Analyst Relations & Sales & Social Media

I was delighted to host the IIAR (Institute of Industry Analyst Relations) forum yesterday in a very sunny and hot London.

It is always great to see how many AR professionals are willing to come along and meet old friends, make new contacts, learn about best practice and share their own experiences.

Fionnula Fitzsimons gave an absolutely excellent presentation on AR and sales. It was interesting, insightful and practical. Anyone in AR who needs to get their sales teams on board and demonstrate the value that AR can add to the sales cycle should make sure they get a copy of her presentation (downloadable by IIAR members from Huddle).

And then, we had an excellent panel debate on how analysts use social media with Richard Edwards (Ovum), Dale Vile (Freeform Dynamics) and Dean Bubley (Disruptive Analysis). Robert De Souza of IPsoft chaired a lively discussion.

This was a social media discussion focused on how these analysts actually use it and why. It was interesting to hear about real-life behaviour and practical benefits rather than tools, processes and best practice.

Hopefully, someone at the IIAR is doing a write-up of what was discussed.

And I mustn’t forget a plug for IIAR accreditation. If you’re a member, it’s free to take. It’s a tough quiz but if you have got a couple of years of AR experience and know what you’re doing, then passing the exam should be pretty straightforward.

I’ve passed - and while it’s nice being in an exclusive club, I’d rather be joined by hundreds of other people! The IIAR has even promised to provide us with a badge and our own Linkedin group.