Of all technologies to have emerged over recent years, the Internet has without doubt been the most influential. In a very short period of time the Internet has changed the way the world communicates, helped shape the way people work, and, most importantly, created a venue for the world’s trade and commerce. Of course the rise of the Internet has seen the emergence of a number of related industries, industries that have been forced to accommodate rapid change and develop faster than no others before them. As a result, many have progressed without the conferences, exhibitions and tradeshows more traditional industries enjoy. One case in point was the web hosting industry, but that changed this year with the advent of HostingCon – the first conference catering to the needs of the world’s web hosts.
The first HostingCon conference took place in Chicago in June of 2005, drawing over 600 contributors and attendees from around the globe. The two-day event provided a number of important Keynote Speakers including Sandip Gupta, President & CEO of Ensim Corp., Robert Marsh, President & CEO of EV1Servers.net, Serguei Beloussov, President & CEO of SWsoft, and Pascal Martin, General Manager of Hosting Solutions, Microsoft Corp. covering subjects which included Market Trends for Service Providers in Email and Hosting Services, Techniques In Web Hosting Automation, and sessions to discuss aspects of business development (marketing, etc.). Organized through Interjuncture Corp. under the leadership of George A. Roberts IV (the company’s President and CEO) the impact of HostingCon was immediate, helping galvanize an industry that had previously only connected through the forums and discussion boards of a handful of industry websites.
Building on the success of HostingCon 2005, plans for next year’s HostingCon make it a bigger and bolder affair. Taking place between July 17 and 19, the conference has changed locale, shifting to Las Vegas and one of the world’s most glamorous hotels - The Mirage. “We surveyed our attendees from HostingCon 2005 and there was significant interest in holding HostingCon in Las Vegas.” George A. Roberts told Hostsearch. “We had originally planned to hold the first HostingCon in Las Vegas, but decided to hold it in Chicago for ease of management. Chicago is a wonderful city but after holding the first year of HostingCon there, we determined that we would be better off in Las Vegas. The number of venues that are appropriate for an event of our size is greater and there are many more entertainment options for outside conference hours.” Entertainment will be an important aspect of HostingCon 2006, with a range of activities planned including parties, networking opportunities and poker tournaments for delegates’ enjoyment.
HostingCon 2006 will see datacenters, software developers, and service providers vying for the attention of delegates in nearly 100 booths located in the Mirage’s 30,000 square foot events centre. Geared towards every level of the industry from executives to system administrators, the event promises the best in the industry delivering conference sessions, keynote addresses and sponsored educational sessions. Asked who conference keynote speakers and other speakers at the conference might be, Mr. Roberts told Hostsearch, “We're working on our conference program right now and will be putting out a call for speaking proposals in the next month or so. Since the conference is still over 10 months away, we have some time to put together a top notch program.”
The official HostingCon 2006 conference website is located at
HostingCon.com. This site will be kept up to date as the shape of the conference firms up and more information is available. Hostsearch.com’s sister site HostBizTools.com has also set a forum where people can discuss aspects of the conference. Access the HostBizTools’ forum here:
Hosting Con 2006 Forum.
