Hosting Pros at HostingCon by www.thehostingnews.com

Hosting Pros at HostingCon

October 3rd, 2009 By: Derek Vaughan

In August of this year, the world hosting community will convene the fifth annual installment of HostingCon in Washington, D.C. The show which bills itself as ”The largest gathering of hosted services professionals in the world” has experienced a few changes since last year.

The main differentiator between HostingCon 2009 and last year’s show is aÂ change of executive management and ownership. As reported here at The Hosting News, ”The addition of HostingCon is a natural extension for iNET Interactive, further strengthening its position as the leading media company serving the hosted services industry. The iNET Interactive portfolio also includes Web Hosting Talk, the largest online community serving the hosted services industry, HostingCatalog, the industry’s only pay-per-click ad network, and various specialty hosted services directories. HostingCon was founded by George Roberts, the CEO of Interjuncture, and Frank Spaulding, Interjuncture’s COO. The pair will remain involved in HostingCon as members of its advisory board.”

So what will be new about HostingCon this year? For one thing – the venue. Since its founding in 2005, the trade show and conference has convened in Chicago and Las Vegas. The switch to an East Coast venue may attract attendees who will find themselves much closer to the show site than in previous years. The facility itself is theÂ Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. The hotel’s website describes it as follows, ”Discover our first-class destination with fun for everyone, including fine dining and casual restaurants, unique shopping experiences, an indoor pool, and a 20,000-square-foot spa and fitness center. And for late-night excitement, an express elevator speeds you to the two-story rooftop Pose Ultra Lounge.” A new venue also means a different footprint for the exhibit hall. You can view an interactiveÂ HostingCon 2009 exhibit hall map here. The map gives a graphical look at where various vendors will be located in the exhibit hall in D.C.

Kelly Kleiner is Vice President of Sales with show organizer iNET Interactive. Ms. Kleiner is a key member of the team which is planning and executing HostingCon 2009. Ms. Kleiner offered the following thoughts on what will be new for HostingCon 2009, ”The biggest difference between this year’s show, and those of the previous four years, is the quality and quantity of the educational sessions. We’ve worked closely with our advisory board to determine the hottest topics and recruit leading speakers in all four session tracks. We have also added a number of keynote spots to provide leadership and vision for the future of web hosting. All attendees will walk away with information to help them grow their businesses.”

The real proof of value in a trade show is what the attendees take out of it, and their general impressions of the show quality. Here are the thoughts of a few hosting professionals who have attended HostingCon in recent years.

Daniel Foster is co-founder of UKÂ hosting provider 34SP.com. AsÂ reported by The Hosting News, the company recently introduced a newÂ Professional Hosting account. Mr. Foster has made the long trip from the UK to the United States for each of the last three years specifically to attend HostingCon. Here are Mr. Foster’s comments, ”HostingCon is a very professional and well run conference. A great benefit for me has been the opportunity to interact with other hosting experts and to learn about many different aspects of the website hosting industry. The quality of the speakers and sessions is quite high, and the parties and networking events are both fun and valuable.”

Ben Fisher is Vice President withÂ TechPad Agency, a marketing and advertising firm that specializes in Creative Services and web based property development. Mr. Fisher has attended every HostingCon show since its inception. Here are Mr. Fisher’s thoughts, ”Last years HostingCon was a blast. We had a great time seeing all our friends, playing ServerMania and it was the place where we decided to start development ofÂ iNetMania. This year will be interesting, since iNET Interactive has taken the helm of HostingCon. I know the new team has been working hard to make this years HostingCon the best that it can be and we are looking forward to it. This year we will most likely be promoting iNetMania, TheHostingNews.com along with our Mobile Application Production company.”

Chris Henning is the President ofÂ FindMyHost, Inc. Mr. Henning is a website hosting veteran who was an exhibitor at last year’s HostingCon trade event. Mr. Henning added, ”HostingCon allows our company to interact with our clients in a friendly and professional atmosphere. One of the drawbacks of an Internet related company is that it is to say the least – impersonal. Attending HostingCon last year strengthened our partnerships and friendships as well. For vendors, HostingCon is a fantastic showcase of your product to lots of potential buyers.”

To learn more about HostingCon, you can visit the website here:Â http://www.hostingcon.com/2009. You can also read the official show blog here:http://www.hostingcon.com/connect/info/blog. HostingCon also maintains a Twitter feed at:Â http://twitter.com/hostingcon.