On October 17-21, MERLION held its final regional forum in the year of 2006 on the golden coast of Spain. The forum welcomed more than 50 partners from the central region of Russia.
The Golden Coast of Catalonia is in its autumn splendour in mid-October. It was that place where the participants of the final 2006 MERLION Business Channel forum arrived looking for a break from the gloomy and chilly autumn of Russia. The small fishermen’s town Cambrils became a venue for the 53 leading IT companies of Russia’s central region, MERLION and such vendors as ATI, Foxconn, Hewlett – Packard, Panasonic and Western Digital.
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As usual, the forum included different formats of communications. Its main goal was to get to know each other and forge a personal friendship with the key partners from the region.
In the official part of the forum, President of MERLION, A. Sonk, shared his insights into the key trends in the world’s IT market development. Marketing Director of MERLION, A. Zhuravlev, spoke about prospects for the Russian computer retail business.
Aleksei Zherdev, Commercial Director of the MERLION–Central Region sales office, gave a detailed presentation on the company’s development goals and strategies, as well as the renewed structure of the sales office. According to A. Zherdev, today the share of the central region in the total regional sales of MERLION has reached 17%, and the total of partners in this region amounts to 180 companies. The priorities for 2006-2007 are to foster the positions of MERLION in Ryazan, Tambov, Kaluga and other districts, and to boost the presence of the first federal computer retailer POSITRONICA. The retailer has already opened 14 outlets in the central region.
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The partners from the central region also learnt about the new subsidiary of MERLION, MERLION HOME Systems. The subsidiary focuses on the distribution of consumer electronics and is pleased to offer the products of its first vendor Casio, a leading manufacturer of watches and musical instruments.
The presentations of popular IT vendors included up-to-date information about their strategies in the Russian market, competitive advantages of their product portfolios and support programs for level-two partners. The presentation by Alexander Malinin, Partner Relations Manager for Western Digitex, became the highlight of the forum.
Over the days of the forum the participants had the opportunity to discuss various aspects of partnership and enjoy warm and sunny Spain under the clear blue sky. A stroll along the starlit coast, a visit to romantic medieval Gala’s Castle, fascinating masterpieces of Gaudi’s and Dali’s art, the world of famous Spanish wines and exciting Barsa - Chelsea match made every single day of those short Spanish holidays an unforgettable experience.
MERLION Business Channel in Catalonia was the 8th and the last away-from-home event for MERLION partners in 2006. As for the team of the MERLION-Central Region sales office and its partners, their major talks lie ahead as they have to fulfill the joint plans and deals.
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