The Business Technology Association (BTA) will hold its Capture the Magic event, hosted by BTA West, Sept. 14-15 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Open to office technology dealers from across the country, the event will feature: a two-part keynote workshop on how to prepare for the future; a dealer panel on marketing to elevate your brand; a dealer panel on creating the "wow factor" in your business; three additional educational sessions presented by industry leaders; time to network with peers and exhibiting sponsors during breaks and a welcoming reception; and a ticket to Cirque du Soleil's O show.

The event will begin at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, with opening comments, followed by the two-part keynote workshop, "How to Disrupt," led by Armida Ascanao of Trend Hunter. The first part of the workshop will help you and your team anticipate upcoming threats to your business, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and become better acquainted with the office technology industry's next three to five years. During the second part of the workshop, participants will learn to anticipate threats, think of their businesses more critically, and spot potential disruption and opportunity from outside the industry.

A break will follow the workshop. Breaks between sessions on both days will also give attendees additional networking time. Following the break, a welcoming reception will wrap up the first day.  

The second day of Capture the Magic will begin at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, with breakfast, followed by three educational sessions and breaks. The sessions: "How to Establish an Invaluable Link With Future Customers," led by Earl Everson of Elite Document Solutions; "Diversification, Operational Improvements & Sales Enablement," led by Randy Dazo of Keypoint Intelligence; and "The State of the U.S. Economy: What to Make of These Changing times," led by John Beriau of Morgan Stanley. Lunch will follow the morning sessions until 1 p.m.

Following lunch, the first dealer panel, "Marketing Matters: Elevating Your Brand to Set Your Dealership Apart From the Competition," moderated by Kevin Marshall of Copy Link Inc., Chula Vista, California, will be held. The panelists will include Haley Grigsby of Fisher's Technology, Boise, Idaho; Andy Smalley of FlexPrint Inc., Mesa, Arizona; and Scot Olson of Les Olson Company, Salt Lake City, Utah. A break with exhibitors will follow the first panel.

After the break, the second dealer panel will be held. "The Wow Factor: Building Loyalty Through Focused Customer Service," will be moderated by Mike McGuirk of ProCopy Office Solutions, Mesa, Arizona. The panelists will include Scott Reynolds of Imagine Technology Group LLC, Chandler, Arizona; Scott Schnabel, Frontier Business Products, Aurora, Colorado; and Dean Swenson of The Swenson Group, Livermore, California. Closing comments and prize drawings will wrap up the event from 5 to 5:30 p.m. At 7 p.m., attendees will travel to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino for Cirque du Soleil's O performance.

The Capture the Magic exhibiting sponsors: ACDI, AgentDealer, Amur Equipment Finance, Brother, CIT, ConnectWise, Cranel, Crexendo (breakfast sponsor), Distribution Management, eGoldFax, Epson, FP Mailing Solutions, GreatAmerica Financial Services, Hytec, IBPI, Intermedia (reception sponsor), Katun, Keypoint Intelligence, Kodak Alaris, Konica Minolta, KYOCERA, LEAF, Lexmark, Macquarie, Midwest Copier Exchange, Oberon Americas, Printerpoint, Quench, SalesChain, Sharp (keynote sponsor), Technology Assurance Group (breaks sponsor), Tigerpaw, TonerCycle/InkCycle, Toshiba, TROY, U.S. Bank, WatchGuard, Xerox (lunch sponsor) and Zultys.

BTA member dealers receive 2-for-1 registration to Capture the Magic. BTA member dealer registration is $199, which includes the Wednesday and Thursday educational sessions; Wednesday welcoming reception; and Thursday breakfast, lunch and Cirque du Soleil "O" ticket. An additional attendee from the same member dealership is $99. Non-member dealer registration is $249 per person.

To learn more about Capture the Magic, including full session descriptions, or to register, visit www.bta.org/BTALasVegas.