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Leadership Summit 2009 Recap

On June 9th and 10th Inside Sales leaders from across the U.S. came together to learn, share, and network at the Annual AA-ISP Leadership Summit. The event was a packed full with presentations, demonstrations, and interactive discussions. Attendees left inspired and equipped with innovative ideas and techniques to improve their organizations.

The Summit kicked off with opening remarks from AA-ISP Founder and CEO, Bob Perkins. Bob spoke about his vision for the Summit and the Association and also challenged attendees to embrace their time together and focus on new ideas and best practices they can use for improvement. A heartfelt keynote address was then delivered by Thomas Stanley, Vice-President of Global Integrators for Network Appliance. Thomas addressed the challenges of motivating a sales force in today's environment. He reminded us of the key factors to success and opened his "vault" as he discussed his proven methodologies and best practices. The morning continued with Leadership, Development, and Productivity being a recurring theme. The morning ended with small group activities allowing attendees the opportunity to use their experience and decision making skills in solving some key inside sales team challenges.

The afternoon saw the first of 2 topic specific breakout sessions where attendees had the option of selecting sessions relevant to their needs. The group reconvened for an interactive panel discussion that saw spirited conversation centered on driving revenue and improving productivity. The afternoon ended with innovative and thought provoking presentations from Gregg Baron of Success Sciences and long time Sale Executive and a former VAR Business Magazine's Top 100 Executives, Larry Sheffield. Day 1 ended with a Networking Reception and Vendor Fair that allowed everyone to mingle, wind down, and see some great technology from the Summit sponsors.

Day 2 saw additional presentations and breakouts discussing the reoccurring themes of development, leadership, and productivity. Sessions that seemed to create some "buzz" included compensation and incentive presentations from Mark Quinlan, Director, GE Healthcare, and Jim Micklos from Motivation Excellence. In addition, Laurie Lynard's, VP TeleMasters, "Coaching Methodologies" breakout was also of great interest.

Day 2 also included the AA-ISP Awards luncheon where the AA-ISP leadership team recognized outstanding effort and contribution to inside sales in four Categories - Sprit, Innovator, Excellence in Execution, and Executive of the Year. Below are descriptions of the award categories as well as the LS2009 Award recipients. Congratulations to each individual winner for receiving these well-deserved awards!

AA-ISP Spirit Award- Awarded to an Organization and/or Individual who displays the following characteristics:

• Shares a true passion for inside sales
• Selfless contribution to the industry of inside sales
• Enthusiasm in helping others with improving inside sales
• An advocate for advancing the profession of inside sales

2009 AA-ISP Spirit Award Winner - Mike Brown, Impax Corporation. For the past 10 years, Mike and Impax have been dedicated to the advancement of inside sales by bringing together inside leaders from a variety of industries. Mike has enthusiastically assisted many companies and individuals with strategies and training specific to inside sales. His "spirit" has helped our industry advance in both professionalism and performance.

AA-ISP Innovators Award - Awarded to an Organization and/or Individual who displays the following characteristics:

• Is a true "thought-leader" with respect to advancing inside sales
• Is unwilling to settle for "good-enough"... constantly pushes the envelope. Willing to take risks
• Is often an early-adopter, implementing new ideas before others
• Viewed by peer groups as an person/organization with a "can do" attitude

2009 AA-ISP Innovators Award Winner - Andre Limarenko, Compuware. For over 30 years, Andre has been a true innovator and leader in advancing the profession of inside sales. His long career has included the implementation of numerous systems and programs which have helped take his inside team to the next level of performance. As one of the earliest adopters of sf.com, he developed a fast track modular sales and CRM training program which enabled his reps to be fully up to speed and selling in less than two weeks!

AA-ISP Excellence in Execution Award - Awarded to an Organization and/or Individual who displays the following characteristics:

• Viewed by senior leaders and field peer groups as an organization which consistently delivers outstanding results and value to the enterprise
• Maintains the highest standards for all operational and performance metrics
• Is results focused while building and supporting a "people first" culture
• Is highly regarded by external candidates as a top organization for prospective employment

2009 AA-ISP Excellence in Execution Award Winner - Paul Macura, Oracle. Paul's organization is known both inside and outside of Oracle as one of the top performing inside sales teams in the Country. For over 10 years, he has built outstanding inside sales groups at SGI, PeopleSoft and Oracle. Oracle Direct is one of the most sought after organizations in MN for top inside sales candidates looking to advance their careers.

AA-ISP Executive of the Year - Awarded to an Individual who displays the following characteristics:

• Recognized by internal and external peer group as an outstanding leader
• Consistently delivers outstanding organizational results
• Is a "student" of inside sales... maintains on-going learning, sharing and teaching
• Shares a passion for helping people succeed and advance in their careers
• Is an advocate for advancing the profession of inside sales

2009 AA-ISP Executive of the Year - Mark Quinlan, GE Healthcare. Mark has dedicated himself to advancing the profession of inside sales both as the Inside Sales Director at GE Healthcare, and among his peer leaders from a variety of companies. He has been instrumental in assisting others as a speaker at annual inside sales association conferences and is well know at GE as a true inside sales expert and advocate. Anyone who speaks with Mark quickly sees his passion for helping to take inside sales to the next level of professionalism and performance.

The AA-ISP looks forward to expanding upon these awards, as well as the nomination process, for Leadership Summit '10.

No AA-ISP Summit would be complete without a motivational message which was delivered by Olympic Gold Medalist Jeff Blatnick. His endearing style and inspiring message was felt by all attendees. Afterwards Jeff spoke with attendees and many took photographs with Jeff and his Gold Medal. It was wonderful way to end the Summit and had members looking forward to next year and asking question about where it would be held.

Thanks to all of the attendees who completed the satisfaction survey. We were pleased to see that 97% rated the overall experience at above average to outstanding. Below are some comments that were provided...

"...I learned what other inside leaders were doing and came away with the confirmation that Inside Sales is the place to be..."

"The Summit inspired me to be a better leader. I liked the networking with others and also the group activity..."

"It's great to have this type of organization! I really liked the variety of speakers, social networking/vendor fair and chance to gather others ideas..."

...I liked the well rounded topics, executive with experience in the field, and also all the ideas shared confirmed that I was actually doing many of the best practices..."

In addition there were many excellent comments and suggestions which will help to make next year's summit even better.

Thanks to all members and sponsors for your support in making Leadership Summit '09 an outstanding event and experience. We look forward to seeing you in 2010!