And really what we had said waswe wanted to bring in an act and
that was the next evolution ofit.
And that's been incredible.
We've done a hurricane partywith the All American Rejects.
(03:31):
Pretty big main stage party withboth Ezra Hart, which was Sugar
Ray better than Ezra and Tonic.
last year was Flo Rida.
Carrie Richardson (03:38):
I missed that.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (03:40):
He was great.
Pure entertainer, absolute stageshow.
we'll see if he makes anotherappearance down the road.
he does live at the Fontainbleau
Carrie Richardson (03:48):
really
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (03:49):
He won an $86 million lawsuit against
Celsius or not reporting theirincome to'him.
Carrie Richardson (03:55):
And now he lives at a hotel
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (03:57):
and now he lives there full time.
Carrie Richardson (03:59):
Amazing.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (04:00):
that is the dream.
Carrie Richardson (04:01):
His career has been exemplary.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (04:04):
He's really just put out an
unbelievable amount of hits.
we talked a little bit beforethis about how do we pick an
artist?
And that's such a process and itreally starts early in the year
because these people book out.
More so now when we started andit was still a little covid.
It was a little bit easier toget talent, but now you're
definitely booking way out.
obviously everyone's got theirown personal taste, so you have
(04:24):
to remove that from it andyou're going to Spotify.
When we did that, we were like,oh my God, the amount of hits
that he had and the amount ofviews he had were just
incredible.
Carrie Richardson (04:33):
I was on the vendor pre-call for PAX 8.
And they were saying, this yearthe party's gonna be on the main
floor.
There's not gonna be any issueswith the floor.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (04:42):
That was a good one.
They did a nice job.
they had Nelly the year beforeand he was great.
He was a lot of fun too, I guessRob had said to me he was only
supposed to play for, I believe,45 minutes.
and he ended up playing like 75minutes.
Carrie Richardson (04:54):
that was nice.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (04:55):
he loved the crowd and loved the energy.
So he just kept going.
Carrie Richardson (04:58):
Are you doing something similar at Beyond this
year?
Is there going to be a blockparty?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (05:02):
there's not gonna be a block party at
Beyond this year.
our next upcoming block party,we have Dattocon Dublin, and
then we teamed up with the teamover at Rewst to do their flow
conference.
I've got Dattocon shortly afterthat as well over in, Miami.
quite a few of those coming up,in the spring into fall.
Carrie Richardson (05:18):
So what should we expect from Bvoip at
Beyond this year?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (05:21):
We've been having a lot of fun with the PAX
8.
we've teamed up with them ondifferent sales initiatives,
which has been great.
PAX 8 never fully jumped intothe communications arena, until
they had their Locate, program.
we've taken that to a differentangle with all the integrations
we provide.
it's been a great time workingwith their operations team.
So it's a little bit differentfrom your traditional VoIP
route.
we're speaking a lot more towhat the MSPs are doing from
(05:43):
taking that communications,bringing into the tools they're
using every day to run theirbusiness.
And then, How can they use allof that to make their business
more efficient?
Carrie Richardson (05:51):
So you're a member of the PAX eight
marketplace.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (05:53):
We are.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
We launched in August of 23.
Carrie Richardson (05:56):
So for first time attendees of Beyond, how
should they, approach the eventto maximize their time and
learning on site?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (06:05):
Yes.
I hope you booked your room.
Because it's just a massiveproperty.
and the last thing you wanna dois be shuttling back and forth,
but, it really is a cool event.
It's very well done, very wellpolished.
they do a brilliant lounge,which is a nice place that's
probably the underrated, spot ofthe event they made really great
pockets of these unwind areas.
We need five, 15 minutes toanswer emails or call back home.
(06:28):
they did a really nice job ofthat and just really thoughtful
throughout the process.
it's a big agenda.
There's a lot they're covering.
they always do really great jobwith the keynotes.
So like that's number one on, onyour list, the party as we just
touched on.
Don't miss that.
Look at the tracks, understandwhat's most important to you.
Are you the Microsoft expert orare you the business owner?
What's going to do best for youand what are you gonna get the
(06:49):
most value out of?
But they do a nice job atspliting that up and making sure
everyone's covered in thebusiness.
that would be my focus is takethe time now.
Iron out your schedule, if youcan pre-sign up for, breakouts,
things like that?
I would do it.
I would arrive early.
Most of'em are generallystanding room only, so if you
wanna sit, if you wanna actuallyget in the room, get there
early.
Carrie Richardson (07:10):
I've even seen that at the keynote, like
the keynotes are standing roomonly by the time, the stage
lights up.
And they always do such a greatjob with the AV there.
Their content team is justextraordinary.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (07:22):
Eric Boles had started that film program
with them and, he'sunbelievable, with that kind of
stuff.
you continue to see them watch,and take it up a notch the
beautiful presentation of theLED wall and the graphics they
just do a really nice job.
I'm excited to see what theyhave this year.
every year they bring somethingdifferent, something new, and
this year they'll be here and inAmsterdam, which is fun.
Mm-hmm.
it's cool to watch their globalfootprint keep growing, so I'm
(07:44):
sure there'll be some info onthat.
we work with our Australia teampretty regularly and that's been
growing steadily, so it'll befun to see.
Carrie Richardson (07:51):
how about for first time sponsors?
what do we do to get a betterreturn on what is a fairly
pricey sponsorship.
Alec Stanners, BVo (07:59):
Sponsorships in general have gone up a lot.
And like the world we live in,everything's gone up in cost.
So what can you do to make themost of it?
I would say, first of all, lookat the people you're sending.
you want the personable person.
You want the person that's gonnaconnect, they're gonna smile,
they're gonna draw people in.
they're not gonna go to bedearly.
On the other side of it, just bepresent.
wear your brand.
Understand the minute you steponto that plane until the minute
(08:20):
you step back off at home,you're representing your
company.
So wear your brand.
Be a part of that.
Have your pitch down, make sureeveryone that's going has that
pitch down and can explain thevalue that we're providing.
I'll give a shout out to, theteam over at Cyber qp.
I remember a couple years agowhen DattoCon was happening at
the three different Miamihotels.
Everyone was worried about howthat would impact, their lead
gain They sat on the bus.
(08:41):
They had two people that justrode the buses between the
hotels.
They ended up having another 30,40, 50 conversations.
Carrie Richardson (08:48):
That's brilliant.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (08:50):
But you have to be outside the box and
ready to pivot.
I see it too often where peoplecome in they're a new vendor and
they're excited to be with eachother, and I totally get that as
a remote company employeemyself, I'm excited when I see
my coworkers and we love goingout together and grabbing food,
Leaving as just your team andgetting dinner is a missed
opportunity.
grab MSPs with you.
Don't spend six hours at thesteakhouse.
(09:10):
Eat the meal, come back, go tothe lobby, buy a drink for some
partners and prospects.
Have a good conversation.
Hopefully lead to, goodconnections and tell the world
what you do.
when buying these sponsorshipsyou gotta look at it from that
standpoint of how many people dowe need to talk to?
Have a goal in mind, and beready to hit that goal.
if you're not hitting it andrealize you're not hitting it,
(09:31):
what are you gonna change onsite to get there?
Carrie Richardson (09:33):
How do you know what the goal should be if
you have no KPIs from previousyears to measure against?
How do you set up a realistictarget for your team on site?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (09:45):
Yeah, totally fair.
so I'll give a big shout out toBeyond here.
I think beyond's been reallygreat with their numbers.
Not all events are.
you and I have both encounteredthat over the years, beyond's
one of the ones that I think arereally on with the number, which
has been great.
So I think start with that,right?
How many people are supposed tobe there?
How much do we pay for it now?
understand what your averagesale price is.
(10:06):
Now, how many of those do I haveto sell to break even?
figure that number out.
If it's cost me$20,000 to behere, there's a thousand people.
I need 20 sales.
what's my average close rate?
Is it 50%?
Is it 30%?
Is it 10%?
You know, what is it?
that'll tell you exactly howmany leads you need to get from
the booth, to work your mathbackwards and get there.
then set a realistic goal foryourself.
(10:27):
one thing I watch too often withnew vendors is, if we don't get
this ROI back within threemonths, six months, we're
pulling outta the wholeindustry.
it makes it harder for newvendors.
poor new vendors will come inwith no intentions of leaving
and no one will trust them forsix months.
So, Have a realistic goal have arealistic timeline but also
understand, those pieces.
In the last one I always talk tovendors about who is your
perfect sell?
(10:47):
Is it a one man MSP?
Is it a thousand person MSP?
What is it?
also understand that if you'rejust targeting the large MSPs,
PE backed MSPs.
Those don't close overnight.
At that point you need to knowthat the company that you're
being sold to from can scalewith you.
that's the biggest fear I hearfrom a lot of those MSPs and
partners that are, in that rangethey wanna know that you can
scale with them, that you're notgoing anywhere.
(11:08):
That is still a fear of theirsas well.
it's timely.
It's very costly, putting a newtool.
they know that, especially atthat size.
Carrie Richardson (11:15):
If they're pre-acquisition, what are the
odds on them changing anythingthat's gonna impact their margin
Or impact their organic growthpath or disrupt anything that's
running smoothly.
The last thing anyone wants todo is jostle something that
breaks something right whenyou're on the cusp of being that
attractive target for a PEacquisition.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (11:38):
Where we see a lot of change in that
realm especially in,communications is we did six
acquisitions.
Everyone's on a different phonesystem.
It's really clunky, so we'retrying to evaluate what's the
best one.
you won't find that with everytool.
There's not gonna be a spreadamongst PSAs.
If I'm a ConnectWise msp, I'macquiring ConnectWise MSPs,
unless something's reallyincredible.
(11:59):
If I have one MSP we acquiredthat's using Bvoip and one with
RingCentral, another with eightby eight and everything else,
I'm gonna evaluate all of themand figure out what's the best
one.
I see that a good amount, butit's definitely tool specific.
The more research you can do,the better.
if you're listening to this andyou're a new vendor, Carrie's
got a whole litany of podcastson other topics.
Listen to as many of those aspossible.
(12:19):
Read as many books as possible,and understand the business and
the challenges these guys gothrough because No one ever puts
themselves in somebody else'sseat.
you're picking up the phone,you're calling'cause you have a
number to hit.
That person on the other linemight be dealing with a client
that's down everyone getsfrustrated with each other and
everyone's in a differentposition.
Everyone has something going on.
the more you understand abouttheir business, the more
understanding you'll be to thesituations you're dealing with.
(12:40):
It'll, lessen the frustrationand also help you connect.
Carrie Richardson (12:43):
You can prioritize your best fit MSPs if
you already know who they are.
Especially if you've got a veryspecific niche.
Like we only work withhealthcare specific MSPs.
you're going to have a smallsubsection of the market and you
should be able to curate a listof the people who own those
companies or lead thosecompanies so that when you see
them on site you can swoop inand pay extra attention to the
(13:08):
ones that you know are the exactright fit for your business.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (13:11):
Yeah, and on that topic, I'll just say, in
terms of pre-work, that can helpset you up for success.
Be vocal, be online.
Create videos.
Be fun.
Stand out.
If you just write plain emails,no one's gonna read them.
gotta be different.
You gotta be fun.
Be culturally relevant, right?
Send a last of us email.
Carrie Richardson (13:26):
Don't spoil anything for me.
We're not starting it untilevery episode is dropped.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (13:29):
This season is nuts! Just send out
something fun that's gonna catchattention, that's gonna do a lot
better than just a Hey buy fromus because we're great.
That sounds a lot like the lastnine emails I got.
Carrie Richardson (13:39):
and to wind this podcast down, buy from us
we're great.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (13:44):
Yes, absolutely.
Carrie Richardson (13:46):
It was great to talk to you and always
looking forward to seeing youguys.
Sorry, there won't be a partybut PAX 8 will host their own,
so we're good there.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (13:53):
They always do a great job on
parties, so I'm looking forwardto seeing what they have.
And, there's, they're alreadytwo parties going on in June, so
plenty, plenty coming up.
Carrie Richardson (14:00):
All right, well thanks Alec.
Thanks for your insight, and wewill see you in Denver.
Take care.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (14:07):
You too.
Good afternoon everybody.
My name is Carrie Richardson.
I'm a partner at Fox and Crowand your host for the WIN
podcast.
With me today is Alex Stanners,the VP of BizDev for Bvoip and a
veteran channel event organizerand attendee.
How are you doing today, Alec?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (00:18):
I'm doing really well.
Always a pleasure to get on withyou and, always happy to talk
about events, so this is gonnabe fun.
Carrie Richardson (00:23):
You guys have been doing something interesting
for the last 10 years, which I'msure was not well received at
the beginning, but it's justbecome"de rigeur".
Tell me about that transition.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (00:33):
I've done a lot of events with very big
vendors, which is always fun andcool and great to be at the top
of the chart there with all the,resources.
And then I've been on a startupside and events are expensive
and it's not always easy tostand out, so we took the
startup mentality and did sweatequity.
we put hard work into it andmake it, make something fun
happen where we can bringeveryone together that was born
(00:54):
and really evolved into MSPInitiative, which is our
secondary company.
goal There is networking,education and really just fun.
can we bring a communitytogether?
Can we let everyone connect?
And we heard time and timeagain.
Hallway chats are the mostvaluable thing for the msp.
So can we create another areafor them to chat in?
Carrie Richardson (01:11):
So I had actually forgotten about the bus
until just right now.
I remember seeing you guys inMichigan.
Yep.
When you camethrough in the busin 2020 or 2021?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (01:22):
20 through 22 actually.
Carrie Richardson (01:24):
Yeah, that was a good time.
It was a little different.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (01:26):
So different but a lot of fun.
we still today are meeting MSPsthat met us on those tours Just
such a great time for us.
The world stopped and, thosehallway chats are what drives
this industry so much.
MSPs are struggling with onething or another and how to
position something.
it's not always the vendor'seducation that hits on it.
sometimes another MSP fromacross the country gives you
some tips and tricks and helpyou get there.
So when we saw everything stop,getting that tour bus going was
(01:50):
our answer to it.
It worked out really well and wejust had a lot of fun with it.
Carrie Richardson (01:54):
Tell me about the block party.
We've had the block party on ayacht in Miami.
It's been
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (02:00):
in Dublin.
It's been on Darling Harbor inSydney.
More times than I'd like tocount in Orlando.
We've rented out LIV theFontainbleu and we've done lots
of fun excursions there we'vegone to so many shows and
there's always that weird emptynight, a couple of us will take
out a prospect or two, or apartner or two, and that's
always great.
I love those intimate kind of,interactions.
We still have those, but there'sso many people who don't know
(02:22):
where to go or don't havesomeone that they can go and
meet with or have a crew thatthey can connect up with.
So for all of them, it was kindof, oh, I'm just gonna float off
down the street and go to achilies and get a bite.
Now it's all right.
let's give them something funand something real connected and
central to do.
bringing everyone together in aneasy to go to platform.
where there's security and nosafety risks it's really come
(02:44):
out to be a nice program.
Carrie Richardson (02:45):
Well, you outgrew Blue Martini.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (02:47):
it's really incredible to watch
what's grown.
Blue Martini was pretty largefor what it was.
It was year one, it was eight or900 people, in the building.
then we exploded into the nextyear with, BB King's.
And Opa and, and then that wholekind of crowd up there.
And then that company,unfortunately, collapsed during
Covid one big management companyowned pretty much the entire
second floor.
(03:08):
There was a third bar OPA wasseparate BB Kings.
And then, there was anotherlittle one that was a kind of a
Italian dimly lit, fun vibe.
We worked with them and then Opaand, finally over to ICON Park
when we outgrew it.
And really what we had said waswe wanted to bring in an act and
that was the next evolution ofit.
And that's been incredible.
We've done a hurricane partywith the All American Rejects.
(03:31):
Pretty big main stage party withboth Ezra Hart, which was Sugar
Ray better than Ezra and Tonic.
last year was Flo Rida.
Carrie Richardson (03:38):
I missed that.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (03:40):
He was great.
Pure entertainer, absolute stageshow.
we'll see if he makes anotherappearance down the road.
he does live at the Fontainbleau
Carrie Richardson (03:48):
really
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (03:49):
He won an $86 million lawsuit against
Celsius or not reporting theirincome to'him.
Carrie Richardson (03:55):
And now he lives at a hotel
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (03:57):
and now he lives there full time.
Carrie Richardson (03:59):
Amazing.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (04:00):
that is the dream.
Carrie Richardson (04:01):
His career has been exemplary.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (04:04):
He's really just put out an
unbelievable amount of hits.
we talked a little bit beforethis about how do we pick an
artist?
And that's such a process and itreally starts early in the year
because these people book out.
More so now when we started andit was still a little covid.
It was a little bit easier toget talent, but now you're
definitely booking way out.
obviously everyone's got theirown personal taste, so you have
(04:24):
to remove that from it andyou're going to Spotify.
When we did that, we were like,oh my God, the amount of hits
that he had and the amount ofviews he had were just
incredible.
Carrie Richardson (04:33):
I was on the vendor pre-call for PAX 8.
And they were saying, this yearthe party's gonna be on the main
floor.
There's not gonna be any issueswith the floor.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (04:42):
That was a good one.
They did a nice job.
they had Nelly the year beforeand he was great.
He was a lot of fun too, I guessRob had said to me he was only
supposed to play for, I believe,45 minutes.
and he ended up playing like 75minutes.
Carrie Richardson (04:54):
that was nice.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (04:55):
he loved the crowd and loved the energy.
So he just kept going.
Carrie Richardson (04:58):
Are you doing something similar at Beyond this
year?
Is there going to be a blockparty?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (05:02):
there's not gonna be a block party at
Beyond this year.
our next upcoming block party,we have Dattocon Dublin, and
then we teamed up with the teamover at Rewst to do their flow
conference.
I've got Dattocon shortly afterthat as well over in, Miami.
quite a few of those coming up,in the spring into fall.
Carrie Richardson (05:18):
So what should we expect from Bvoip at
Beyond this year?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (05:21):
We've been having a lot of fun with the PAX
8.
we've teamed up with them ondifferent sales initiatives,
which has been great.
PAX 8 never fully jumped intothe communications arena, until
they had their Locate, program.
we've taken that to a differentangle with all the integrations
we provide.
it's been a great time workingwith their operations team.
So it's a little bit differentfrom your traditional VoIP
route.
we're speaking a lot more towhat the MSPs are doing from
(05:43):
taking that communications,bringing into the tools they're
using every day to run theirbusiness.
And then, How can they use allof that to make their business
more efficient?
Carrie Richardson (05:51):
So you're a member of the PAX eight
marketplace.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (05:53):
We are.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
We launched in August of 23.
Carrie Richardson (05:56):
So for first time attendees of Beyond, how
should they, approach the eventto maximize their time and
learning on site?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (06:05):
Yes.
I hope you booked your room.
Because it's just a massiveproperty.
and the last thing you wanna dois be shuttling back and forth,
but, it really is a cool event.
It's very well done, very wellpolished.
they do a brilliant lounge,which is a nice place that's
probably the underrated, spot ofthe event they made really great
pockets of these unwind areas.
We need five, 15 minutes toanswer emails or call back home.
(06:28):
they did a really nice job ofthat and just really thoughtful
throughout the process.
it's a big agenda.
There's a lot they're covering.
they always do really great jobwith the keynotes.
So like that's number one on, onyour list, the party as we just
touched on.
Don't miss that.
Look at the tracks, understandwhat's most important to you.
Are you the Microsoft expert orare you the business owner?
What's going to do best for youand what are you gonna get the
(06:49):
most value out of?
But they do a nice job atspliting that up and making sure
everyone's covered in thebusiness.
that would be my focus is takethe time now.
Iron out your schedule, if youcan pre-sign up for, breakouts,
things like that?
I would do it.
I would arrive early.
Most of'em are generallystanding room only, so if you
wanna sit, if you wanna actuallyget in the room, get there
early.
Carrie Richardson (07:10):
I've even seen that at the keynote, like
the keynotes are standing roomonly by the time, the stage
lights up.
And they always do such a greatjob with the AV there.
Their content team is justextraordinary.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (07:22):
Eric Boles had started that film program
with them and, he'sunbelievable, with that kind of
stuff.
you continue to see them watch,and take it up a notch the
beautiful presentation of theLED wall and the graphics they
just do a really nice job.
I'm excited to see what theyhave this year.
every year they bring somethingdifferent, something new, and
this year they'll be here and inAmsterdam, which is fun.
Mm-hmm.
it's cool to watch their globalfootprint keep growing, so I'm
(07:44):
sure there'll be some info onthat.
we work with our Australia teampretty regularly and that's been
growing steadily, so it'll befun to see.
Carrie Richardson (07:51):
how about for first time sponsors?
what do we do to get a betterreturn on what is a fairly
pricey sponsorship.
Alec Stanners, BVo (07:59):
Sponsorships in general have gone up a lot.
And like the world we live in,everything's gone up in cost.
So what can you do to make themost of it?
I would say, first of all, lookat the people you're sending.
you want the personable person.
You want the person that's gonnaconnect, they're gonna smile,
they're gonna draw people in.
they're not gonna go to bedearly.
On the other side of it, just bepresent.
wear your brand.
Understand the minute you steponto that plane until the minute
(08:20):
you step back off at home,you're representing your
company.
So wear your brand.
Be a part of that.
Have your pitch down, make sureeveryone that's going has that
pitch down and can explain thevalue that we're providing.
I'll give a shout out to, theteam over at Cyber qp.
I remember a couple years agowhen DattoCon was happening at
the three different Miamihotels.
Everyone was worried about howthat would impact, their lead
gain They sat on the bus.
(08:41):
They had two people that justrode the buses between the
hotels.
They ended up having another 30,40, 50 conversations.
Carrie Richardson (08:48):
That's brilliant.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (08:50):
But you have to be outside the box and
ready to pivot.
I see it too often where peoplecome in they're a new vendor and
they're excited to be with eachother, and I totally get that as
a remote company employeemyself, I'm excited when I see
my coworkers and we love goingout together and grabbing food,
Leaving as just your team andgetting dinner is a missed
opportunity.
grab MSPs with you.
Don't spend six hours at thesteakhouse.
(09:10):
Eat the meal, come back, go tothe lobby, buy a drink for some
partners and prospects.
Have a good conversation.
Hopefully lead to, goodconnections and tell the world
what you do.
when buying these sponsorshipsyou gotta look at it from that
standpoint of how many people dowe need to talk to?
Have a goal in mind, and beready to hit that goal.
if you're not hitting it andrealize you're not hitting it,
(09:31):
what are you gonna change onsite to get there?
Carrie Richardson (09:33):
How do you know what the goal should be if
you have no KPIs from previousyears to measure against?
How do you set up a realistictarget for your team on site?
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (09:45):
Yeah, totally fair.
so I'll give a big shout out toBeyond here.
I think beyond's been reallygreat with their numbers.
Not all events are.
you and I have both encounteredthat over the years, beyond's
one of the ones that I think arereally on with the number, which
has been great.
So I think start with that,right?
How many people are supposed tobe there?
How much do we pay for it now?
understand what your averagesale price is.
(10:06):
Now, how many of those do I haveto sell to break even?
figure that number out.
If it's cost me$20,000 to behere, there's a thousand people.
I need 20 sales.
what's my average close rate?
Is it 50%?
Is it 30%?
Is it 10%?
You know, what is it?
that'll tell you exactly howmany leads you need to get from
the booth, to work your mathbackwards and get there.
then set a realistic goal foryourself.
(10:27):
one thing I watch too often withnew vendors is, if we don't get
this ROI back within threemonths, six months, we're
pulling outta the wholeindustry.
it makes it harder for newvendors.
poor new vendors will come inwith no intentions of leaving
and no one will trust them forsix months.
So, Have a realistic goal have arealistic timeline but also
understand, those pieces.
In the last one I always talk tovendors about who is your
perfect sell?
(10:47):
Is it a one man MSP?
Is it a thousand person MSP?
What is it?
also understand that if you'rejust targeting the large MSPs,
PE backed MSPs.
Those don't close overnight.
At that point you need to knowthat the company that you're
being sold to from can scalewith you.
that's the biggest fear I hearfrom a lot of those MSPs and
partners that are, in that rangethey wanna know that you can
scale with them, that you're notgoing anywhere.
(11:08):
That is still a fear of theirsas well.
it's timely.
It's very costly, putting a newtool.
they know that, especially atthat size.
Carrie Richardson (11:15):
If they're pre-acquisition, what are the
odds on them changing anythingthat's gonna impact their margin
Or impact their organic growthpath or disrupt anything that's
running smoothly.
The last thing anyone wants todo is jostle something that
breaks something right whenyou're on the cusp of being that
attractive target for a PEacquisition.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (11:38):
Where we see a lot of change in that
realm especially in,communications is we did six
acquisitions.
Everyone's on a different phonesystem.
It's really clunky, so we'retrying to evaluate what's the
best one.
you won't find that with everytool.
There's not gonna be a spreadamongst PSAs.
If I'm a ConnectWise msp, I'macquiring ConnectWise MSPs,
unless something's reallyincredible.
(11:59):
If I have one MSP we acquiredthat's using Bvoip and one with
RingCentral, another with eightby eight and everything else,
I'm gonna evaluate all of themand figure out what's the best
one.
I see that a good amount, butit's definitely tool specific.
The more research you can do,the better.
if you're listening to this andyou're a new vendor, Carrie's
got a whole litany of podcastson other topics.
Listen to as many of those aspossible.
(12:19):
Read as many books as possible,and understand the business and
the challenges these guys gothrough because No one ever puts
themselves in somebody else'sseat.
you're picking up the phone,you're calling'cause you have a
number to hit.
That person on the other linemight be dealing with a client
that's down everyone getsfrustrated with each other and
everyone's in a differentposition.
Everyone has something going on.
the more you understand abouttheir business, the more
understanding you'll be to thesituations you're dealing with.
(12:40):
It'll, lessen the frustrationand also help you connect.
Carrie Richardson (12:43):
You can prioritize your best fit MSPs if
you already know who they are.
Especially if you've got a veryspecific niche.
Like we only work withhealthcare specific MSPs.
you're going to have a smallsubsection of the market and you
should be able to curate a listof the people who own those
companies or lead thosecompanies so that when you see
them on site you can swoop inand pay extra attention to the
(13:08):
ones that you know are the exactright fit for your business.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (13:11):
Yeah, and on that topic, I'll just say, in
terms of pre-work, that can helpset you up for success.
Be vocal, be online.
Create videos.
Be fun.
Stand out.
If you just write plain emails,no one's gonna read them.
gotta be different.
You gotta be fun.
Be culturally relevant, right?
Send a last of us email.
Carrie Richardson (13:26):
Don't spoil anything for me.
We're not starting it untilevery episode is dropped.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (13:29):
This season is nuts! Just send out
something fun that's gonna catchattention, that's gonna do a lot
better than just a Hey buy fromus because we're great.
That sounds a lot like the lastnine emails I got.
Carrie Richardson (13:39):
and to wind this podcast down, buy from us
we're great.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (13:44):
Yes, absolutely.
Carrie Richardson (13:46):
It was great to talk to you and always
looking forward to seeing youguys.
Sorry, there won't be a partybut PAX 8 will host their own,
so we're good there.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (13:53):
They always do a great job on
parties, so I'm looking forwardto seeing what they have.
And, there's, they're alreadytwo parties going on in June, so
plenty, plenty coming up.
Carrie Richardson (14:00):
All right, well thanks Alec.
Thanks for your insight, and wewill see you in Denver.
Take care.
Alec Stanners, BVoIP (14:07):
You too.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.