By Michael Tessler, Managing Partner

This time of year takes me back to the many wonderful BroadSoft Connections events that we held. Each year, the company would come together and be energized to put on the best event for our service provider community. Every event would be bigger and better than the year before.

It was truly a company wide effort. The BroadSoft team was focused on working together to make sure the event was unforgettable. When I went on stage at every Connections, I was always super proud of the work the team had done.

But Connections became so much more than a company event. From our humble beginnings in San Marcos, the customers and partners became a big family. After a couple days of hard work, everyone was ready for the end of the event dinner followed by a great music and dance party. We worked hard and partied hard. Competitors would meet and share experiences and best practices. Partners would come to show their latest innovations and learn how they could add value. I remember partners telling me how this was the best event ever, every single attendee was a prospect.

Here are a few lessons I learnt from the Connections experience:

Lesson #1. Giving your team a crazy objective brings people together.

While BroadSoft Connections was focused on our partners, it was important to bring together our company to ensure the event’s success. From sales and marketing to our product and engineering team, we had to work together to create a memorable experience. The product and engineering teams would prepare to demonstrate our latest innovations. The marketing team would work to plan the event end-to-end with registration, entertainment, production, and much more to ensure a great experience for our guests.. The sales teams rallied together to ensure customers received invitations and focused on promoting the event to key partners.

Lesson #2. Networking with our global community created true competitive differentiation

This networking helped our customers take advantage of the technology but also gave us invaluable feedback. It was networking at an amazing level that grew from a few hundred to thousands of attendees. People would come back year after year, not wanting to miss the event. In the end we held 14 Connections events and each one was memorable.

Lesson #3. Create memorable times with your customers and your employees.

These will drive great collaboration and establish long lasting relationships. Not only did our customers connect with each other, but it was a great way for our employees to represent BroadSoft as a leading company in the UC space. Before the start of every Connections, the company would rally together to prepare and get ready for the week long event. I’d share a few words on reminding folks to stay focused on their customers and to be positive.

Lesson #4. Pace Yourself — I lesson I never truly mastered

Not only did we bring together the UC community, but we made sure to make time for celebrations and entertainment. After all, attendees traveled from all over the world, why not provide some hospitality? And of course, how can we forget the parties. From the band to the after hour party. Some would even wander into the very late pool party. You know who you are!

Let’s keep the memory alive

If you had the opportunity to attend a BroadSoft Connections, please share with us an experience or share with us some pictures. Let’s keep the memory alive by sharing with the BroadSoft community. Tell us which ones you attended.

In the end we held 14 amazing events and celebrated our 20 year anniversary..

Cheers from Mike Tessler — Survivor of 14 years of BroadSoft Connections