'Deals do get done' at tech forum; Execs have full dance cards

DURHAM -- It's no secret that the most valuable discussions at conferences often happen outside the meeting rooms.

But few organizations are as aggressive in driving those casual conversations as the N.C. Technology Association.

On Wednesday, NCTA's premier event, A CEO Conversation, featured speakers discussing how digital media is revolutionizing business. But the program was peripheral to many attendees' primary mission: meeting executives and making deals.

The event's name is perhaps a misnomer, because NCTA's goal is to strike up thousands of conversations, ignite new business partnerships and keep executives coming back year after year.

"These conversations are critical ones that will continue out that door and for months to come," said Joan Myers, NCTA's president and CEO. "What might not be apparent today as a natural partnership, the day after tomorrow may be."

For NCTA's planners, putting on the event is much like organizing a dinner party for 400. They invite a carefully crafted group of executives, then go out of their way to introduce those with something in common.

About 90 percent of the attendees were "C-level executives" -- chief executives, chief information and technology officers and the like -- who pay as much as $500 to register. Although many travel from across the country, local executives from IBM, Cary software developer SAS, Durham document processor Bowe Bell & Howell and Chapel Hill video game publisher Merscom were also in the mix.

As at many conferences, the event at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center incorporated a breakfast, several networking breaks during the day and a reception afterwards.

Unlike others, it placed some attendees with similar business interests at 15 reserved tables. About 20 people were there just to make the introductions, and organizers checked in with the executives at lunch to make sure they had found everyone they hoped to meet.

NCTA makes an effort to find out what each participant is looking to get out of the meeting, said Jennifer Bosser, NCTA's vice president of executive engagement. Some want to recruit board members. Others want customers, partners or investors.

The organization calls on the appropriate staff members or one of the 40 executives on its board of directors to connect attendees with people in their networks. Of course, those board members also have their eyes on potential contacts.

"We all come with a dance card," said Rusine Mitchell-Sinclair, IBM's senior state executive and a former NCTA chairwoman. On Wednesday, she had another goal, as well: introducing Steven Pearson, an employee who recently switched jobs within IBM, to colleagues in the high-tech industry.

Jeff Cox, president and chief operating officer of Demand Decisions, an Indiana company that helps evaluate the effect of marketing on consumer demand, reviewed the list of expected participants and picked 20 executives who he wanted to meet. By lunchtime, he had met all of them.

The organizers' aggressiveness in making connections is unique, Cox said. "It's probably the most effective conference I've ever been at, in that regard," he said. "You're dealing with relatively senior-level people, and deals do get done here."

Just ask Ron Renjilian, CEO and founder of Peak8 Solutions, a Colorado startup developing software for consumer-focused technical support.

At last year's NCTA conference, Renjilian met the CEO of Iowa-based Caleris, which provides outsourced call centers. On Wednesday, they officially became business partners, signing a deal in the hotel lobby.