Scenes From The Intel Solution Summit

Intel CEO Paul Otellini kicks off the Intel Solutions Summit in Las Vegas last Sunday. Following the four-day partner conference at the Venetian Hotel, the ISS team took to the road with summits this week in Rome, Italy and next week in Bangkok, Thailand.

Partners showcased at the 'Breaking Limits, Creating Possibilities'-themed 2008 Intel Solutions Summit included distributors, software developers, hardware OEMs and system builders. Here the lineup of display booths for a Monday night cocktail mixer includes Canadian managed services software platform vendor Level Platforms and Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer Gigabyte.

Outgoing Intel channel executive Shirley Turner and interim North America channel boss Eric Thompson take to the stage at ISS. Turner's emotional goodbye at the partner summit would include a performance of four songs for her channel fans at the final dinner of the event.

Intel's worldwide channel chief Steve Dallman gets comfortable for an information-packed keynote Tuesday morning. Among Dallman's major announcements for partners was a new Unified Building Block whitebook motherboard for system builders codenamed Rich Creek 2.

Dallman explains new Intel channel initiatives such as Rich Creek 2 and a new managed services support program, while stressing the opportunities opening up for partners as Intel moves forward with its newly branded Atom family of ultra-low voltage processors and platforms.

Intel's Rich Creek 2 board for whitebook builders. System builders like Seneca Data of Syracuse, N.Y. plan to roll out business-class notebooks in the $800-$1,000 range built on Rich Creek 2, adding value with better warranty structures than Tier 1 OEMs can provide, according to Seneca VP Steve Maser.

Customization concepts for Rich Creek 2 notebooks, in documentation from Intel. The new whitebook motherboard joins Intel's existing notebook building block products in its 14.1"W-15.4"W Standards-Based Enclosures menu.

Intel Solutions Summit attendees were badged with electronic devices fitted with scanners to read data from other attendees' badges. Saving everybody the hassle of endlessly trading business cards, the badges stored information traded between conference-goers like Gigabyte's Eric Wang and a new friend. After ISS, attendees could download their stored data from a special Web site.

ISS attendees had extra motivation to ping each other's badges -- Intel set up various games around the electronic devices such as offering prizes for the partner with the most contacts collected and a 'six degrees of separation' game that let you follow an electronic trail that led to a randomly selected 'special friend.'

Prizes for Intel Solutions Summit attendees included Wiis and other swag -- but nothing beats the cold hard cash available to lucky partners who won a quick stint inside this dollar vault.

Of course we have no way of knowing, but what was happened upon in Vegas probably wound up staying in Vegas.

At Tuesday night's Partner Awards Show, winners included Paragon Development Systems for 'Most Innovative Solution for Business,' pictured here with Intel's Tom Rampone, VP and GM of the Channel Platforms Group.

Other winners were: Cyberpower, Inc. (Top Business Growth -- Desktop, Top Overall Business Growth); Microsel (Top Business Growth -- Mobile); Rackable Systems (Top Business Growth -- Server); ComputerLINK (Rookie of the Year); Max Group Corporation (Best Use of the Intel Channel Partner Premier Program Benefits); Intrex, Inc. (Best Use of the Intel Inside Track 2 Award); Microsel (Most Innovative Solutions for Consumers); MaxVision Corporation (Best in Show: Most Innovative Desktop Solution); TabletKiosk (Best in Show: Most Innovative Mobile Solution); and Nortech (Best in Show: Most Innovative Server Solution).

Turner works the audience at her last Las Vegas Intel Solutions Summit. Along with three top North American channel colleagues, Turner opted to take an early retirement package from Intel a few weeks ago, part of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant's ongoing workforce reduction program.

It was a bittersweet ISS for Turner, who treated her channel fans to four of her signature songs at the Awards Dinner, including her versions of Janis Joplin's 'Mercedes-Benz' and the Beatles' 'Yesterday.' A fixture on the mic at various channel events throughout the years, here Turner belts out a number at an Everything Channel XChange World Premier event last year.

Partners were treated to keynotes, break-out sessions and educational seminars at the Intel Solutions Summit, as well as jam-packed cocktail mixers and a final-night gala headlined by comedian Frank Caliendo.