Image Gallery: The Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall

The inaugural Channel Partners Evolution – formerly Cloud Partners – was a huge success.

The event, held Aug. 14-17 in Washington, D.C., drew more than 2,700 participants for keynotes, education and of course, networking. And there’s no better place for networking than the expo hall, which once again featured the biggest suppliers and master agents/distributors in the channel.

Highlights included our new “experience areas” which attracted vendors that specialize in cloud, mobility and IoT services.

Flip through our gallery and you’re bound to see someone you know – maybe even yourself!

Follow executive editor Craig Galbraith on Twitter.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Welcome!

Always the most popular gathering spot at our shows, hundreds of partner attendees packed the expo hall after it opened on Aug. 15 to meet with more than 150 suppliers and to start new business relationships.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Mobility City

One of three “experience areas” at Evolution, Mobility City, sponsored by AT&T, featured a number of kiosks where vendors could meet with solution providers.

You learned how to deliver mobile solutions and services that will attract millennials and keep end customers engaged. Stage sessions included “Strategy as a Service” and “Enabled Applications to Sell,” featuring industry experts who helped you propel your mobility business forward.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: MetTel

MetTel was one of the suppliers to draw a crowd to its kiosk in Mobility City.

Vendors we talked to in our experience areas liked their spots since they attracted an audience specifically interested in their specific solutions.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Nextiva

Nextiva, the VoIP and cloud communications provider, brought its mascot, which got up close and personal with our photographer.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Verizon

Verizon took up its usual enormous space in the expo hall, offering attendees a comfortable place to sit down and chat about working with the carrier.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: ScanSource VIP Lounge

Just outside the expo hall was the ScanSource VIP Lounge, which gave attendees a nice place to relax – or get some work done – away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: NEF

You got to relive your youth at NEF‘s booth where Ms. Pac-Man attracted lovers of ’80s arcade games. (As an aside, I wonder if anyone’s beaten my record on the machine at Miner’s Drive-In in Yakima, Washington, from 25 years ago.)

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Comcast Business

Always popular in the expo hall are the giveaways. Comcast Business gave one lucky winner a GoPro camera.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Windstream

Windstream Business, which sports a partner base larger than most in the channel, always attracts a crowd to its booth.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: IoT Experience Zone

Another new “experience area” was the IoT Experience Zone, sponsored by KORE, a first-time Channel Partners exhibitor.

This area featured a handful of vendors that work in the Internet-of-Things space. Stage sessions offered insight on how partners can pull together innovative and profitable IoT solutions for customers.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: DSCI

DSCI, which is being acquired by TelePacific, let its superhero mural remind partners that they can “unleash productivity to the power of X.”

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: AT&T

Channel Partners Evolution title sponsor AT&T was front and center in the hall with its ever-present globe.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Passport Raffle Winner

The Evolution Theater, sponsored by Rackspace, was home to some great programming, including our Passport sweepstakes giveaway. It was sponsored by AT&T, Rackspace, Synnex, Windstream, SoTel, KORE, China Telecom Americas and AppRiver.

The winner, Marilyn Jackson, is flanked here by Kevin Morris (left), Channel Partners’ sales development lead, and C.J. Foster, senior sales executive. Jackson took home $2,500 in AmEx cards.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Synnex/Cloud Computing Lab

The third of our three “experience areas” was the Cloud Computing Lab, sponsored by Synnex. We expanded on our Cloud Migration Lab that debuted at our spring show with a number of vendor kiosks and stage sessions that helped partners find new ways to cash in on cloud.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Ooma

Ooma. Oprah. Oprah. Ooma.

VoIP provider Ooma was one of more than two-dozen first-time exhibitors at a Channel Partners show.

Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall: Vonage

Vonage, which is making a gigantic booth a habit at our shows, used part of its space to put up a plexiglass meeting room.

Image Gallery: The Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall

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