Comptel Plus (Spring 2015) Day 1 Show Daily

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COMPTELPlus | Monday, April 13, 2015 Beka Publishing, 6
DAY 1
(Pickering, continued from page 1)
The interactive, online COMPTEL PLUS Busi-
ness PLANner is one of the most helpful
tools to ensure you’re meeting the right
people, at the right time. It’s free and avail-
able to any pre-registered attendee or exhibitor.
With the Business PLANner, you can invite other
show attendees to meet with you and schedule meet-
ings during the show at the Deal Center, which is
located in the EXPO hall.
To use the Business PLANner, go to www.compt-
and click on the "Business PLANner" in the
top menu. Click on "Login to the Business PLANner"
and enter the username and password you created
when you initially registered for COMPTEL PLUS.
From there you can start using the Business
PLANner. Under the "Your Messages" category you
can see if anyone has sent you an invitation by clicking
on "My Messages," send an invitation by clicking on
"Create New Message" or schedule a meeting by
clicking on "Create New Meeting."
In the right column, you will see any pending invi-
tations you have received, invitations you have sent
and your schedule to review or print. COMPTEL PLUS
makes it easy to connect without releasing your email
or personal information.
From the Business PLANner, you also can down-
load the pre-registered attendee list, view your regis-
tration information and build a profile to share with
potential dealmakers.
When your meeting is scheduled in the Deal
Center, you will find a dedicated space to host a
meeting and potentially make a deal.
The Deal Center is located at the back of the EXPO
hall, next to the Food Court and is sponsored by thinQ.
Of course you can’t get to the Deal Center without
venturing through the Expo, which is the central focus
of COMPTEL PLUS. At this show, the Expo offers
exclusive hours, complimentary lunches and access to
more than 80 innovative exhibiting companies.
Also on the floor is the COMPTEL PLUS Hub
– a multimedia space where you can learn about
COMPTEL members' stories, watch interviews
with industry players and exhibitors and hear news
happening at the show.
The Hub also serves as the official COMPTEL
booth, where you can meet with association staff,
find answers to your questions and learn how you can
become a member.
The most important aspect of the exhibit hall is
the exhibitors. These companies will assist you in
finding new, innovative products and services. The
EXPO also offers you the boundless potential to find
new customers, partners and vendors is essentially
boundless while visiting the booths and learning more
about what each company does.
How to Maximize
Your COMPTEL
PLUS Experience
Bill Nelson – and high-profile industry innovators
– Google’s Milo Medin and Dow Draper, Sprint’s
president of Wholesale and Prepaid Services – this
year to share their insights about the state of the
industry, changes to expect in the coming years
and the cutting-edge products and services that
are expected to result from the next generation of
communications technologies,” Pickering said. “So
we adapted our agenda to ensure that our attendees
would have the opportunity to hear from them.”
Indeed, instead of two days of competing concur-
rent sessions, the Spring 2015 edition features the
three keynotes and fewer times where attendees
have to choose one or the other session.
“Because of the schedule of our keynotes and
general sessions, we are focusing our three tracks of
current sessions on a single day, and ensuring that
they do not conflict with our exhibit hours,” Pick-
ering explained. “We believe this change will allow
our attendees focus on learning about the topics in
which they’re interested, yet still have the time to
visit the exhibit hall, network and do the deals that
COMPTEL is famous for enabling.”
Pickering said COMPTEL is looking to the three
keynote speakers to share insights on how the
industry is evolving and to address challenges on
the horizon.
“Our speakers are staunch advocates for the
technology and telecommunications industry, and
are embracing disruptive approaches to ensure that
consumers and businesses of all sizes can continue
to benefit from a competitive marketplace,” he said.
“With such a strong lineup of speakers – in our
keynotes, during our concurrent sessions and in sales
training that our attendees have been asking for – it’s
clear that COMPTEL PLUS is strengthening its repu-
tation as a must-attend event,” Pickering said.
This Spring’s speakers follow the appearance last
October of FCC Chairman TomWheeler, who laid
out the Commission’s competition agenda, with
respect to the technology transitions and last-mile
access, including special access reform.
“More recently in his testimony before a
Congressional hearing, Chairman Wheeler
discussed the need to lower the barriers to compet-
itive deployments, and how the FCC was going to
take the lead among government agencies to iden-
tify barriers that may exist,” Pickering said. “Other
issues that are expected take center stage for the
industry as a whole in the coming year include
wireless auctions, broadcast spectrum, super WiFi
and Lifeline reform at the FCC.
“And Congress will likely focus on unlicensed
spectrum, data security, privacy and cyber security,
as well as continued discussion of a Communications
Act rewrite,” he added.
In terms of COMPTEL’s agenda, Pickering said he
expects to see that it has a broader network deployment
plan to address the changing face of its membership.
“For our competitive business/enterprise
members, tech transitions and special access
reform proceedings will be of critical importance,”
Pickering said. “Then we have other members
that are concerned about lowering barriers to
competitive network deployment, greater competi-
tion in the wireless market and the cost of video
programming that could incent more options in
rural communities and drive down the expense to
consumers across the country.”
But what ultimately drives COMPTEL’s advocacy
efforts is the importance of policies and laws that
foster competition across all networks, he said.
In addition, Pickering said that by providing
sales training with Stephan Schiffman, COMPTEL
hopes to inspire members with new strategies
for building their businesses and giving them
educational opportunities they may not be able to
provide to their workforces.
And, Wednesday’s half-day workshop, led
by Technologies Management Inc., will provide
practical advice for companies considering
mergers or acquisitions. o
COMPTEL CEO Chip Pickering officially opens the COMPTEL PLUS Business Expo from the HUB on
the Expo floor, Sunday, at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center.