Candy and I just got back from the viaVerio Partner Summit in Reston, VA. My brain is full to overflowing with information about PCI compliance (good info for anybody who sells anything online), social networking (good info for anybody who has a web site and wants to communicate with prospects and customers), web hosting improvements at Verio (good info for anybody who has a web site), technical details about Verio’s hosting platforms (good info for geeks like me) and more. Better yet, when my brain fills up with stuff like this, I begin to bubble with ideas about sharing it all. Look for more on that in the next few days.
I am overawed by the openness and helpfulness of the people who attended. Kiyoshi Maeda, president and CEO of Verio, brought an impressive array of his senior staff. All were thoroughly approachable, open with new developments at Verio, and receptive to feedback. By crafting an exceptional conference, Verio brought together dozens of resellers like Hen’s Teeth Network and (it seemed like) almost as many movers and shakers from Verio itself. The result was three days of free-flowing information and exciting ideas.
Art Zemon, viaVerio Advocacy Award
I was gratified by Verio’s willingness to accept harsh feedback about our needs regarding PCI compliant hosting platforms and assistance in creating PCI compliant e-commerce sites. As Verio has so often done in the past, it returned my trust with solid information about positive steps it is taking to enable e-commerce merchants to be truly PCI complaint… and that means much more than simply passing an external vulnerability scan.
I also have to admit to being completely flabbergasted when I was awarded the viaVerio Advocacy Award. I do believe in the products we resell and this probably shoots any last vestiges of impartiality which I might have been harboring.
Today’s economic climate can well be described as “challenging.” The Verio products and services which we resell, and the tools and networking connections which I gathered in Reston will go a long way towards making you more successful in your business. Stay tuned.
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