Walking the aisle at VON yesterday, I ended up talking with Ray Beauchamp, VP Strategic Development for VendorRate. They're a new company that allows potential purchasers of equipment to see how others felt about the relationships they have with the vendors they purchase from. It's free to use, and he was offering a $5 Starbucks card for every new rating put into the database. It's amazing what I'll do for a latte!
So I filled out a ranking on ThinkEngine Networks, the vendor that we purchased iotum's conference bridge from. You can pay me later guys…
VendorRate looks like it could be a quick and easy evaluation tool for anyone looking to make a major equipment purchase. And for sales people, it could be pure gold if you have a loyal and satisfied customer following. The value, of course, will depend on the quality of the database they're able to build. Hence the $5 latte cards.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
