Australia and New Zealand’s flagship destination channel conference, EDGE 2016, starts on Sunday, with 250 vendors, distributors and partners combining on Hamilton Island for four days of insights and opinions.
Hosted by ARN and Reseller News, the Aussie and Kiwi channels will come together to access high-level strategic content that is tailored to trans-Tasman needs, all held against the backdrop of the Great Barrier Reef.
Carrying the theme of ‘Grow Your Business’, EDGE 2016 - which starts on Sunday and finishes on Wednesday - will address the ongoing challenges facing resellers through a series of thought-provoking keynotes, plenaries and breakout sessions, as well as countless networking and one-on-one meetings.
Building on the success of our inaugural event last year, EDGE 2016 will focus on the key facets of growing a business, delving deep into how partners can instigate cultural change, reshape operating models, better understand the customer and disrupt selling processes.
In short - EDGE 2016 will help partners ‘Change Your Culture’; ‘Change Your Model’; ‘Know Your Customer’ and ‘Disrupt Your Selling’.
Headlining the conference will be a mixture of global and local tech intelligence, with worldwide culture guru Stan Slap offering his renowned expertise in understanding how manager, employee and customer cultures actually work, outlining how the channel can achieve maximum commitment going forward.
As a New York Times, Wall St. Journal and USA Today bestselling author, Stan believes the term “culture” is the most overused yet often least understood concept in business, a message he translates to his many customers around the world, which includes Intel, HSBC and the Government of Northern Ireland.
Completing the keynote set is Shark Tank ‘Shark’, Steve Baxter, one of Australia’s most successful tech entrepreneurs, and an active investor and mentor to startups.
Having built Internet Service Provider, SE Net, from the spare room of his Adelaide home, Steve eventually sold his company to Ozemail/UUNet, under the stewardship of its founding director and now Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.
In 2001, Steve also teamed with a schoolmate to launch his second start-up, PIPE Networks, which they sold to the TPG Group for $373 million eight years later.
At EDGE 2016, Steve will educate the channel on how to “start, grow and sell your business”.
Between two inspiring keynotes, attendees will also understand the local workings of the new look channel through a series of plenary and breakout sessions, providing advice and guidance from a range of speakers.
Coupled with informal and structured networking, icebreaker sessions and one-on-one meetings, EDGE 2016 will provide the platform for partners, vendors and distributors to strike deals and forge relationships.
With millions of dollars transacted on the conference floor at EDGE 2015 in Port Douglas, this year promises to be no different…
