The Sales 2.0 conference has come a very long way - and, as many people report, it is finally growing up.
The Sales 2.0 Conference adoption curve has traveled a long road; here's the journey:
2007: The first Sales 2.0 Conference hosted by the Genius team. Everyone in the sales community showed up expecting a great party. They had no idea what Sales 2.0 meant other than, um, maybe it was a new pseudonym for a cool, sexy cocktail?
2009: Selling Power team took over managing the Sales 2.0 Conference, which made it more official - plus we get to see lots more of Gerhard. This time the sales and marketing community showed up suspicious, apprehensive, defensive, and curious about the Sales 2.0 possibilities and how it might impact them in the future. Was it new or improved or social?
2010: Sales 2.0 Conference finally found it's place. Sales and marketing people showed up and started to realize that it's not a movement that you must join, it's not a disease that will just disappear, it's not a manipulative ploy to sell more sales tools. They were open and ready to learn and even adopt some new ideas.
2011: Sales 2.0 Conference confirmed that Social Selling is alive and kicking and it was the end of the world as we know it. Sales and marketing people showed up, ready to embrace the new elusive Customer 2.0 and incorporate some social selling into the mix.
2012: Sales 2.0 Conference has finally grown up. It's ready to engage socially, and especially with Inside Sales - the nexus of Marketing/Sales alignment and teamwork.