6th Annual Solutions Day held October 2 at the Chattanoogan Hotel in Chattanooga, TN, a huge success! The annual Solutions Day event, hosted by Kenneth G. Way & Company, has grown to become the largest information technology showcase in the region. The event features expertise, products, and networking opportunities in association with leading IT manufacturers at no cost to participants. The event is structured to allow IT managers, purchasers, and business owners the opportunity to “Explore. Discover. Connect.” not only with the technologies, but also the faces of the industry. Attendance at the event was once again excellent, as has become tradition over the course of the last five years. The day began with registration, breakfast and the opening of the exhibit hall. Attendees had the opportunity to browse informational displays from several participating corporations, including 3Com, BCS Group, IBS, Chattanooga Technology Council, IBM, LSI, and host KgW. The first of the two morning dual break-out sessions followed opening comments by KgW President, Kenneth G. Way. After lunch, keynote speaker Pat Falotico, VP General Business Midmarket, ibm.com, gave a well-received and quite interesting presentation entitled “Next 5 in 5,” identifying five innovations IBM researchers believe will change the way we live in five years. Three more dual break-out sessions rounded out the day. Particularly notable this year was the strength of the topics covered in the sessions, along with the quality of presenters. Jerry Carleo (StorServer) conducted discussions on virtualized backup, Tony Owens (Arrow/ECS) on storage management and disaster recovery and the DS3000/DS4000, N series and San Volume controllers, Jeremy Wise (Arrow/ECS) on BladeCenter and VMWare virtualization strategy, Brett Paternoster (IBS Solutions) on IBS Enterprise ERP Solutions, Russ Jones (IBM) on IBM’s BladeCenter, J.T. Hart (3Com) on 3Com’s VoIP solutions, and Melanie Pina (BCS) on protecting business-critical applications. The ten sessions were very well-received. “I walked into several of the sessions and found standing-room-only crowds,” noted Ken Way. “And what’s gained or learned in those sessions is really the point of this entire event. Besides keeping everyone up-to-date on the latest technology, Solutions Day strives to provide data and material to allow for the best management of IT resources. The ultimate goal is to help enable businesses to grow and succeed.” A survey of event attendees served to further demonstrate the growing success of Solutions Day. Especially positive comments were made about the quality of the speakers, the vendor exhibits, and the event’s organization and professionalism. Expressed Way, “It’s always very gratifying to hear those sorts of things. It lets us know all our time and effort was worthwhile to our friends and colleagues.” “I want to thank everyone—attendees, presenters and partners—who had a hand in making this year’s event such a success. We also greatly missed those who could not attend, and are looking forward to connecting with everyone next year,” said Way. The 2009 event is in the planning stages. “Of course, we’re always working on making the event bigger and better than the last.” Talk of having more technology on display, more partners available for discussion and exploration, and more elements of hype and excitement have all crossed the design table. “At this stage, it’s still a bit early to know exactly what next year will hold- but for anyone in the IT industry it will certainly be worth a visit. More information will be forthcoming soon.”