Recent News & Press Coverage
Stay informed with official news and updates from The ASCII Group. This section features company announcements, strategic initiatives, and industry coverage that reflect our continued commitment to the MSP community and the broader IT channel. Press inquiries: Contact alysia@ascii.com
The ASCII Group Announces 2026 ASCII Edge Conference Series: Where Community Builds Business
Washington, D.C. – September 30, 2025– The ASCII Group, the original and premier community of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) across North America, today announced the 2026 schedule for its ASCII Edge conference series. Since 1984, ASCII has remained the only vendor-neutral community dedicated to helping MSPs grow through peer collaboration, education, and industry engagement.
ASCII Edge 2026 will bring together more than 1,500 MSPs, technology providers, and industry leaders in eight cities across the U.S. and Canada. Each two-day event delivers business-focused sessions, actionable strategies, and high-value networking opportunities designed to help MSPs compete effectively and build stronger businesses.
ASCII Edge 2026 Dates and Locations
- Costa Mesa, CA – February 25 & 26
- Dallas, TX – March 25 & 26
- Newark, NJ – April 22 & 23
- Seattle, WA – May 27 & 28
- Washington, D.C. – July 22 & 23
- Toronto, ON – August 26 & 27
- Chicago, IL – September 23 & 24
- San Antonio, TX –October 21 & 22
To ensure high-quality sessions, all vendor presentations are reviewed by the ASCII Edge Content Advisory Committee, comprised of experienced MSP members. This peer-review process reflects ASCII’s commitment to offering content that is practical, non-sales focused, and directly relevant to MSP business challenges.
“ASCII Edge is built by MSPs, for MSPs,” said Jessie Devine, VP of Channel Development, The ASCII Group. “Our education-focused sessions give MSPs strategies they can act on, while vendors gain meaningful engagement with a community that values trusted partnerships.”
In addition to peer-driven programming, ASCII Edge 2026 will feature collaborative networking, a solution pavilion with leading technology partners, and the annual ASCII Cup Awards, which recognize the top vendors serving the MSP community. The full lineup of speakers, including the keynote, will be announced later this fall.
About The ASCII Group, Inc.
The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers. The Group has members located throughout the U.S. and Canada, and membership encompasses everyone from credentialed MSPs serving the SMB community to multi-location solution providers with a national and international reach. Founded in 1984, ASCII provides services to members including leveraged purchasing programs, education and training, marketing assistance, extensive peer interaction and more. ASCII works with a vibrant ecosystem of leading and major technology vendors that complement the ASCII community and support the mission of helping MSPs to grow their businesses. For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.
Press Contact:
Alysia Vetter
Chief Marketing Officer
Tel: 800-394-2724
Email: alysia@ascii.com
Web: www.ascii.com
ASCII Announces National Sales Tax Helpdesk for MSPs
The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent MSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce a new service aimed at helping members navigate the complexities surrounding sales tax and how it pertains to IT services. Designed to assist VARs, MSPs and other solution providers, the service will offer answers on when they should be charging sales tax related to their service offerings in all 50 states.
The ASCII Group identified a need within its community because of numerous sales tax questions that were continually being raised on member discussion boards. With no simple answers being found, ASCII formed a committee of members to organize and categorize a comprehensive list of sales tax questions asked by fellow members that covered a broad range of sales scenarios related to managed and cloud related services.
A first of its kind in the industry, this support service will answer those sales tax questions for ASCII members in every state by giving answers from a renowned authority on corporate sales tax. This recognized leader in the space has served many Fortune 100 companies and has answered thousands of questions related to sales tax.
In addition, ASCII will automatically get updates that it will immediately push out to the membership whenever a state changes or re-interprets a sales tax law. This will ensure that members always have the most up-to-date answers on sales tax issues for every state they are doing business in.
“Interpretation of tax code is not easy. The complexities of what we offer today in IT services have often outpaced how the code is written,” said Chip Evans, President, Computerware, Vienna, VA, ASCII Group Member since 1988. “By having ASCII provide us with an ongoing resource to help us understand and verify how sales tax is applied correctly is huge; it allows us to continue to go beyond state lines and progress into more cloud and hybrid offerings.”
“As our members continue to expand their services locally and nationally, having a resource to mitigate their risk of improperly applying sales tax is simply one less thing our community of IT providers have to worry about,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group.
Secrets Of ASCII Group Members At BSM Channel Event
Great experience for ASCII members to take part in a neutral third party panel about the ASCII Community. Jim Roddy, President of Business Solutions Magazine, moderated the panel and provided a full transcript of the session. From the transcript: Please take the next 9 minutes to review this transcript from The ASCII Group’s member panel at Business Solutions’ Channel Transitions VAR/MSP Executive Conference on June 4 in Newark. What you learn here will lead you to new solutions providers to partner with and inside information to run your business more efficiently…full transcript here.
"Inside ASCII" coverage of our Chicago Summit from BSM Magazine
Check out the pre-day coverage from Business Solutions Magazine on our Chicago Summit by guest speaker Jim Roddy. bit.ly/1AAEpDP
Lessons From A Sports Coach - CEO Alan Weinberger in BSM Magazine
ASCII CEO Alan Weinberger reflections on a sports coach he emulates (combining his love of sports with business), in an article for Business Solutions Magazine. bit.ly/1PWPZL2
ASCII In The News - Member Articles (Spring 2015)
Read the latest articles written by ASCII members for top industry publications.
Business Solutions Magazine
How To Overcome The Disconnect Between Compliance and IT Security by Mike Semel, President, Semel Consulting, and member of The ASCII Group since 2012.
8 Top Traits To Look For In An Employee by Andrew Harrover, CEO, Matrix Computer Consulting and member of The ASCII Group since 2012.
The Biggest Threat to the Channel? Manufacturers That Sell to End Users by Stanley Louissaint, President, Fluid Designs Inc. and member of The ASCII Group since 2014.
5 Reasons Business Owners Have Increased Confidence in the Cloud And Cloud Storage by Derek Achterfeldt, President, Corporate Data Solutions and member of The ASCII Group since 2014.
The Best Approach to Defend Your SMB Clients Against Malware by Eric Penney, Owner, RGP Computers and member of The ASCII Group (Canada) since 2013.
ASCII Group's Success Summit in Ohio
Read the ChannelPro coverage of our Columbus, Ohio Summit on March 25-26 here: bit.ly/1NBsczi
What is The ASCII Group?
The ASCII Group is a vibrant community of independent MSPs, VARs & Solution Providers formed in 1984. We offer programs and services to help you grow your IT business. Let us help you refocus your efforts back on revenue generating activities.
Learn more about what our community can do for your business in this short explainer video: http://bit.ly/1vyKX39
ASCII MSP Biz Tip Webinar: 5 Areas That Lead MSPs Into Financial Ruin…And How To Avoid It From
As a part of its educational webinar series, the ASCII Group presents “5 Areas That Lead MSPs Into Financial Ruin…And How To Avoid It From Happening To Yours.”
To register, read more here: bit.ly/1HJLZev
The ASCII Group wins, “Best Partner Community” at ChannelPro-SMB event in Baltimore (March 3)
Read the full announcement here: bit.ly/1aNQNER
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