Q&A: Local Microsoft Partner, Knowledge Management Associates, discusses upcoming Worldwide Partner Conference

Every year, more than 12,000 individuals attend the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) to learn about Microsoft’s business plan for the upcoming year, network and build connections, share best practices, and experience the company’s latest product innovations.

 This year’s WPC is taking place July 10-14 in Los Angeles, and it’s expected to be another highly attended event by partners, customers, and key influentials.

Recently, we had the opportunity to speak with Sara Clark, Director of Marketing at Knowledge Management Associates (KMA), a Waltham-based Microsoft partner, about the value WPC brings to her company and what she’s looking forward to at this year’s conference. 

Q: What value does WPC provide you and your company?

Sara Clark: KMA has been attending the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference for the past five years.  We are an IT consulting firm with 16 years of experience focused on Microsoft technologies such as SharePoint, SQL Server, Office, and .NET, to help clients improve productivity, business insight and collaboration. Having the time away to absorb everything Microsoft is extremely valuable.  WPC helps us understand Microsoft’s direction for the coming year, allowing us to align our business strategy and identify ways to grow our business.

Q: What kinds of benefits do your customers experience as a result of you or members of your company attending WPC?

A: Our clients rely on KMA for technology and business expertise around Microsoft technologies, specifically around SharePoint solutions. We search for sessions and tracks that we think our clients would (or will) be interested in and would benefit from, and extend that knowledge to them through various methods, including our blogs, webinars, and social media channels.  WPC also provides vast opportunities for networking and making connections with Microsoft executives and other key individuals. The additional knowledge and insights we receive from those encounters is invaluable.  

Q: What kinds of sessions/content are you most interested in attending at this year’s WPC?

A: WPC has so much content – you really have to think about what you want to get out of the event. Personally, this is my second year heading to the event, and I’ve already set a couple hours aside to research and pick the most relevant sessions. Our primary focus is Microsoft SharePoint - it’s our go-to market message – so we’re looking for tracks that highlight SharePoint as well as other complimentary solutions (for now or in the future) such as: Office 365, cloud, Windows Azure, web content management (WCM), enterprise project management (EPM) and Unified communications (UC).  And lastly, I make sure to save some time for the general marketing and market trends sessions as Microsoft typically finds great speakers for these tracks.

To learn more about Knowledge Management Associates, please visit their website here.  To stay connected on all the WPC news and activities taking place at the conference, check out www.digitalwpc.com.