Lorna Garey

It’s Feb. 1. Do you know where your Channel Partners 360° Business Value Awards application is?

If the answer is “we haven’t started,” please grab the form and get us your success story by March 1. For 2018, we’ll be issuing 360° awards at spring only. The big awards event at Channel Partners Evolution, Oct. 9-12, in Philadelphia, will be around Channel Futures’  2018 MSP 501 list.

We know that’s a 50 percent reduction in chances for agents and digital services providers to be recognized, so we’re sweetening the spring opportunity in two ways.

First, we’ll select three 360° winner companies to send two employees to speak in a special conference session at our largest ever Channel Partners Conference & Expo, sharing their experiences and lessons learned with fellow attendees. That peer-to-peer connection and education is a hallmark of our conference tracks, and I am excited to offer more visibility to top CP 360° winners. We’re looking to get those speaking slots filled soon so we can publicize the heck out of that session, so if you’re interested, get your application in early. Selected speakers get complimentary full expo passes, a $1,500 value per company.

Second, we’re inviting our 2018 Channel Influencers to be part of the invitation-only CP 360° awards reception, held Wednesday evening, April 18, at Public House in the Venetian. If you missed our inaugural Influencers awards, our editorial team found the 50 people, technologies, trends and organizations that can help you succeed in 2018. Our eight individual Influencers are a “who’s who” in channel leadership: John DeLozier, Hilary Gadda, Zee Hussain, Jay McBain, Janet Schijns, Craig Schlagbaum, Rob Rae and Geeman Yip. Our overall Channel Influencer of the Year will be named in our upcoming print issue; there’s still time to get on that mailing list if you act fast.

If you didn’t make our list, the only way into this combined event, which has always been the best way to grab a drink and bite, and kick off a night of celebrations at CP Expo, is to be a 360° winner.

Last spring we had more than 50 entries, and culling the list to our 25 Spring 2017 winners was a challenge for the editorial team. This year we’re looking for partners skilled at assembling bundles of services, from a varied menu of suppliers, that are tailored to alleviate a customer’s pain points. To do that you need a deep understanding of the client’s business, a broad portfolio of solutions and a consultative and digital services mindset.

Are you in? 

Finally, if you wish to enter to be listed on the Channel Futures MSP 501, watch this space. The application will be live shortly.