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GlueX, With Tara Newman & Jana Lattin - Organizers of the Event

• Kaseya

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Dan Talks with Tara Newman & Jana Lattin, who organized the upcoming GlueX event.

The group talks about the event experience, speakers that will be presenting, and some sneak peeks you don't want to miss.

Sign up for GlueX:
https://www.gluex.co/
(Make sure to use the code mentioned for a discount!)


Connect with Tara:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tararnewman/

Connect With Jana:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/janalattin/
https://twitter.com/janalattin



Speaker 1:

Thank you for joining us today on the connecting it podcast. I'm your host, Dan Thomas Shefsky. And today we've got a little bit of a bonus episode. Uh, I've got two awesome colleagues that are here with me. I've got, uh, Tara and Janna, uh, who are helping organize this glue acts that's coming up and I'm really excited to have you guys, Tara Janna. Welcome.

Speaker 2:

Hey, thanks Dan. Good to be here. Excited. Thanks Dan. Hey guys, what's up?

Speaker 1:

So Terrell, I'll start with you, Jenna. We'll come to you next. Like, why don't you give everyone that's listening. Just a little bit of about your bio, who you are, and then we're going to get him talking about this year's glue X.

Speaker 2:

Okay. So, all right. So if you all haven't met me yet, my name is Tara Newman. I'm the vice president of global events here at Casea. I've been in the channel now for almost 10 years. Uh, started with ConnectWise then went to RapidFire tools. And now here with, uh, the great folks at caséta, uh, love my job I'm, you know, last year was certainly a whirlwind here for events, but I'm excited. There's definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. Uh, but before we get there, I am really thrilled to be putting on blue X and Hey guys, uh, Johnny here, uh, I am an event project manager at COSIA. I've been with the company for just over a year and a half. I had the privilege to work with, uh, glue X last year on the event, which was such a blast. And, um, yeah, just really spearheading this event and, uh, working closely with the marketing team just to develop and, and make sure that this event is, is everything in anything for you guys? So, yeah, I'm really excited to be here with you today, Dan.

Speaker 1:

No, I'm really glad you guys are here. Cause I think this is cool. I think, I mean, look, last year everyone was scrambling this year, the, you know, the economy and the way that things are going, we had to stay virtual at this time. Um, but I think Jana, you and I were talking in the green room a little bit before you guys have created a really cool experience, uh, for this one. So I'm going to just say, it's May 4th through the fifth, it's a hundred percent virtual, but why don't you guys talk to us a little bit about the experience, if I'm coming in as an MSP, what is the experience of this glue X going to be for me?

Speaker 2:

So this is really, I mean, this is going to be our last, hopefully knock on wood last, fully virtual event, right? So we want to take everything we've learned from glue X last year connect last year, all the events that we've done and really knocked this one out of the park. And we're really leaning hard on this idea that this is a digital expedition. And because of that, we're, we're really going into an interesting theme look and feel. Gentlemen, you tell them a little bit about that. Yeah. For those of you who joined us last year at Glu X, we, and obviously there was a lot of changes happening with COVID. There was no rule book or playbook for a virtual event. So what we did last year is we really tried to take the in-person event and replicate it into a digital world this year. We're trying to level up and just think a little bit more outside of the box. We know that you guys are really craving that in-person event and we missed you guys so much as well. Um, so for this event this year, we've tried to take it to the next level a little bit and just think a little bit more outside of the norm. So we've really tried to develop this futuristic digital world where anything and everything is possible and trying to make it a little bit more fun as well. So really leaning on two notes of I'm leaning a bit harder and things like gamification, the user experience, the user interface and that design, and just being a little bit more creative and fun with it. So we've created this, uh, futuristic digital desert we're going on this virtual journey together as a business to accelerate your learnings with glue ex uh, with whatever that may be. Maybe it's your really your key takeaway from the event is you're wanting to attend some more thought leadership, um, how to get to the next level, or maybe you're craving a little bit more of the technical sessions and the deep dives and the it solution that session. So just really trying to make sure that the content obviously reflects the theme. And, um, again, just having some fun with it through, um, the video game style. I mean, I, I'm such a big fan of, of that virtual world where it feels a little bit more like a game. It's a bit more fun you're going on this adventure, which is kind of what we're trying to create here. I love it here. And it's, you know, we really leaned on our art, but I'm going to say nerve roots, I'm sort of a nerd or geek or whatever we call ourselves, you know, and we definitely leaned on this idea of, okay, the Mandalorian Firefly, like Phoenix has been such the traditional home of blue X and we didn't want to lose that like uniqueness of the desert, but we were like, how can we bring that into a digital futuristic world and look, so we really sort of leaned like, Saifai desert, it's going to be really fun. I, I hope you guys have a good time exploring the digital environment that we've created for, for you

Speaker 1:

For some of us it's April and we're still getting snow I'm up in the Michigan area. And we got snow last night. So talking about the desert sounds really good right now. So, uh, and it does it mean going to, I mean, that's where we look forward to going to, to the Phoenix area every year in Arizona when a glue X and we haven't been able to do that for two years. So it's cool that you guys have made it look and found to feel that way and added some gamification. So with the gamification, I know you guys have a really sweet prize for this, you know, glue acts that would make me want to attend if I was eligible to, uh, to win this. But why don't you tell us, uh, just sort of giving away a car at least on a car. So can we talk about that? Cause that sounds like a really sweet prize.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. We actually have a couple of really sweet prizes. I have to say, we're giving away, we're giving away. I think over$6,000, actual dollars in prize money and, and, and potential. And then we're also, of course you just mentioned it. We're giving away a car, uh, with our sponsor crypto sponsor, uh, sorry, could those stopper, uh, we're giving away a Jeep gladiator a two year lease. It's a pretty awesome car. There's not even that many on the road right now. We had to sort of do some dancing to get a lease guarantee, but we can't wait to really share what we're doing from that point of view. And there's a lot of ways to win points. It's all about winning points. It's all about, uh, experiencing the event and engaging in the event. And in order to win the car itself, you have to do four specific things. Uh, Jenna, do you want to go over those four things with everyone? Yeah, sure. So, uh, in order to be eligible to win on the Jeep, it's, it's really just normal things that you would be doing from the event as well, but the more points you accumulate, the more entries you have to when the Jeep, which is really cool as well. So, um, you have to attend the, a couple of the main keynotes for our, our main stage presentation. Um, the CEO address for example, is one of them. Um, you also would need to, um, sign up for a demo for criminal stopper. Uh, you would need to visit all of the exhibitor vendor boosts. Um, and the fourth one, I'm struggling to remember if you have to watch the demo in the blue zone as well, right? So if you do those four things, uh, you are automatically entered to for the prize draw, which will be announced at the closing remarks on day two on May 5th and every 100 points you score above that qualifying number Gates, the additional entry to win. So there's going to be multiple cases and everything, almost everything earns two points, right? You're having to rep we also have a scavenger hunt going on inside the environment where you can slay digital monsters and get power ups. And if you find those, each of those give you points as well. So there's just a ton of ways to engage and explore at Glu X this year

Speaker 1:

Sounds like a lot of fun. And I mean, who wouldn't want an ability to, to try to win a really awesome lease on a car for a couple of years? I, that sounds like a really cool giveaway and then the cash giveaways as well. It sounds like this is going to be an action packed event. So let's get into some of the agenda. Uh, I mean, you guys have got some pretty awesome keynotes that are taking place. Why don't you go through and talk to us about the, the two kind of highlighted keynote, uh, special guests that we're going to have at Glu X this year?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so we, this year we have, uh, two, uh, superstar keynotes, uh, the first one being, uh, Ben Saunders, who some of you might recognize he is, uh, pretty well known on the Ted talk community. Uh, he's uh, claim is a master storyteller and he has a really compelling story about, um, controlling the controllables. Um, and he's also a record breaking polar Explorer. Uh, he has a fantastic keynote. There's a lot of nods to being in solitude right now, which I think we can all relate to with COVID. Um, obviously those notes of perseverance and pushing through. Um, but his, his talk as a whole is, is, is very inspiring. And he has this really compelling story about leaning on technology to get him through his journey, um, which is very much no relevant. I feel like tech to everyone right now in the MSP space. Um, he was on the podcast, right. Then you even got to talk to him.

Speaker 1:

It was a great, I mean, I'm actually looking forward to hearing his whole keynote because I mean, some of the stories he was talking about and just how he's running, I mean, he's got a business. I mean, he's got people back working for him, mapping things out that he doesn't talk to for weeks upon weeks when he's out. And he's got a really cool story and just about motivation, perseverance, and, uh, I'm looking forward to that. He was a great guest

Speaker 2:

And I wouldn't be on the big keynote as well. Right before I do. I do want to say one of the things that I leaning back on what you were saying about Ben, Jenna is one of the things that he talks about is, like you said, the isolation and leaning on technology, but specifically he has an attire he's isolated in the puller when he's out in the polls. Yes. But he leads an entire team of technologists to help him essentially not die, right. While he's out there in these extreme conditions. And I think the talk is going to be really, really relevant to everyone in our group as for the big name, that person, our number one keynote is going to be bear Grylls of man vs wild. And we are so excited. We both sat on the keynote recording and we did it. He is just a lovely person, uh, so inspiring what a story, uh, and just such a warm person. We really think everyone's going to enjoy his talk as well. Okay. Sorry about that. I told my dad that bear Grylls was going to be coming to the conference. He's like, Oh, can you send me that keynote after it's done? You're going to buy a ticket, no friends and family discounts here.

Speaker 1:

No, I mean, it sounds like it will look good. These are some, two really good speakers. And I think it's going to be, um, really it's, it's nice to come in here. People, you know, you really haven't heard these guys in the industry speaking yet. So it's going to be really interested on their perspective, what they're talking about and how, you know, we can relate to that as business owners or it professionals. Uh, so I think it's a really great job on the keynote speakers that are coming. And some other things I saw on the agenda as I was going through it, you guys got this, uh, you know, a couple of tracks, they got an it glue track, a security track and a business track. So, uh, I love how you guys have kind of got these different tracks. So maybe if I got multiple people in my company, maybe I've got my engineer, um, you know, and he's the it glue person, you know, like doing all that. He could go do my it glue track. If I got a security person, they could do a security track. If I'm the business owner, do the business track or vice versa. But it seems like you've got a lot of options. So if you have multiple people in your organization, there's a place for them to fit in.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I like to have a set the entire purpose around how we built glue X this year was all around helping, you know, are the MSPs level up and get to that next place. And know the business track is always going to be relevant to the business owners. There's, we've got so many thought leaders coming. We've got, uh, Richard Tubb, uh, Gary, uh, Pika. Uh, I'm going to forget all of their names now. Uh, we've got, uh, your friend Dan, uh, who's going to be on as well, Lisa shore. Sure. Uh, so we have a ton of great experts coming onto the business track to talk to us about that. But of course, security, I mean, is there even a topic that has been more prevalent in our industry for the last three years then security and on top of it, it it's not stale, but the security talks we were having three years ago are not the same security talks we're having now. It's constantly changing, constantly evolving. So we have some wonderful, uh, really great sessions on where security is now and where it's going. And then of course, we've got an it glue track. I mean, I say of course, but actually for glue X, this is the very first time we've offered, attracts solely dedicated to it glue and the it glue products. And we're really excited to do that because was one of the big things we heard last year, Hey, we need more in depth knowledge on this product. We want to become experts. So we've created this track. And on top of that, we've created a new certification called the it CLU mastery certification. And that's going to be offered for the first time at Glu X as well. And just piggybacking on that as well. Um, the other certification that we have available is, is, uh, it's a really big, heavy hitter around the admin level two certification. Um, so that's a bit of a, more of a deep dive into the settings into how you get more deeper integrations, how to build a more unique cadences, uh, and definitely, uh, attract to watch out for if you're really wanting to make sure that you're set up for success and that your, um, your optimizing your workflows.

Speaker 1:

I mean, it's, it really is cool to see this is making me wish it was in person even more with all the tracks and the way it's going. But this is, I think going to be one of the premier will be the premier, you know, event for MSPs this year with all the different tracks you can go into and the way you've organized it. And there's even like, you know, I see there's a cocktail experience and stuff like that. It seems like a fun thing. It looks like you have a mixed, solid,

Speaker 2:

We do. So sending everybody who's who registers by the end of this week is going to be able to get a percentage of a cocktail kits. So guys watch out that's adults signature needed, right? Uh, we're sending out a cocktail kit, a little mini kit, and we've got an Excel just coming on to walk us through how to make the cocktail that comes in the cocktail kit. Now that's only going to be about a 10 minute presentation after that. We're hoping you can join us in our networking lounge in our saloon, as we're calling it, uh, to have a drink with us and chat with us and try to create that in-person experience. In fact, we're doing some really cool things with the networking lounge and Jen has been pretty much, uh, heading that up solely on her own. Jenny one's house a little bit about that too.

Speaker 3:

It's been such a fun project to work on. Like I really am. I'm an, I'm an introvert or an extroverted person. I really I'm really craving that human emotion and connection right now. And I think that's the one big thing that is missing with virtual events is people don't really have that, that same opportunity to make those meaningful relationships and connections and, and talk about, uh, to other people in the, in the similar industry about what challenges are facing this year and how to overcome those challenges and, and how they're managing certain things and how they're, how they're being creative as well. Um, so when we developed our networker lounge, we really kept that in mind. So we're using a third-party system, which allows our attendees to essentially join the lounge and it automatically seats them at a small group table. So there'll be sitting in networking with a small, um, segment of the audience. So I think it's like six people. So obviously we don't wanna have a crowded room where it's just too much noise and we want them to actually have an opportunity to connect. Um, and we have table topics. Um, we have some really light table topics where it's just like, tell me about what your show, what shows you're bingeing right now on Netflix. And then we have some more business related stuff where they can do a little bit more of, um, of a, a deep dive into the challenges, again that they're facing within their business. Or, uh, let's talk about compliance. Let's talk about how your documentation is going and, and also connect have direct access and connect directly with our executives and the glue crew. Um, and, and again, other people in the MSP space, which I think is going to be so, so great to have with this event.

Speaker 1:

No, this one it's, it's like I said, we were talking about I, and I was just going through, and we've talked about most of this already, but going through the highlights, you know, you've got the big prize, you know, the Jeep gladiator, gladiator, you know, that you can win if you're just getting in there, involved, participating and having a good time. Uh, you've got some great keynotes 35 plus keynotes, uh, it says with security business and it glue, uh, technical tracks, so cool stuff there, you get that super swag, uh, you know, sounds like a fun time with the mixologist. I mean, and there's just, you get to see roadmap stuff, what's coming for it, glue what, you know, what's going to be there and maybe some cool new integrations or things that they're going to be announcing and just, they're going to be some great show specials, networking. It's just going to be a good time. I mean, is there anything that we missed? I mean, I guess the one question I have is it says superglue award. What is that?

Speaker 2:

It's our new award for glue X. Uh, this is really highlighting one MSP who has just been a super player in the community, right? Someone who is really taking it to the next level of somebody who's really giving back to their customers. And we want to be able to award and, and highlight a couple of our MSPs for that. Of course, there's only gonna be one winner, but, uh, we'll give a good runner up list as well. So we're really excited about this. Uh, the word is really cool. Think, um, you know, thinks of it. It's gonna be, it's going to be a nice desk item. I think it's going to be pretty cool and seems to get in person, but we don't want to give too much of that away.

Speaker 1:

All right. So let's go through this as a great event. May 4th through the fifth, uh, we've talked about how it's going to be action packed. It's going to be a great experience if I'm listening to now, like what's the cost to, to come in Tara, you know, what are, what are we looking at for me to get my team in here and go to this event?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. So the ticket cost is just$99 a person. Uh, if you wanted to do the VIP experience, we are, we do have a VIP section, which has a couple of additional things that you can do. Uh, that's going to be one 99, but generally to come in, it's just going to be$99 a person. All you have to do is go to glue ex glue x.co to register or talk to your account manager.

Speaker 1:

No, that's great. And I think I have a discount code. I was just looking at my stuff if you're listening to the podcast and you want to, I gotta think for the first 20 people. Um, so if you go in, are on the glue acts site in your buying your tickets, just put in Dan T and a five zero, and it'll get you 50% off. So I'm happy to reward the listeners of the show. Uh, you know, we've got lots of MSPs that listen every week. So if you're one of the first 20 people that take advantage of this, uh, put in Dan T 50 and get a discount to this year's glue acts, we just talked about it, lots of great things going on there. Uh, and at the 50% off, I mean, you really, I mean, you can't be

Speaker 2:

No as$50. You're getting, you know, you're getting more than that easily just from the swag opportunities and the Uber eats gift cards are giving you for the, for lunch. So, uh, it's a great, great deal. Plus, um, if you want to take advantage of that, everyone who's listening, what you have to do is you go to glue x.co, hit the register button, register yourself the very last page. You're going to see a, you're going to see a place to enter a promo code. That's where you want to put Dan T 50. Uh, and congratulations, whoever the 20 of you are, who, who gets to take advantage of that

Speaker 1:

You in the car and you used my coat. I, all I want is a ride. So, uh, that's the only obligation. Uh, no, this is, I mean, Tara, Jenna, you guys have done a phenomenal job. I don't think people realize all the hard work and energy that you guys put into these shows, but there are some really brilliant people behind the scenes and you got to hear from them on how they put together these great shows and the thought and the time and effort that goes into it. I know as, as a former MSP CEO, you know, we really appreciate it. Uh, it's a lot of fun to come to these and learn and figure out ways to grow my business, make myself a better person, uh, make my company better. And you guys do a great job of aligning everybody and getting them in. So thank you for spending time with us today and going through this. Is there anything you want to leave with everybody, uh, about glue X before we sign off?

Speaker 3:

I just want to say that there might be some, there may or may not be wink, wink, some pretty big announcements that are going to be released and announced during the event. Um, I can't say what they are, my lips are sealed, but the event, if you want the tea

Speaker 1:

That that's going to be, so we heard it, there's going to be some big announcements. Let's, uh, let's see what those are going to be. And I'm looking forward to hearing that and seeing what those announcements

Speaker 3:

And, and just wanted to say this, this event really has been a privilege to work on. And, and we really, really have tried to develop this for the MSP business. Um, everyone's feedback is so critical for us. Literally, the whole reason why this event exists is for the, um, an MSP business. So, um, yeah, it was just, it's just been such a blast to plan this year and I just can't wait to see what next year has, has unfold for it.

Speaker 1:

Well, I appreciate you both. Uh, this is great again and phenomenal job. Look forward to going to the event, participating, speaking at it. I know I'm doing a session on marketing, supercharging, your marketing, so it's going to be a good time and, uh, really appreciate it again. And thanks for being here.

Speaker 2:

No, thank you, Tim. Thanks for having us.

Speaker 1:

All right. So thanks everyone for listening to this bonus episode of the connecting it podcast. Remember you can find us in the iTunes store, download it, share it, uh, give us five stars. If you would comment and just let us know how this has maybe helping you in your MSP until next time everyone have a great day.