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MSPs WIN When They Collaborate at MSP Industry Events

• Ian Richardson

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In this episode of WIN, host Carrie Richardson chats with Allan Jocson, CEO of Agilitec and member of the PAX8 Partner Advisory Council. Allan shares his playbook for getting the most out of major MSP industry events like PAX8 Beyond—from strategic pre-event planning to making meaningful connections that drive long-term growth.

You'll hear why collaboration beats competition in the MSP world, how to make vendor relationships work for you, and why the best takeaways often happen outside the session rooms. Allan also shares memorable stories from past events and gives actionable advice for MSPs attending conferences for the first time—or the fiftieth.

If you’re heading to PAX8 Beyond or thinking about investing in industry events, don’t miss this episode.


Carrie Richardson and Ian Richardson host the WIN Podcast - What's Important Now?

Serial entrepreneurs, life partners and business partners, they have successfully exited from multiple businesses (IT, call center, real estate, marketing) and they help other business owners create their own versions of success.

Ian is certified in Eagle Center For Leadership Making A Difference, Paterson StratOp, and LifePlan.

Carrie has helped create and execute successful outbound sales strategies for over 1200 technology-focused businesses including MSPs, manufacturers, distributors and SaaS firms.

Learn more at www.foxcrowgroup.com
Book time with Carrie here!


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Carrie Richardson:

Good afternoon everybody. Welcome to Win. I am your host, Carrie Richardson. I'm a partner at Fox and Crow. And with me is Allan Jocson, who is the CEO of Agilitec, and a member of the PAX eight Partner Advisory Council. Thanks for joining us today, Allan. Tell us what we can expect at Pax8 Beyond this year.

Allan Jocson:

Sure. Carrie, thanks for the intro. PAX eight Beyond. So I believe we're on the third year now, right? From inaugural to Denver. the last time I believe it's gonna be, in the Gaylord, right? every year it's gotten bigger and bigger. I think it's even double the attendance. hence why I think it's the last year here at this hotel. They've outgrown it. I'm hoping Vegas, but you know, I'm being a little, selfish there, but let's just say, I think, they're looking for a bigger space because of the success of the event. it is one of those industry events that is a can't miss at this point. There's only a few of them, right. anybody that's been in this industry long enough has been to some events, I would hope, There's different ones that are very sales focused and very vendor sales focused and just seem like a commercial to some extent. very little educational value. I think this one really is trying to focus on raising the education level of the MSP industry, depending on owner level. Sales, technical, they do have some tracks and, sessions for what you're interested in. Right. And so, yeah, I think it's a can't miss event at this point.

Carrie Richardson:

Right. So this is year three at the Rocky Mountain. Gaylord.

Allan Jocson:

Yeah.

Carrie Richardson:

It's a pretty big hotel, so that's impressive.

Allan Jocson:

Year one was not huge. Year two got pretty big and I heard year three is even huge. We got to watch some hockey games.

Carrie Richardson:

The, the Golden Knights,

Allan Jocson:

was awesome.

Carrie Richardson:

What do you normally do to get, to prepare for attending an event like this? You'll obviously have some different commitments than you might at an event where you weren't, participating in an advisory council,

Allan Jocson:

mm-hmm.

Carrie Richardson:

How do you decide what sessions you're gonna go to? How do you plan your calendar? How far in advance do you start looking at the agenda?

Allan Jocson:

we actually do quite a bit of pre-prep work. I bring as many team members as possible to these events. I think last year we had four people at the event. this year we'll bring four as well, key people in each. Area so that we can divide and conquer. if able to do that, I would highly suggest that to companies because you're not gonna be able to see, all of the sessions at once and you're not gonna be able to talk to key people. And I think that's a, key thing you need to do. Look at the agenda ahead of time. Strategize on which sessions you are gonna get value out of and you're interested in. And more importantly, map out who's attending the event as well, both from a vendor perspective, PAX eight perspective, and even other partners or peers, Anybody that's attended events in the past know that some of the value is in those sidebar conversations that you have, maybe at the bar after, maybe in between sessions, maybe at lunch. the learning doesn't necessarily stop. get as much out of it as you can, but certainly I think the most value I get out of the connections I make, not just from my peers, but the vendors and PAX eight, people as well, and you form those relationships and bonds and, that old adage of people do business with who they know, like, and trust is still absolutely true. It's still a relationship business.

Carrie Richardson:

With 142 sponsors at last count, of which we are one, how do you decide who you're going to evaluate at an event like PAX eight?

Allan Jocson:

It starts with a hit list, being as strategic as possible this is not a vacation. it's time away from your business. Go into it with the intent of, learning things, growing your business, you're forming relationships, and so I start out with that strategic look at who I need to talk to, and, either get advice from or collaborate with, but also leave time to meet new people events aren't the time to shell up and become an introvert necessarily, right? The more people you talk to and engage with, you'll get value back from that.

Carrie Richardson:

I've talked to some MSPs that were very uncomfortable with the idea that they would share, their secrets with other MSPs. And my advice there is you just can't steal execution.

Allan Jocson:

it's true. I've been in peer groups for the last eight years. I'm in the PAX eight peer group for the last three. I'm actually gonna be in Denver for the entire week because the first week is beyond, the second week is the PAX eight peer group, so it's gonna be a long week But as you said, we all share similar, battle scars and challenges and not reinventing the wheel and sharing what's working and what's not working. I'm not afraid of telling people how I do things or why I do things and how I've structured my business because like you said, imitiation is, you know, flattery to some extent, but in the end, it's who you have in your company. Nobody's gonna be able to steal your way of doing things necessarily.

Carrie Richardson:

Las Vegas isn't that big of a city,

Allan Jocson:

I collaborate with the other MSP business owners even locally. I don't have a problem, sharing best practices with them and leveling each other up. it's not a bad thing to talk to other MSPs a hundred percent.

Carrie Richardson:

So you're gonna be in Denver for an entire week. what were the highlights of last year's event for you? what are they gonna have to top this year?

Allan Jocson:

well, maybe no more bouncing floor at the end of the event. while it was, a fun, ludicrous concert that was, a little bit scary but I heard it's on a ground floor this year, so we're pretty stable for the, closing party. that was definitely a memorable part.

Carrie Richardson:

I wasn't there last year.

Allan Jocson:

The floor flexed quite a bit because everybody got very excited with ludicrous. It was a fun time and nobody got hurt. So all good. it was definitely, a thing to remember. the keynotes at PAX eight, wouldn't miss the keynotes. I wouldn't miss the general sessions in the main room. They were very impressive, not just from A video and technology perspective, which is always nice. It's very modern. they definitely put a lot of work into that. But the things that the new CEO were saying and where they're going with their direction, PAX Eight's always been somewhat of a disruptive company and doing things a little differently, it's great to understand where they're going and being in those sessions is a key piece.

Carrie Richardson:

I know they announced another keynote today. Was it Carl Lewis?

Allan Jocson:

Yes.

Carrie Richardson:

Do we know who's the closing party artist this year?

Allan Jocson:

Oh, I don't know. I think that's still a technical secret, so, yeah.

Carrie Richardson:

Oh, do you already know and you're not gonna tell us?

Allan Jocson:

Oh, well maybe not, You might have to come find me and ask. Yeah.

Carrie Richardson:

We'll be on site this year. It's our first time as Fox and Crow sponsoring a major event like that.

Allan Jocson:

Oh, That's great. one piece of advice I would say, for people attending, I think, an issue with our industry is sometimes MSPs, come in a little closed and guarded, especially around the vendor booths and expos. And while I know there's people that will scan your badge and yes, they're gonna potentially call you after email or market. I would look at establishing relationship and communications with the vendors. Don't look at them as adversaries, treat them as individuals the more you partner with vendors and establish those relationships, that's the way you should be approaching it. Not being so closed off and guarded like they're trying to be used car salesman, right? If they are, you can close them out. And, and mark it down, but don't. Put that lens on everybody, the more you have real conversations with them, you'll figure out who the good vendors are to work with.

Carrie Richardson:

I think that really benefited Ian, a million percent after Ian became a vendor. everybody that he'd given a referral to or did a testimonial call for earlier in his MSP career, all of them were willing to put us on stage. All of them were willing to give us time on webinars or let us create some content for them. If there is going to be a chapter two in your world, lots of people go work for vendors after. And you wanna keep your options open.

Allan Jocson:

That's right. A lot of vendors, you know, and this is another little nugget, right? A lot of vendors are bigger companies, Much bigger than your MSP. and they know a lot. if you partner with them you can learn a lot, and, and guess what? There's MDF dollars, they have huge marketing teams. They have huge sales teams. So when you establish that relationship with key vendors, if you look at it as a partnership, there's a give and take there. And it's not just you taking from them. the more you partner and help them out, it'll come back tenfold. yeah, that's been valuable my entire career.

Carrie Richardson:

Events are a great way to, see what's out there, but you also get a little bit of FaceTime with the people that day to day are helping you manage your business.

Allan Jocson:

Yes.

Carrie Richardson:

Plus they'll probably buy you a drink or dinner.

Allan Jocson:

That never hurts, right?

Carrie Richardson:

If people would like to find you at the PAX eight event, say hello or, potentially pick your brain a little bit on what you're doing to grow your mSP how can they get in touch with you?

Allan Jocson:

Absolutely. They can connect with me on LinkedIn if they'd like. Right. Allan Jocson. A-L-L-A-N-J-O-C-S-O-N. I'll be on the PAX eight app. You can connect with me through there. or just, tap me on the shoulder. I'll be. out and around, the sessions. And again, I'm there the whole week. I'll probably be there Saturday before the event, all the way to the next Saturday. So yeah, don't be shy. Reach out.

Carrie Richardson:

Hydrate.

Allan Jocson:

Drink some water and I'll maybe do some hiking in between. Who knows? We'll see.

Carrie Richardson:

Is Michelle going to be joining you?

Allan Jocson:

Michelle will be joining me, yes. She may be lounging at the pool, but she will be joining. For most of the stuff.

Carrie Richardson:

thanks very much for joining us today, Allan. I will see you at PAX eight Beyond.

Allan Jocson:

I will see you there as well. Thank you.

People on this episode

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Carrie Richardson

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Ian Richardson

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