So, it’s my first HostingCon, after 12 years of being in the hosting industry. As the resident cynic and pessimist, I suppose I’m harder to please than most.
So, before being cynical and pessimistic, a picture to show I’m really not always cynical and pessimistic:
I’ve only gone to two talks, and not to call anyone out, but:
- The first one had a title that sounded like it would be generally applicable to hosting, and wasn’t. It was almost entirely about app deployment. I don’t do cloud app deployment, nor do I target clients doing app deployment, nor am I interested in getting into that market, so the session was a complete waste of my time because of someone’s illusions of grandeur regarding naming the thing.
- The second one consisted almost entirely of a sales pitch, and coming so soon on the heels of another waste of my time, I walked out. If nothing in your presentation has a damn bit to do with me unless I want to become your client, or I am your client, you shouldn’t be giving a general talk.
I kind of gave up on the talks at that point, and I likely won’t go to another one the entire rest of the Convention. I have the utmost aversion to anyone wasting my time, and am generally not very forgiving in that arena especially when you would think that an industry having a marketing track to teach people about Internet marketing would be more familiar with proper keyword usage, titling, and meta descriptions.
Some other things I learned:
I really adore both of my data centers, each one for different reasons. I hooked up with Liquid Web and Wired Tree – while WT has a significant presence, LW has one person (who I knew previously), and it’s really only there that I got any benefit out of HostingCon. I have to give the edge to WT just for the HostingCon presence, though – when the President of your data center shows and you get to spend some time with them talking, you get a sense of the company you didn’t have before, and it’s a beneficial thing. HostingCon isn’t just about what is – it’s about what’s next.
To be fair, I have been with LW for a very long time, and have a very good sense of the company. I would have personally liked to see a bigger presence from them, however, which is not to take away from the fine job Benny’s doing. Was I diplomatic there? 
I’m a bit strange, though, as business is extremely personal to me – the way I feel about the people behind the companies I work with is a significant reason why I choose to do business with them, or not. Integrity matters, and I may be a relic from an older age, but that’s just the way I am.
On my pessimistic and cynical side, I also found those who I would never do business with.
In one instance, I engaged a discussion with someone that has a data center, and with which I have an account but from whom I have not bought anything. I mentioned this, and for whatever reason they chose not to bother with engaging in any further discussion. When walking into a situation where someone in front of you has stated that they were interested enough in your company to share their information, but not interest enough to buy anything, one would think at a business conference it would behoove you to engage them to find out why and see if you could turn them into someone that would purchase from you. This person chose not to, and in that instance I crossed them off the list of companies I once considered and put them on the list with companies I would never deal with.
In the second instance, someone else engaged me and asked me who I was with. My standard joke is the company name, followed by “the oldest hosting company you’ve never heard of” and he immediately bit back “Well, then you’re not marking right.”
[blink]
While I may be cynical, pessimistic, a hardass, and downright bitchy at times from my position and on up to my vendors, I’ve read a marketing book or two in my time and from where I am down line to people I am trying to sell, I do know enough to never open a conversation by telling someone how I perceive they have fucked up – even if I perceive they have fucked up. I have found it doesn’t engender feelings of warmth and support.
If you don’t know that, and you sell advertising, you go on that “Hell, no, I’m not buying what you’re selling” list as well. Yes, just for that.
It has been interesting. I may need to make more lists.
