Scenes From Ingram Micro's GovEd Alliance Conference

All Smiles At Ingram Micro's GovEd Alliance Conference

Cindy Ong, a senior marketing manager at Cisco Systems and Darrel Letcher of Fujitsu pose for a photo at Ingram Micro's GovEd Alliance conference in Chicago. The event drew several hundred VARs and vendor executives to discuss the latest technology and trends in demand in the public sector market. Here are some scenes from the show.

Cisco Data Center

Ken Gaines, vice president of Northeast Enterprise at Cisco Systems discussed the importance of the data center, borderless network utilization and cloud-based solution sets and how to best seize state and local government and education "busy-season" opportunities.

Member-To-Member Advice

In a member-to-member presentation, Jim Connal, the new GovEd Community Council president, offered insight into the latest developments in public sector contracts and compliance and offered some advice on how to navigate the changing landscape.

Smallest Purchase Order

Marty Battaglia (left) and Margarita Cohen (right) of Ingram Micro's GovEd sales team present a lighthearted award to Russ Johnson, director of technical services at Technology for Education, an Eagan, Minn.-based VAR. We're not sure how small the purchase order was for but we wonder if the award cost more.

Education Partnership Award

Ingram Micro's Margarita Cohen (left) and Joe McCrone (right) present the Education Partnership Award to Sallie Burns and Shelia Nichols of SOS Computers.

Citrix Looks Forward

Kathy Twomey a senior business development manager at Citrix Systems talked about the company's future plans for increasing the business value of partners through its channel programs and processes.

Eric Boles Over The Crowd

McAfee's Eric Boles was one of the more comedic presenters. He discussed how channel partners can capitalize on the cloud-based revolution and help their government clients save time and money, and also increase their overall protection using McAfee. He also invited attendees to meet him later for a beer.

Right Place, Right Time

Ingram Micro's Paul Bay talked about the investments made by the distributor and solution providers in the public sector and how those investments have paid off because demand in the public sector for technology continues to grow.

Care Packs

A team of channel executives show off the care packs they made at the GovEd show to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago.

Bicycle Built By Three

Tom Roberts and Brett Green of the Cisco team help an unidentified boy assemble a children’s bike at the GovEd charity event sponsored by Cisco.

Spot Me

VARs pick up their conference materials and a Spot Me device, which provides access to maps, agendas and allows attendees to "meet" by touching their devices together.

Federal Partnership Award

Soo-Tsong Lim (center), of Uni-Star Sparco, received the 2011 Federal Partnership Award from Ingram's Margarita Cohen and Joe McCrone.

Imation Information

Sean Burke of Kalotech, an Alexandria, Va.-based VAR, asks a question at the Imation booth during the vendor showcase fair at the GovEd Alliance Invitational.