SANTA ANA PUEBLO, NM – The Business Technology Association (BTA) held its national event for 2025 in conjunction with IBPI the week of June 16, and if you weren’t there, you missed a good one. The conference officially began Tuesday night with a welcome dinner and moved into full swing Wednesday morning with a keynote from NFL legend Emmitt Smith.
The Sharp-sponsored session—part fireside chat, part leadership lesson—was hosted by Mike Marusic, President and CEO of Sharp Electronics. Emmitt was candid, engaging, and stuck around to meet with attendees after his talk. You never know what you’re going to get when a former hall of famer turns into a professional speaker; some are better than others. Emmitt was fantastic.
Strong Content, Packed Rooms
Breakout sessions kicked off Wednesday with three standing-room-only workshops. With 337 people attending, there was a line out the door for the first sessions! Presenters included:
- Jon Dunkelberger (Ricoh USA): “Beyond the Traditional: Expanding Strategies for Evolving Sales Organizations”
- Samuel Mascato (Sandler): “Sell Smarter, Not Harder: Focusing on Business Impact in Tech Sales”
- Dominic Pontrelli (Pontrelli Marketing): “Your Go-to-Market Plan: The Key to Strategic Revenue Growth”
These three sessions were repeated later in the day due to the overly heavy turnout.
Midday, Xerox President and COO John Bruno took the stage for a keynote titled “Xerox’s Reinvention: Pioneering a New Growth Chapter.” Bruno outlined Xerox’s current strategy and provided insight into the company’s evolving approach to managed services and print technology. Do you want to know what Xerox is going to do with Lexmark? You should have been there as John shared his thoughts on that, the market and much more.
The dealer panel that followed was another standout. Moderated by BTA’s legal counsel Greg Goldberg, the panel titled “Thriving Amidst Disruption: How Dealers Are Navigating Industry Shifts” brought together frontline voices who shared actionable ideas on staffing, customer expectations, and vendor relationships.
Expo Energy and Strong Industry Support
And then there was the expo hall. With more than 40 exhibitors, it was the most packed vendor area we’ve seen at a BTA event in recent memory. Foot traffic was steady, with dealers engaging across a wide range of vendors and solution providers.
Several IndustryAnalysts.com sponsors were among the exhibitors and session sponsors, including Xerox, HP, Sharp, Toshiba, ACDI, Brother, ConnectWise, Distribution Management, DLL, ECI, ecoprintQ, Elatec, Epson, FP-Mailing Solutions, GreatAmerica, Hytec, IBPI, Keypoint Intelligence, Konica Minolta, PEAC Solutions, Polek & Polek, Ricoh, RISO, SalesChain, and Wells Fargo.
Click here to see the full list of BTA National Conference sponsors.
The afternoon finished with current BTA president Adam Gregory introducing incoming president Debra Dennis as well as recognition of this year’s BTA Volunteer of the Year, my good friend Kevin Marshall who recently retired from Flex Technology Group.
There was also a bittersweet goodbye to Noel O’Dwyer of Intermedia who was attending his last industry event before retiring. Congrats Noel!
The event wrapped Thursday with two more educational sessions—Anne Valaitis of Keypoint Intelligence on vertical market growth, and Jocelyn Gorman from DSI on data-driven team building—before attendees headed off for an afternoon of golf at Twin Warriors Golf Club.
With only two events on the BTA calendar this year, this one felt especially meaningful—and busy.
From full breakout rooms to high-profile keynotes, this year’s summer event delivered for dealers and vendors alike.
This was the best attended BTA conference we’ve been to in a while. The change of scenery was also nice, holding the event in a place many attendees had never been to before was a great idea. Hopefully BTA will continue exploring unique locations. With only two shows this year, BTA had a buzz to it that hasn’t been around in a long time.
SOURCE Industry Analysts Inc.
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