The Parallels Summit has doubled its attendance each year since the first annual event. Last year’s Summit attracted 750 registrants and 550 attendees from almost 30 countries. We expect over 1300 registrants and 1000 attendees in Parallels Summit 2009.
The Parallels Summit 2008’s audience consisted of service providers, ISVs, media, hardware vendors, and other industry groups. There were 15% ISVs at last year’s event which had a core focus on Software-as-a-Service. In Parallels Summit 2009, we are broadening our audience scope to also include Enterprise IT professionals.
Over 50% of the attendees at last year’s event were their company’s key decision makers — including C-level Executives, Presidents, Owners, and Partners.
Last year’s Parallels Summit rated a 4.3 out of 5 on overall satisfaction, with attendees rating their likeliness to attend again a 4.5 out of 5.
All main facets of last year’s conference individually rated at least 4 out of 5, which includes our Business Track, Technical Track, Industry Track, Exhibit Hall, Meals, Hands-on Lab, Evening Events, and Networking Lounge. The 2009 event will also include an Enterprise Track.
Parallels Summit 2009 is expected to be the largest in Parallels Summit history and our first outside of the Washington, DC area. Las Vegas, NV was chosen based on feedback from our attendees who overwhelmingly selected it over Miami, FL, New York, NY, Seattle, WA, and a return to Washington DC.
The Parallels Summit 2008 included 45 total sessions with different speakers that ranged from subject matter experts, C-level executives, Parallels staff, and independent analysts.
The number of sponsors and exhibitors has increased from 10 in 2006 to 32 last year. There is over 40 potential sponsoring or exhibiting opportunities available in 2009. Last year’s sponsors rated their satisfaction a 4.1 out of 5, and their likeliness to sponsor again a 4.1 out of 5.