First, they loved it. When asked how likely they would be to recommend the event to a colleague, on a scale of 1 to 10, their AVERAGE response was 9.03. Michelle Faulkner Director, Corporate Communications at Empirix said, "This event should be mandatory for anyone running or looking to start a Customer Reference Program." People said, repeatedly, that they were leaving with a plethora of ideas they couldn't wait to implement when they got back home, and that they were personally delighted and comforted to learn that there are other people doing what they do. "Just wanted to congratulate you on a great conference," said John Raftrey, Manager, Customer Reference Program at Intel. "I don't know which is more important, the new ideas or the emotional support knowing we're not alone."

Second, they provided me with a torrent of ideas for future events, which I'll be going though for weeks to come. But I can tell you that one major suggestion I heard over and over was this: find ways to tap the knowledge and experience in the room. We had more than 100 very smart people together for two days in Boston, including graduates of Harvard and MIT. Many have years of experience running reference programs. Participants want us to find more ways to share and capture this incredible wealth of knowledge -- through more breakouts, workshops, roundtables, facilitated discussions, and the like.

"The attendees have a lot of expertise among the group," said Andrea Davidowitz, Customer Marketing Programs Manager at Citrix Systems. People can learn from each other." Erin Fors, Director, Customer Programs at the Merrit Group, suggested that we "host/moderate panels with people currently facing similar challenges in their day to day operations, including real world examples of day-to day strategy & execution," Several people concurred with Rhonda DiGiorgio, Global Reference Program Manager at Progress Software, who wants to see more group brainstorming on specific challenges faced by participants.

Finding ways to tap into the smarts and experience of this group is now a personal, top priority of mine which I plan to share with our Advisory Board -- look for much more of such knowledge sharing in future events.

Meanwhile, here is some more info from the Fall Customer Reference Forum, including pics, testimonials (what would a customer reference event be without testimonials?!) and more:

• To see the pictures, click here.

• To read the Testimonials, click here.

• To see what the blogosophere says, click here and here.

• To stay abreast of future events, teleconferences and other learning and networking opportunities, please reply to this email with "please notify me of future events."

Fast Facts for the Fall Customer Reference Forum

Where it was held -- Boston, MA

When -- October 24 and 25

51 -- Number of reference programs represented, including Adobe Systems, Cognos, EDS, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM, Intel, Mercury, Microsoft, Network Appliance, Oracle, Research in Motion, SAP, SAS, Siebel and dozens of other great firms.

103 -- Number of reference professionals who attended, including representatives from eight Sponsors and several VIP Vendors.

4.3 -- Average overall event rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 = "fabulous")

9.03 -- Average response to question of whether attendees would recommend the event to their peers (scale of 1 to 10)

Best regards,

Bill