There are nine prime sponsors who have demos, sessions, and activities in their (much larger than last year) Prime rooms at S4x25. You can think of this as nine additional options for you to consider for your time at S4. A new subsession feature in the Whova app allowed us to enter all the Prime Room agendas without overwhelming you. In the example below, you will get all the details on what’s happening 10 to 11 if you click on the 7 Subsessions link in the Whova app or at s4xevents.com/agenda.
One other tip, everything in the agenda has the calendar + icon on the right. You can select this for the sessions you want to see and it will create your own personal agenda. Highly recommended for planning your day.
The question we always ask at S4 Events is: How Can We Improve The Attendee Experience? This includes how can we have the Sponsor Packages improve the attendee experience? We decided long ago we didn’t want a big exhibit hall, even though this is what sponsors want most. When we moved to the Loews in 2023 we had a bunch of rooms available to us and we tried the Prime Room concept. Vendors were skeptical. They were a tough sell. Now in the third year they are the most popular package.
How do the Prime Rooms improve the attendee experience?
- We select applicants based on our view on how many attendees will want to spend time with the vendors top technical talent and systems. Do a lot of people have their offering? This year the Prime Sponsors are Cisco, Claroty, Fortinet, Nozomi, OPSWAT, Palo Alto, SEL, ServiceNow, and TXOne. We would have liked to have a couple more ICS vendors as Prime Sponsors (looking at you Emerson, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, … maybe next year)
- We work with the Prime Sponsors so they understand the S4 attendee and vibe. Who do they need to bring? Leave home the marketing person who can explain what OT is and bring the technical guru, product manager, leader, someone who can go deep when the S4 attendee wants a one-hour demo on a specific feature or strategic issue.
- The Prime Room sponsors are told they need to be a destination. No one is going to casually walk by as they stroll down an exhibit room floor. They need a compelling demo, a great breakfast section, a fun happy hour, a big name speaker, a hot topic. You can check out the agenda and see if and when it make sense to visit a vendor Prime Room.
- The Prime Rooms are optional. If you attend S4 you will never need to walk in or by a Prime Room if you don’t want to.
One last note on Sponsors at S4x25. S4 revenue is ~50% sponsor and ~50% ticket sales. This is unusual for most conferences. It allows us to say no to sponsor’s having speaker spots as part of the package. No to sponsors that wouldn’t be a good fit for S4 or don’t do a good job at S4. No to a lot of sponsor requests. Not to be mean or difficult. No if it is not a net plus for the attendee experience.
I’ve been impressed with most of the Prime Sponsor rooms the last two years. As an attendee it is worth your while to see what’s going on there. And if you are a customer or considering one of these companies it’s a chance to dive deep.