Network Group Gala goes from strength to strength
Posted by Richard Strange on Mon, Aug 08, 2011 @ 09:30 AM
The IT industry’s premier buying group, Network Group held their second annual Exhibition and Gala last Thursday, at the picturesque Savill Court Hotel in Windsor, and the event was even bigger and better than the inaugural event last year.
Around 30 vendors attended the afternoon exhibition and were able to speak to around 100 group members who attended during the day. Presentations were given to all the members by headline sponsors, Samsung, and new vendors who launched with the group at the event, Sweex, Compucover and Ilyama. Throughout the afternoon, dedicated focus groups were also held with Lenovo, Symantec and Samsung to both the Business to Business and Retail members.
Wayne Cockerill, Group Chairman and MD of Aindale said ‘The Gala is our flagship event and it’s great to have the support of so many of our partners. Of course, although we all had a great time and enjoyed the entertainment provided by Roy Walker at our evening awards, the day is all about building business. Members find the exhibition and networking invaluable to understand the opportunities in the market and vendors that worked hard to bring specific deals to the group on the day were able to maximise the occasion to get these across to the members.’
Certainly the importance of the event was echoed by vendors attending. Nick Taylor from Samsung, headline sponsors, said: ‘This was my first time attending a Network event and I am already looking forward to the next one. The structure of the day was excellent, the attendance was great and the entertainment was unforgettable!
Samsung’s commitment to this event is a sign of our intent to work very closely with the Network Group moving forward, a great way to kick start our preferred vendor status for 2011.’ David Saab from Sweex concurred: ‘It was the best show I have EVER been to, in my 20 years in the industry in terms of number and quality of commercial conversations. Plus it was so much fun, so thank you for the wonderful entertainment.’ Jon Atherton, from EntaTech one of the preferred Distributors to the group summed it up by saying: ‘A great event once again, well organised, good networking.’
Awards were presented by a number of partners for members, vendors and distributors alike. The Best B2B Reseller was won by Total Computing, and Best Independent Retailer by Sevenoaks Computing and the Special Recognition award went to Richard Gandy from Computer Cavern.
The Best Vendor award was picked up by Epson, Best Vendor Account Manager by Dean Simpson of Microsoft, and Personality of the Year by Simon Doe. Best Distribution Account Manager was awarded to Carl Simmonds from Westcoast and Ingram Micro scooped the Best Distributor award. A full list of partners presenting the awards and the winners is attached.
Group MD, Phylip Morgan said ‘The Gala is a key highlight of the year for the Group and it’s really gratifying to get the feedback from members and vendors alike that they find the event so valuable. In these competitive days of measured return on investment, it’s hard to find equivalent opportunities to pull together like minded people all focused on a single goal of increasing business and margin for themselves and their partners. Needless to say, we are already planning our event for next year!’