HostingCon Global is the premier industry convention for the web hosting, cloud, and service provider industry. What makes it different from other events in the industry is that it’s vendor-neutral. It isn’t named after a big service provider, the speakers and exhibitors are there to serve the industry rather than themselves, and the attendees are there to pick up unbiased information. HostingCon has been running for 13 years, and has grown every year.
This year it takes place between April 3-6 at the LA Convention Center. Organizers promise it will be the biggest event yet.
Who is Attending?
Attendees at HostingCon Global measure in the thousands, representing over 500 of the industry’s biggest and brightest web hosting companies, from everywhere in the world. Around 40% of attendees will be from web hosting and cloud provider companies. Around 20% will be from companies that supply hardware or software to the web hosting and cloud industries, so you would expect some big deals to come out of this event. The rest of the crowd will be made up of representatives from data center providers, app companies, consultants, and many more.
The vast majority (around 65%) of attendees will be from the executive management level of these companies. Around 15% will be marketing or sales representatives. The rest will be technical staff, ops management, customer service, and finance. This is an incredible networking opportunity for anyone in the web hosting industry.
Who is Speaking?
HostingCon Global has a reputation for attracting the most informative and entertaining speakers to its events. This year is no exception. If you’re attending HostingCon, you’re sure to pick up some useful information from the cutting edge of the industry.
One speaker this year is Sagi Brody, CTO of Webair. He’s been involved in all areas of the web hosting and data center industries. Few are better placed to present on these subjects. He’ll be talking about how to ensure a secure hybrid cloud via direct network connectivity.
If you’re attending, don’t miss George Karidis, CEO at Virtuozzo. He’ll be presenting on how to find the balance between open source and commercial solutions, to get the best outcomes.
Finally, make sure you see Ajay Gulati, Co-Founder and CEO at ZeroStack, who’ll be talking about smart software, the self-driving cloud, and how it helps you compete.
Who is Exhibiting?
With such a large crowd of influencers in the web hosting industry, it’s no surprise HostingCon Global attracts the biggest and best firms as exhibitors. This year the primary sponsors and exhibitors are GlobalFrag Networks and Symantec.
Global Frag Networks started in the field of game server hosting, but have branched out into many different areas of service provision. Currently, they’re leading the industry in the fight against DDoS attacks. They have a private room at HostingCon where you can see how they’re doing it.
Symantec is a global leader in cybersecurity. They help shield everyone from general consumers to world governments, against whatever is out there.
Benefits of Attending
If you’ve attended at HostingCon Global before, you’ll know why it’s such a beneficial event. For the uninitiated, HostingCon Global is the only event where you can see the brightest figures in the industry presenting in a provider-neutral and unbiased environment. The speakers are hand-picked from the biggest influencers in web hosting. They’re there to inform and educate, not sell their wares. You will come back from HostingCon Global armed with new knowledge you’ll be able to implement straight away.
Finally, don’t forget the networking opportunities. With thousands of attendees from all over the industry and all over the world, HostingCon is a great way to catch up with old friends and make new ones. You may meet your next customer, or even your next employer. Attend one of the official networking events taking place, or just work the floor. Make sure you’re armed with a lot of business cards. You’ll need them.
Some Sad News
News has emerged that unfortunately HostingCon Global 2017 will be the last HostingCon event. Penton Information Services, that own the HostingCon brands, was recently bought by Informa, and they have decided not to keep the brand going. Informa has already run some of the biggest conventions in the IT industry. They are directing future HostingCon attendees to those, including Cloud & DevOps World, which takes place in London this year. Being the last ever HostingCon Global event, the team in LA will want to go out with a bang.
Now you know all about HostingCon Global 2017 in LA. If you’re attending, enjoy. Take advantage of all the opportunities on offer. If you’re not going this year, stay with us to keep updated on all the new developments that will undoubtedly arise from this event.
