Internet Partner Forum Launch Meeting a Success

The inaugural meeting of the Internet Partner Forum on Wednesday December 5th was  packed with attendees from agencies, development shops and other product/service vendors at the Living Room Theaters in Portland, OR.  Over 45 people registered.

The client-side panelists from Nike, Intel, Providence Health and Portland General Electric answered a lot of great questions as the shared their experience and opinions on what makes for great partner agencies and other vendors.  In fact, there are some links below to audio clips of the panelists answering a key question.

I saw good examples of attendees meeting other attendees who provide complimentary services and could do possibly do business together at some point.  That is one of the primary objectives of the Internet Partner Forum.

See below for photos as well as video and audio clips from the meeting.

If you would like to hear about future meetings and are not already on the IPF mailing list, please use the contact dialog on the interim IPF web site.

Below you can listen to MP3 audio of the 4 brand-side panelists answering the question “What separates great agencies and other vendors from the rest of the pack?”

> Audio clip of answer from Tim Pacholke of Nike

> Audio clip of answer from Rob Rollinger of Intel

> Audio clip of answer from Lisa Gloor of Providence Heatth & Services

> Audio clip of answer from Richard Myhre of Portland General Electric

ABOVE: a sub-30 second video clip showing the meeting room

ABOVE: the room was full, with over 45 people registered

ABOVE: the client-side panelists from Nike, Intel, Providence and PGE are members of the Internet Strategy  Forum

ABOVE: panelists Richard Myhre from Portland General Electric and Lisa Gloor from Providence Health & Services

ABOVE: Panelists Rob Rollinger from Intel and Tim Pacholke from Nike.

ABOVE: networking with a panelist from Intel

ABOVE: networking among Internet service and product provider attendees

Tonight’s Internet Partner Forum Meeting

The Internet Partner Forum meeting tonight starts at 6:00pm at the Living Room Theaters, SW 10th & Stark in downtown Portland.  Some limited seats will be available at the door.   Depending on when you read this, you may still be able to register online here.

Inside Scoop from the IPF Panel Discussion Planning Meeting

On Friday I had a conference call with all of the client-side panelists for the upcoming Internet Partner Forum meeting this Wednesday.   I talked about my objectives for the panel and developed a list with the types of questions that I plan to ask as the moderator (see below).

All of the panelists (from Intel, Nike, Providence Health Systems, Portland General Electric) are eager to share their insights and experience regarding the topic “What Clients REALLY Want from Agencies and other Vendors”.  I came away from this call knowing that this will be a fantastic panel.

Below is a list of the sample questions developed for the panel.  There is no guarantee that all of these questions will be discussed, but the list should provide a general sense of what the meeting will cover.

We have over 30 people registered to attend so far.  To join us, register here.

Use the comments feature on this blog to add your own questions to the list below and we’ll try to work them into the discussion.

TOPIC: What do Clients REALLY Want from Agencies and other Vendors?

Panel introductions – Please introduce yourself by telling us:
name, job title, department, company
What types of functions does your department/company outsource?
What are one or two key pain points in your relationships with vendors?

Sample moderator questions (not in any particular order and not all questions will be asked at the meeting):

What separates a great vendor partner from the rest of the pack?

What is the decision-marking process like for hiring vendors at your company? which departments participate? Marketing, IT?

What criteria do you value the most?

Criteria examples:
* Viability (will they be in business)
* Quality of services
* Commitment to/experience in the specific market
* Technology/Platform match
* References

How important is local presence of the vendor?

What separates great vendor partners from the rest of the pack?

Do you conduct formal vendor reviews?

What is the most crucial role in the relationship with a vendor? (Top Exec, Account Executive, Project Manager, etc.)

How does turn-over of resources, especially key roles like the Account Executive, affect the vendor relationship?

What is usually the weak link for the relationship?

What has been the #1 reason you have discontinued a working relationship with a vendor?

What areas of conflict with vendors have come up?

Some common issues that the panel has faced:
* understanding the brand, ramping up resources
* A team vs. B team

Over 25 people already registered for 12/05 inaugural meeting

We already have over 25 people registered for the first Internet Partner Forum meeting on December 5th in Portland (featuring panelists from Intel, Nike, Providence Health Systems and Portland General Electric), including people from the following companies:

CMD Agency
Edelman
Everest Consultants, Inc.
Kennedy Communications
The New Group
Planet Productions Inc.
Rubicon Marketing Group
Staccato Design
Summit Projects
Serum Creative
viaLanguage
Volt

Launch of the Internet Partner Forum

After two promising formative gatherings earlier this year, today we are launching the Internet Partner Forum (IPF)–a professional network for Internet-related service and product providers–with the announcement of the organization’s first topic-based meeting in Portland, OR on December 5th at 6:00pm.

Leveraging the IPF’s relationship with the Internet Strategy Forum (ISF)–the leading professional organization for corporate Internet strategists–the topic of this first meeting is “What Clients REALLY want from Agencies and Vendors”

The meeting features a panel of expert client-side Internet professionals–all ISF members– from a diverse group of industry leading-companies including:

• Tim Pacholke, Director of User Experience & Innovation, Global eCommerce @ Nike
• Rob Rollinger, Online Marketing Manager, Intel Inside @ Intel
• Lisa Gloor, Web Marketing Manager @ Providence Health & Services
• Richard Myhre, Lead, Corporate Communications Web Team @ Portland General Electric

The panel will be moderated by Steve Gehlen, former Internet strategist at Nike, Hollywood Entertainment and Oregon Health & Science University and founder of both the Internet Strategy Forum and the Internet Partner Forum.

The gloves will be off as the client panel tells the audience of service and product providers what separates the great partners from the good, the bad, and the ugly.  This should be fun…

This meeting will be available for attendance both in-person (downtown Portland) and online via web conferencing.

> Register Now for the IPF Meeting