Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Software Vendors and Conference Sponsorship (Part Two)
I previously blogged on Software Vendors and Conference Sponsorship and realized there is additional value to vendors that I didn't think about...
The insanity of spending lots of cash at industry conferences usually occurs as a sign of desperation where a vendor basically is forced to attend if their competition does which causes competition to outdo each other on the displays and marketing budget.
Would it make more sense to pursue venues such as The Hartford CT Chapter of OWASP where you can visit at length with potential customers and determine their needs and goals? User groups are attended by folks who truly want to be there and not because it is a paid vacation away from the office.
The potential to have a meeting longer than a sound bite with people who are already interested in products and services similar to theirs is a real advantage over conferences. So far, we have been pinged by Ounce Labs and LogLogic. Some of our speakers in the future are from firms such as Forrester Research, Burton Group, Security Curve, Accenture, GE, The Depository Trust, Cigital, Microsoft and Mozilla. I guess for the vendors that haven't yet reached out, they are either non-participants in the blogosphere or otherwise not in tune with the movers and shakers in IT security...
| | View blog reactionsThe insanity of spending lots of cash at industry conferences usually occurs as a sign of desperation where a vendor basically is forced to attend if their competition does which causes competition to outdo each other on the displays and marketing budget.
Would it make more sense to pursue venues such as The Hartford CT Chapter of OWASP where you can visit at length with potential customers and determine their needs and goals? User groups are attended by folks who truly want to be there and not because it is a paid vacation away from the office.
The potential to have a meeting longer than a sound bite with people who are already interested in products and services similar to theirs is a real advantage over conferences. So far, we have been pinged by Ounce Labs and LogLogic. Some of our speakers in the future are from firms such as Forrester Research, Burton Group, Security Curve, Accenture, GE, The Depository Trust, Cigital, Microsoft and Mozilla. I guess for the vendors that haven't yet reached out, they are either non-participants in the blogosphere or otherwise not in tune with the movers and shakers in IT security...
