THREAD at IT Nation 2024

 Action Items

• [ ] Check in on Paralee's company next year.

Connect 2024 Kickoff and Introduction

• Harry Brelsford introduces the third day of IT Nation Connect 2024, describing it as a must-attend event.
• Harry greets a fellow skier from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, who won the startup pitch competition last year.
• Harry recalls the startup competition held at the event, highlighting the three finalists and the early morning event.
• The conversation shifts to the core message that got the speaker on stage last year, focusing on the inadequacy of tickets for customer communication.

Core Message and Company Background

• The speaker explains that their big message last year was that tickets are not effective for customer service, as customers want to feel heard and not like a number.
• They emphasized the importance of a fully integrated chat solution, such as Teams, Slack, or a desktop app, to provide a better service experience.
• Harry acknowledges the competitive nature of the pitch competition and the quality of the finalists chosen.
• Harry inquires about the speaker's background, leading to a discussion about their transition from public school education to the tech industry.

Transition to Tech Industry and Personal Anecdotes

• The speaker shares their background as a high school Spanish teacher and their transition to startups, where they can still engage in marketing and teaching.
• Harry expresses his own regret about not being bilingual, particularly in Spanish, and the benefits of learning a foreign language for cognitive functioning.
• The speaker confirms that learning Spanish has improved their cognitive functioning and even leads to dreaming in Spanish.
• Harry notes the lack of a large Hispanic population at the show and expresses a desire to see more interaction in Spanish.

Connect 2024 Show Highlights and Marketing Strategy

• The speaker discusses their efforts to make an impact at the show by connecting with people's emotions, focusing on the dissatisfaction with current communication methods.
• They describe the rage room at their booth, where attendees could write their frustrations on plates and smash them with a bat for a satisfying experience.
• The speaker highlights the solutions booth, which provided a more laid-back environment to discuss their no-tickets, no-worries service solution.
• Harry and the speaker discuss the importance of great service and communication in preventing customer churn.

Final Observations and Closing Remarks

• Harry shares his positive experience of riding the party bus from the Orlando airport to the event, noting the fun and inclusive atmosphere.
• The speaker explains that their company provided a free, fun ride on the party bus to every partner and person they had scanned at the event.
• Harry thanks the speaker for their time and looks forward to checking in with them next year.
• The conversation concludes with mutual thanks and goodbyes.

Listen to the podcast HERE

 Harry Brelsford  00:02

Hey, nation, nation Harry, here we are on the third day of it. Nation, connect 2024, it's the Rose Bowl of IT events in our space. Let me tell you, it's the granddaddy of them all. Must do if you haven't done it, gotta do it at least once. But I'm with a fellow skier, so apparently walls out of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. How you doing?

Paralee Walls  00:23

I'm so good, and I'm glad to be here with you. Harry good,

Harry Brelsford  00:28

so last year, your company won the the startup, yeah, pitch it. Pitch it. And so let's talk about, let's, let's go back. So I was there, but a year's coming, and, you know, I think it's cool that they do this, that every year they have the little competition and three finalists, and they do it basically on day one, you know, early, early, kind of almost a pre day. And so with that said, What's your core message, right? What got you on stage? What you got what do you do? Yeah,

Paralee Walls  01:10

I mean, I think last year, our big message was that tickets are just not a great way to communicate with customers when you're trying to deliver a service experience. Customers want to feel heard. They don't want to feel like a number and wait hours, even if it's in the SLA. So a fully integrated chat solution, which is what we were last year, in teams slack, or even a desktop app that allows customers to get their problems solved when and where they want. It was really big differentiator for us.

Harry Brelsford  01:44

Yeah, yeah, because that's, you know, that's a, that's a competitive judge, competition. You know, I went this year again, and it has a logo screen full of initial entrance. They got it down to three. I like the choice they made and so on. Little bit about your background. So have you been in the tech industry for a while? Where do you come from? Well,

Paralee Walls  02:07

I come from public school education originally. I was a high school Spanish teacher of there a long time ago, and I found that startups tech were just a better fit for me, but I still get to do what I love as a marketer. I get to figure out what people need to learn and find out how to communicate it to them in a way that resonates. It's the same teaching 16 year olds how to speak Spanish and teaching grown ups that they need to buy software, not really that different, you

Harry Brelsford  02:41

know, I got to tell it myself, because I I'm not bilingual. It's, it's a regret I have, and when the day arrives is, I've told you, you know, I'm down in Austin, Texas, and that's like, the one language that would make sense, right? Is Spanish, yeah, and my dad was, you know, fluent, semi flu, you know, Texan, right? I mean, that's just what you do, yeah? And when the day arrives, you know, I don't, I don't think I really want to go paint watercolor pictures of, in my case, not Crested Butte, you know, the people that stand out on the road and

Paralee Walls  03:13

paint, oh, I have one of those, yeah. And,

Harry Brelsford  03:17

but I think I'd rather pick up a foreign language, and I'll get to my point. You know, again, my podcasts are kind of free form, right? And what I've seen or heard is people who maybe had a traumatic brain injury or a stroke, or, you know, a mini stroke. That's one of the best things they can do is go pick up a foreign language, because you're reconnecting the neurals and synapse and whatever that is. But I mean, does that make sense? Does it? Has your journey there improved your cognitive functioning? Do you? Do you dream Spanish?

Paralee Walls  03:58

I do dream Spanish. I think that was one of the biggest unlocks for me when I knew I was like, Oh, this is a part of my brain. Now is that I had dreams in Spanish. And I do find that it helps me, particularly in times of stress or when I need more creativity. If I am think of some, you know, like, how would I say this in Spanish? You know, it turns my brain a bit of a different direction to allow me to open up more

Harry Brelsford  04:27

thoughts, yeah, and, you know, I'm not seeing, for whatever reason, a large Hispanic population of this show. I mean, we're, you know, up in Orlando, we're not Miami, but down in, you know, Texas, there would be audience members that would speak with you in Spanish, right? I mean, that would happen. I would love that. Yeah, give me one or two takeaways from the show. And by that, I mean, came by a couple times, busy booth. I. You got some props. You got the rec room. I've seen the, you know, smash plates and,

Paralee Walls  05:05

yeah, and we really wanted to make an impact this year in a way that connected with people's emotions, which is a marketer is what I'm always going for, right? People are dissatisfied with the way communication is conducted. You know, everyone wants instant, asynchronous, where I am when I want it, and they get frustrated when they can't have that. And MSPs get frustrated when their customers churn because of communication issues. It's always communication. And great service is great communication. Yeah. So we had some fun. We have a rage room where people get to write the things that upset them about their running their business. And so we hear things like late time entry written on a plate, and then somebody smash it with a bat. It's very satisfying. Yeah. On the other hand, we have our solutions booth, which is a little more laid back. We do like to treat it as like this is the solution here, you know, and it's no tickets, no worries. Everybody's

Harry Brelsford  06:12

kind of trust. It's a pirate final, final observation. I don't know if it's a question, but it was cool. I rode the party bus from the Orlando airport to here, where it nation is. And I really like those. You see that occasionally. You know, years ago, a Cronus had a couple back to back years at the up out blue at Miami Beach. I love that first love that place, very nice. And they, they had the same thing. Now there was, you know, a little bit different with the the black suburban limos to pick, yeah, but what I did was, you know, several of us were going to the show, yeah, right. I said, Pop on

Paralee Walls  07:00

in, exactly. And for us, our whole thing is provide radical service experiences, and we think that's what's going to set MSPs apart. So we need to set the example. We emailed every single one of our partners, every single person we've ever scanned at an IT nation connect, and offered them that free ride. And of course, we're gonna make it fun, because we're thread so party lights, beverages, it was lovely,

Harry Brelsford  07:28

alrighty. Well, hey, thanks for your time. We'll see you next year. We're gonna check in on you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.