It's been called "the largest reseller-sponsored technology show in the country," and this year's Camera Corner/Connecting Point (CCCP) Technology Exposition more than lived up to its reputation. Held May 13, 2008 in Green Bay, Wis., the invitation-only exposition attracted more than 1,200 end-user customers from Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

"We Turn a Show Into a Party"
No one could have guessed, when CCCP was established in 1953 as a retail camera shop, that one day it would play host to so many customers -- or to so many technologies. The first Technology Exposition, held more than 30 years ago, was no more than an impromptu tabletop event for a handful of attendees.

"One day my dad (one of the company's founders) decided we ought to have 3M, who was our main vendor at the time, come into our location and throw a few tapes on a table," says Rick Chernick, the company?s CEO. "We served drinks and snacks, and our customers loved it. The next year, we added a few more vendors, a bit more booze, upgraded snacks, and it just grew from there."

In fact, as CCCP expanded into new markets, including education, finance, healthcare and manufacturing, the event became so successful that it was eventually moved to a hotel to accommodate the increasing number of exhibitors. These days, it's a huge themed occasion, with attractions including everything from goldfish swallowing to "money balloons" to an appearance by a popular Survivor contestant. And according to Chernick, no matter what theme he chooses, his customers are always eager to get into the spirit.

"I've had nuns from Catholic schools falling on the floor, fighting over a $20 bill from a money balloon," he says. "Every year, customers e-mail me afterward to say how much fun it was. We turn a show into a party."

Getting Down to Business
There's plenty of serious substance to go along with the fun and games. At this year's event, CCCP played host to more than 300 representatives from 110 vendors. Attendees also had the opportunity to choose from a roster of sixteen 40-minute educational seminars (average participation was four seminars per attendee) and to watch a presentation by keynote speaker Patrick Gray, a senior security strategist at Cisco Systems, who discussed new tactics among cybercriminals.

As always, the exposition led to a surge in business for CCCP: according to Chernick, late May, June, July and August are the company's busiest months, largely because of the positive experiences customers enjoy at the event.

"They feel really good about buying from us because they see other people there buying from us, which adds credibility," he says, adding that the event is also a way of thanking customers for their loyalty.

"We make doing business with our company a blast," he says.

Correction: In the print edition of the Channel Advisor, the number of attendees at CCCP's 2008 Technology Exposition was listed as more than 2,000. The actual number was more than 1,200.