SPRING 2005 CONFERENCE
Wyndham Grand Bay Coconut Grove
Miami, Florida
May 12 - 14, 2005

7:00 – 8:00 am              CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

Get As Many Clients As You Want - Without Working Harder, Spending More Or Cutting Fees
Robert T. (Bob) Lee, Marketing Consultant ~ Y2 Marketing

Y2 Marketing has been in business since 1994. It has 31 employees in the Dallas Office, 323 Consultants in 206 cities, operating in 41 states and Canada.

Staff members have worked with over 13,000 businesses from 340 industries, and they've been responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in increased sales and profits. INC Magazine ranked them as the 28th fastest growing business in America. 

In the workshop you will learn:

• Why more than 90% of advertising doesn’t work – and learn what does
• How to separate yourself from your competition
• How to write powerful marketing and advertising pieces that get results
• How to generate leads at will and develop a steady stream of prospects
• How to create marketing tools which greatly increase the probability of sales
• How to build and manage your lead list and maintain a steady stream of new clients

All in attendance will be given a FREE two hour long “Monopolize Your Marketplace” audio book ($24.95 retail value) and a FREE “Advertisers Protection Pack” ($24.95 retail value). With competition greater than ever in every industry, with all marketing and advertising looking and saying exactly the same things, it's hard to get anyone to read, look-at or listen to your marketing and sales pitch. We can fix that. Come and learn how.

10:30 – 6:30 pm            NATE MIRE MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNEMENT

The Coconut Grove STC Nate Mire Memorial Golf Tournament will be held at Crandon Golf Key Biscayne.

The sculpted fairways of Crandon Golf meander along the sea throughout a pristine, 250-acre tropical paradise lined with coconut palms, red and white mangroves and seven saltwater lakes.  

Occupants of this only subtropical lagoon in North America include blue and tri-colored herons, white ibises, snowy egrets, pelicans and anhingas gracing the fairway roughs and saltwater banks.  Other locals include a few alligators, raccoons and large iguanas that dart across the course.  On one side of the island is the Atlantic Ocean; on the other is Biscayne Bay, with stunning views over the water toward the panoramic, multiple skylines of downtown Miami, Biscayne Boulevard, Coconut Grove, and Virginia Key.   

Thursday’s pre-conference session concludes at 10:00.  The bus will depart from the hotel at 10:30.  Lunch will be provided at the course, and tee times begin at 11:30.  The tournament format is a Team Scramble, so all levels of golfers are welcome and teams will be balanced by skill and membership category.  Guests and clients are welcome. 

The $135 registration fee includes hotel transportation, golf, cart rental, box lunch, goody bag, practice balls, refreshments, and some great prizes!  Titleist rental clubs are available for $35, and carts feature digital color G.P.S. systems.  Please sign up by Monday, April 25 with your headquarters conference registration and direct inquiries to Ben Sanford at bsanford1@satx.rr.com or 210-366-0405. 

Come join us for an afternoon of golf, networking, and fun! 

10:30 – 6:30 pm            TENNIS ANYONE?

Right next to the golf course is the Crandon Park Tennis Center.  Its 27 lighted courts are home to the NASDAQ-100 Open Tennis Tournament, which will be held shortly before the conference.  It’s also home to the United States Tennis Association's player development program.  Please join us as we inaugurate this new part of pre–conference activities.   

The Center will host STC players to a fun round-robin tournament where each player competes against each other.  All skill levels are welcome.  It’s planned for the “finals” to be held in the 14,000 seat stadium court!   

Players will leave on the bus at 10:30 with the golfers and later join them again for the return trip to the hotel.  The $100 entry fee includes hotel transportation, tennis, lunch, refreshments, and some great prizes!   Rental racquets are available for $5. Please sign up by Monday, April 25 with your headquarters conference registration and direct inquiries to Martha Buyer  at martha@marthabuyer.com or 716-652-4413. 

Please help us inaugurate this new, fun and exciting pre-conference event! 

7:00 – 8:30 pm              WELCOME RECEPTION 

7:30 – 8:30 am              CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

10:00 – 10:20 am           AM Break

New Europe – New Opportunities
Bulent Bicer, President ~ EuroMarket Partners
The European Union, the second largest economic region in the world, went through its largest enlargement in its history on May 1^st, 2004. Ten new member states, mainly Central and Eastern European countries, have joined the largest single market in the world and ended the division of a whole continent. This “New Europe,” without borders for services, products, capital and people, provides numerous business benefits and opportunities to U.S. businesses in general and to U.S. telecoms consultants and companies in particular. “New Europe” will be even more inclusive in the next few years with the accession of Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Turkey. Under one of the cornerstones of the EU’s ambitious “Lisbon Strategy,” the telecommunications sector will be strongly promoted, supported and funded by the European Union. In this context, telecommunications consultants and enterprises in the United States will also benefit from theses opportunities and through an active cooperation and collaboration with the European Union and its members. 

11:30 – 12:20 pm         

Getting Shortlisted
Stephen M. Leaden, President ~ Leaden Associates, Inc.
This session will be a “hands-on” approach to getting in the door to sell your services and once in how to stay hired.  The presentation will outline what is on the mind of executives and what makes and keeps them happy. 

12:30 – 2:00 pm            LUNCH

2:00 – 2:50 pm             

OSI Miami:  Seven Layers are Murder!
Matthew McCormick, President ~Technology Decisions, Inc.Ever felt a little puzzled when somebody said, “Be sure to filter those packets through an IDS at the application layer…”  Or how about, “Broadcast storm?...the skies are perfectly clear!”...”Collision Domain?...isn’t that a new X-box game?”  Come see whodunit!   

2:50 – 3:10 pm              PM Break 

3:10 – 4:00 pm             

The REAL Money in Consulting: Adding “Next Steps” Projects to your Initial Consulting Mandates
Michael Rozender, President ~ Rozender Consultants International
Take a “bird’s eye” look at what this consultant found when he was asked to review and report on the appropriateness and conditions of continuing mandates that the Telecom/IT consulting community maintained with a major financial institution. Yes, our technology platforms are dramatically changing, but so is the very nature of our consulting industry. A frank and opinionated view of what your friendly competitors are doing now, and how the new forces entering our field will change the landscape.

4:10 – 5:00 pm             

When Worlds Collide - What You Need to Know About Convergence
Janet Smith, Principal ~ Janet L. F. Smith & Associates, LLC
So, you’re recommending a converged voice and data network to your client.  You’ve checked off all the important things – capacity, architecture, network management, training.  Or have you?  What about organizational dynamics?  Come hear how failing to address the organizational issues of merging voice and data will get you every time.  It’s gripping, it’s true, it’s very important to your success.  It’s a "brave new world." 

4:10 – 5:00 pm             

Wired Versus Wireless Networks - What is the Right Approach for Your Clients?
Alex Lopez, Executive Briefer ~ Avaya, Inc.
Consultants looking to help their clients transition to wireless networks will need ways to allow multiple locations to operate as one—or to function without the constraints of physical bricks and mortar locations. How can features and solutions from each network be combined to offer communication inside and outside the office? Do your clients have off-site workers who need access to the same communication capabilities as those working inside the office?

5:30 – 7:00 pm              Networking with the VAC

7:30 – 10:30 pm            DINNER / EVENING EVENT 

7:30 – 8:30 am              CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:30 – 10:15 am           

Leveraging STC Relationships to Gain More Business – A Real-World Project Success Story
Panel:  Richard Hathaway, Principal ~ RLH Telecom Solutions         
Rosie Reyes ~ Baptist Health South Florida
Maggie McAuliffe, Senior Manager, Consultant Relations ~ Siemens Communications, Inc.
Nancy Gates, VP of Marketing ~ HigherGround, Inc.
This is it – the ultimate STC story, and we want to share it with you!You will hear the story from three different perspectives as this panel discussion focuses on the entire process from inception to completion of a real-world customer premise project that involved multiple STC members, including a consultant and VAC members.  This not-to-miss session is full of how-to’s from the consultant, the vendors and the client that you can use to your advantage as you leverage your STC relationships to gain more business. 

10:15 – 10:40 am           AM Break 

10:40 – 11:30 am          

Learning How to Focus, Organize and Prioritize
Barb Grothe, Owner ~ Telecom Resources
Are you overwhelmed with piles of papers, lists of daily tasks and a mosaic of sticky notes on your computer screen? Have you kept every RFP you have ever written? Where do you file those non-active client files? After 19 years in private practice as a consultant, come hear Barb share with you how she finally got organized. Let her show you how she keeps track of her billable time and gets her invoices out for the whole month in less than 30 minutes. How to find any file or paper in your office in 5 seconds or less. How to document all your correspondence with a client. This session will leave you with some great tips and ideas necessary to finally get organized. 

11:45 – 1:20 pm            LUNCH / NETWORKING WITH THE VAC 

1:30 – 2:20 pm             

Mission Possible:  Building Effective Project Teams
Matthew McCormick, President ~Technology Decisions, Inc.
Dorothy Lockard, President ~ Dietrich Lockard Group, Inc.
Ever gotten or hoped to get that big project and then realized, “What have I done?  What would I do?”  Ever needed to build a great team fast for a proposal?  Ever need to look bigger than you are?  Join us for Mission Possible:  Building Effective Project Teams, and experience how! 

2:20 – 2:40 pm              PM Break 

2:40 – 3:30 pm             

Telecommunications Regulatory Update
Gregory Kunkle, Staff Attorney ~ Law Offices of Thomas K. Crowe, PC
Join the STC’s Regulatory Counsel in a timely survey of the day’s most relevant legal and regulatory issues.  The session will highlight key legal issues pending in Washington, D.C. and across the country, with an emphasis on practical application.  Greg will be available throughout the day to informally discuss specific legal dilemmas facing your own clients, a key STC member benefit. 

3:40 – 4:30 pm             

The Spiritual Dimension to Consulting
Ivan Sindell, President ~ Global Communications Systems Research
Religious values are all the rage. Political candidates introduce their ministers.  Technology leaders are holding prayer services. Between themselves STC members often explore their spiritual lives.  Ivan Sindell blends a combination of formal philosophy and theology, with the STC’s Code of Ethics, personal experiences with consultants and customers, and to create a set of guidelines and approaches within the guidelines of the Constitution to try to find the place for faith and the spiritual life within our secular professional society- the STC.