Recent News & Press Coverage

Bethesda, Maryland – January 5, 2021 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce the featured speakers for its 2021 Event Series. The agenda for the events showcases an enhanced focus on education, providing attendees with new approaches and best practices on how to grow their IT companies while best servicing their customer base. The sessions will feature more MSP-led education content from its presenters (including ASCII members), bringing even more value to attendees.

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Keynote Speaker – Mike Michalowicz, “Fix This Next”

Deemed the top contender for the ‘patron saint of entrepreneurs’, Mike Michalowicz, has helped thousands of businesses use his techniques to better their overall operations. Considered one of the leading business makeover specialists, Mike has authored the ‘Pumpkin Plan’, ‘Profit First’ and will be discussing how businesses can determine what to do, in what order, to ensure healthy, fast and permanent growth with his latest book ‘Fix This Next’.

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Keynote Speaker - Robbie Kellman Baxter, “The Forever Transaction”

The Forever Transaction is a ready-to-use game plan for running a successful and sustainable subscription business. A veritable blueprint for success in the new subscription-based economy, Robbie’s approach is a must-do for organizations of any size; it’s a true game-changer. From initial start-up or testing of a new model, to scaling the operation for long-term growth and sustainability, to revamping your culture so everyone works together to optimize customer lifetime value. Learn how to build lasting customer relationships that are the very foundation of business success – today, tomorrow and forever.

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Additional MSP peer education and industry speakers include:

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"Be Heard! Why Your MSP Story Matters Now", C.J. Ezell, Founder & CEO, Cross Bay Digital Marketing

"How MSPs Can Best Manage & Solve Growing Pains", Stephen Monk, CEO, Noverus Innovations

"How to Build a Winning Client Advisory Board", Vince Tinnirello, Managing Director, Anchor Network Solutions

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“Now, more than ever, the goal of ASCII events is to provide the MSP community with actionable content that can be easily implemented into their IT businesses,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group. “In addition to a relatable keynote speaker, and a showcase pavilion of best-of-breed technology, attendees leave ASCII events with business intelligence they can use.”

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ASCII events are the leading conferences in the channel and bring together over 1,500 IT solution providers and MSPs, innovative technology vendors, and key industry thought leaders in a two-day format. Designed for qualified Managed Service Providers, ASCII events are targeted towards those looking to increase revenue, enhance their current business model, and network with peers.

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ASCII MSP Connect Live 2021 (Virtual Events):

• Canada                                                 February 24 & 25
• Rocky Mountain Region (USA)        March 17 & 18

ASCII Success Summits 2021 (In-Person Events):

• Bethesda, MD                                       May 19 & 20           
• Cincinnati, OH                                      June 16 & 17 
• Chicago, IL                                           July 21 & 22   
• Raleigh, NC                                          August 18 & 19    
• NY / NJ area                                         September 22 & 23  
• Orlando, FL                                          October 27 & 28
• Houston, TX                                         November 3 & 4  
• Orange County, CA                              December 8 & 9

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For more information, visit www.asciievents.com and www.mspconnectlive.com.

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses.

For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

Bethesda, Maryland – October 2, 2020 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jessie Devine as Director of Channel Development. In this role, Jessie is responsible for developing key alliances while creating new channel strategies for ASCII’s vendor partner program.

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A recognized face in the channel community, Jessie previously held a customer facing role with MSPs as Community Engagement Manager with QuoteWerks.

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“Jessie is a terrific addition to the ASCII team, and she brings a blend of channel experience along with customer success to both our members and partners,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group.

“ASCII continues to create and deliver services that help the IT solution provider community grow and improve their businesses,” said Devine. “I am thrilled to join the ASCII team and to continue to build on the solid foundation that they have developed over the last three decades.”

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses.

For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

Bethesda, Maryland – September 14, 2020 – The ASCII Group is pleased to announce the launch of its exclusive new ASCII Telehealth Service, available to the ASCII community at no charge. The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and solution providers, has partnered with a national agency to provide 24/7 virtual access to local board-certified physicians.

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The collaboration will allow ASCII to provide telehealth access to its community across the country. This includes a consult with a doctor licensed in the state of where the business owner or their employees reside, by phone, secure video, or app, with wait times under 10 minutes. Physicians have the ability to write prescriptions in all 50 states. In addition, family members of employees are also covered under the no-cost program, exclusive to ASCII members.

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“The number one business request we receive from the MSP community is providing our leverage to lower the cost of health care for business owners and their staff,” said Alan Weinberger, Chairman and CEO, The ASCII Group. “We are thrilled to be able to provide this important service to the industry for the first time, and see this as a pivotal moment to enable the service sector of the IT industry to become more profitable and have employees priority needs addressed in a new way.”

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses.

For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

Bethesda, Maryland – May 20, 2020 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, MSSPs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce the official launch of its updated member community platform ASCII-Link. The new platform provides increased engagement and opportunities for ASCII members to directly connect.

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Since its inception in 2008, ASCII-Link has been a top exclusive benefit with ASCII members. ASCII built one of the largest IT community forums, where members communicate freely with fellow IT business owners to jointly solve technical issues, provide vendor recommendations, give input on revenue opportunities and more. Vendors are not provided access to ASCII-Link and ASCII does not moderate posts.

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With messages exceeding over 3,000 posts per month, the IT community looked beyond its traditional list-serv for a modern, best-in-class tool. Today ASCII’s platform provides users with a more enhanced experience that includes a member directory, custom profiles, sub-groups and further personalization of the community.

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“The new platform will help foster more partnerships and sharing of best practices within the ASCII MSP community. ASCII continually looks at ways to help MSPs increase their ability to work together, and this is another step in raising the bar in driving more interaction amongst our members across North America,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group.

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“ASCII is continually expanding on ways to help my business form partnerships and build upon opportunities with other like-minded MSPs in the group. The new enhancements to ASCII-Link provide another way to connect and engage with other MSP members in the community,” said Stephen Monk, Noverus Innovations, and member of The ASCII Group.

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With the addition of the new system, ASCII users can share and work collaboratively on projects with others, regardless of where members are located. The group also has a community mobile app for easy access.

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, MSSPs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses. For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact

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Alysia Vetter
Vice President of Marketing
Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131
Email: alysia@ascii.com
Web: www.ascii.com

Bethesda, Maryland – November 13, 2019 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce the featured speakers for its 2020 North American ASCII IT Success Summits. The agenda for the Summits reflects a heightened focus on education, providing attendees with strategies and best practices on how to grow their IT companies while best servicing their customer base. The 2020 events will have more emphasis on MSP-driven education sessions (featuring ASCII members) and our most popular Keynote speaker returns for a special security discussion.

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Keynote Speaker – Frank Abagnale, Security Briefing: The Art of the Steal

In this unique session, con man turned crime stopper Frank Abagnale provides the latest information to protect institutions, associations and corporations from embezzlement, forgery, counterfeit currency, check fraud, identity theft, and Internet fraud. He describes white collar crime techniques, liability concerns under the new Uniform Commercial Code, and demonstrates the latest document features and equipment. Abagnale combines his expertise with anecdotes from his time as one of the world's most successful con men for a timely, insightful and informative presentation.

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Additional MSP peer education and industry speakers include:

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Bob Coppedge, Simplex-IT – The MSP Survival Guide to Co-Managed IT Services

Can Managed Service Providers(MSPs) work harmoniously with internal IT departments? Historically the answer has been “no way”. In this session, you will see that it can be done without having to recreate your traditional MSP offerings. In fact, MSPs can directly market to organizations who have internal IT departments and create a unique selling proposition. By crafting a mutually supportive relationship between internal IT employees and your MSP organization, both parties reap the benefits and can build a strong, long-term relationship. This session will show you how to do this without reinventing your existing MSP practice.

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Corey Kirkendoll, 5K Technical Services – The UltimateMSP Check List for Bulletproof Internal Security

Over the past year, “security” has been one of the most highly talked about subjects in our industry. However, there is one element vital to the success of MSPs that hasn’t been broadly discussed –internal security measures. Corey Kirkendoll, CEO of 5K Technical Services, has been aggregating best practices from within the ASCII and vendor community into a definitive guide to help MSPs lock down their environments from future attacks. Corey will present this information, highlighting the top things most MSPs are not doing that leave them vulnerable to being breached. The content created for this session has been a collaborative effort for our industry and the findings are vital for any MSP to hear.

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DawnSizer, 3^rd Element Consulting – Going Vertical in Municipal Government and Law Enforcement is Not a Bidding War

Building trust and delivery of IT services for first responders is no small task and leading the charge in this sector of the market is Dawn Sizer, CEO of 3rd Element Consulting. Dawn has focused almost exclusively on this vertical as well as local municipalities. With over 12 years in delivering IT services, Dawn has stood out because of solid processes and knowing the nuances of this market and what it takes to be successful. With 0% client loss, 3rd Element Consulting provides24/7 support which extends to the office, outside of cars in the field, to the station, and into the cloud. Plenty of people say it’s too hard to get into this vertical, but it’s knowing how, and the right staff will qualify you, or disqualify you.

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Shannon Mayer, The ASCII Group - How MSPs Can Drive New Business through Live Events

Events are a proven way to generate business and heighten your company brand. Building an event takes more than just figuring out the logistics aspect though – it requires an understanding of marketing and repeatable strategies for success.  Shannon Mayer, ASCII’s VP of Channel Development, has produced over 150 events, and in this session Shannon will go beyond the basics and help you determine the best approach and strategy to help you produce your own local, live event to drive new business and retain customers.

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Jerry Koutavas, The ASCII Group: MSP-Client Retention Strategy Study

With its most recent industry study, ASCII breaks down the data exposing specific strategies that leading MSPs are using to increase customer retention. As MSPs continue to drive recurring revenue and automate processes that would lessen the need to have a physical presence at their client sites, it is vital to have a strategy to increase touch and awareness with your customers. 

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Jerry Koutavas, President of The ASCII Group, digs into the specifics as we help you compare your current business strategy to your peers as we discuss the most recent data on which approaches outperform others to maintain customer revenue.

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For over 20 years, the Success Summits have been the leading conference in the channel and bring together over 1,500 IT solution providers, cutting edge technology vendors and key industry thought leaders in a two-day format.  ASCII hosts events in nine major cities across North America and the series focuses on areas to help MSPs advance and move their businesses forward through the power of community and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.

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“Our goal has never changed, provide the ASCIIMSP community with an event unlike any other, with actionable business content, a nationally recognized keynote and the showcasing of top technology that is helping MSPs drive new revenue,” said Jerry Koutavas, President, The ASCII Group.  “Attendees leave the events with business intelligence they can use and new partnerships they can leverage to further build recurring revenue for their business.”

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The Summit series is designed for qualified Managed Service Providers and is targeted towards those looking to increase revenue and enhance their current business model.

The locations and dates for the 2020 ASCII IT Success Summits:

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• Long Beach, CA - February 26 – 27
• Houston, TX - March 25 – 26
• Washington, D.C. - April 22 – 23
• Chicago, IL - May 27 – 28
• Cincinnati, OH - June 24 – 25
• Toronto, Canada - July 29 – 30
• Atlantic City, NJ - August 26 – 27
• Boston, MA - September 24 – 25
• Orlando, FL - October 21 – 22

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MSPs and solution providers interested in attending the Summits can visit www.asciievents.com. For more information, follow ASCII on Twitter @asciigroup and #ASCIISUCCESS.

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, VARs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses. For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact
Alysia Vetter
Vice President of Marketing
Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131
Email: alysia@ascii.com
Web:  www.ascii.com

The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, VARs and solution providers, is pleased to announce the winners of its annual ASCII Cup, with awards given to the ASCII Cup winner, Top 10 Vendors, and SMB IT Success Summit Top Distributor of the Year.

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The awards are presented each October to technology companies that have showcased channel goodwill and a commitment to helping ASCII members grow their IT businesses. Winners are voted upon by attendees at regional events, and the Cup and awards were presented at the ASCII Success Summit on October 25, in Boston, MA.

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At each regional event, ASCII Success Summit attendees vote for the vendors in 12 different categories:

Best Education;

Best Partner Incentives;

Best Overall Presentation;

Best Rapid Pitch;

Best Keynote Presentation;

Most Innovative Solution;

Best Market Opportunity;

Best Partner Support;

Best Channel Program;

Best Revenue Generator;

Top Distributor; and

Best Partner Involvement.

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The winners at each Summit are selected based on the total number of votes by the MSPs, VARs and solution providers in attendance; at the end of the year, the winner of The ASCII Cup is determined by tabulating the results of all submitted ballots.

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The 2019 winners of The ASCII Cup, Top 10 Vendors and SMB IT Success Summit Top Distributor of the Year were announced at a private industry gathering.

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The 2019 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year – Pax8

The ASCII Group is pleased to honor the award recipients of this year's ASCII Cup:

First Runner-Up – Datto

3^rd Place – Solutions Granted

4^th Place – ID Agent

5^th Place – Vertical Axion

6^th Place – Mailprotector

7^th Place – RocketCyber

8^th Place – SolarWindsPassportal

9^th Place – ConnectMeVoice

10^th Place –GreenLink Networks

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ASCII SMB IT SuccessSummit Top Distributor of the Year – Pax8

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“On behalf of The ASCII Group and its community, we congratulate Pax8 on winning the 2019 ASCII Cup and the ASCII SMB IT Success Summit Top Distributor of the Year for the second year in a row.  In addition, we also wish to acknowledge the Top 10 Vendors and extend a big thank you to all of the companies that participated at our Success Summits this year. With over 70 unique vendors garnering votes and hundreds of ballots counted, we see first-hand the value that our sponsors bring to the membership and we applaud their commitment to continually provide innovative and channel-focused solutions,” said Shannon Mayer, Vice President of Channel Development, The ASCII Group.

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Photos of the ASCII Cup celebration will bemade available on The ASCII Group and The ASCII Cup Facebook pages.

For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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About The ASCII Group, Inc:

The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, VARsand solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 members located throughout theU.S. and Canada, and membership encompasses everyone from credentialed MSPsserving the SMB community to multi-location solution providers with a nationaland international reach. Founded in 1984, ASCII provides services to membersincluding leveraged purchasing programs, education and training, marketingassistance, extensive peer interaction and more.  ASCII works with avibrant ecosystem of leading and major technology vendors that complement theASCII community and support the mission of helping MSPs and VARs to grow theirbusinesses. For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.

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Press Contact

Alysia Vetter

Vice President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131

Email: alysia@ascii.com

Web:  www.ascii.com

The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, VARs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce that its Chairman and CEO Alan Weinberger will be speaking to students at the New York University School of Law. Weinberger is returning to his alma mater (B.A and J.D NYU Law 1970) to explain the pivotal function of a Managed Service Provider (MSP) and to discuss how their role is pertinent to the online activity and safety of businessowners.

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Weinberger’s session, “Learn What a Managed Service Provider is and Why They Are the Doctors and Cyber Engineers of the 21^st Century”, will be held at Furman Hall on November 6, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. His address will focus on the surge of cybercriminal activity that is threatening national and global security and economic stability, and how safekeeping on the Internet has collapsed. With this present crisis, security, privacy, intellectual property and stored data is now of a fundamental concern. 

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Weinberger founded The ASCII Group in 1984, the world’s oldest and largest community and network of Managed Service Providers, and he will discuss the IT industry’s structure and why MSPs have become vital to our national interests. In addition, Alan will explain his professional journey, and how he decided to leave a law firm to become a founding professor of Vermont Law School, and eventually an entrepreneur and technology executive.

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“Our Internet platform is open to attack at any time by anyone, almost like a medical virus, and it is important to educate leaders of tomorrow on how best to make safe our infrastructure and private data.  A one-size-fits-all solution will not protect us, and just like a doctor forms a diagnosis based on the patient’s symptoms, MSPs have an unmatched record of looking at each situation and creating the unique solutions that will be needed to protect us against cybercriminals,” said Weinberger.

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“We are delighted to welcome Alan back to speak to our students. We look forward to hearing about his career and I know our students will benefit from his expertise and insights,” said Anthony Thomas, Executive Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships, New York University School of Law.

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For more information and to register for the event, please visit https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0rnf4NdZocC4e1v.

We have received reports of individuals applying for fraudulent job opportunities at our corporate Bethesda, MD headquarters. These job opportunities are being advertised on various job placement sites and through email communication from the domain @ascii-group.com. The ASCII Group is not affiliated with any correspondence originating from the domain ascii-group.com.

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We believe the aim of the scam is to obtain personal information such as driver’s licenses, social security numbers, addresses, banking info, etc. from victims. We are actively working with officials and suggest any intended victim to do the same and report the scam to the FTC.

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If you believe you have been targeted by this scam (or have received any suspicious emails relating to The ASCII Group) please forward the fraudulent communications to info@ascii.com, so that we can track and report the fraudsters.

Thank you.

Bethesda, Maryland – August 20, 2019 – The ASCII Group, a membership-based community of independent North American MSPs, VARs and Solution Providers, is pleased to announce the upcoming dates and cities for its 2020 IT Success Summit Series.

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A pioneer in channel events, the ASCII Summits provide a mix of educational sessions, training, networking opportunities, and professionals and innovators sharing best practices and success stories. Now in its 21st year, ASCII IT Success Summits bring together nearly 1,500 IT solution providers, cutting edge technology vendors and key industry thought leaders in a two-day format.

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ASCII hosts events in nine major cities across North America and the series focuses on areas that will help MSPs advance and move their businesses forward through the power of community and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. The ASCII executive and membership teams will be on hand to provide attendees with personalized consultation.

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“In 2019, we had over 80 unique technology vendors sponsor one (or many) of our IT Success Summits. Our events are a proven model for bridging the relationships that are necessary for MSPs to add recurring revenue streams and take their businesses to the next level. Over 75% of attendees report that networking is one of the top reasons they attend this event,” said Shannon Mayer, VP Channel Development, The ASCII Group.

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The ASCII Group has announced the following dates and locations for its 2020 IT Success Summits:

Long Beach, CA - February 26 – 27

Houston, TX - March 25 – 26

Washington, D.C. - April 22 – 23

Chicago, IL - May 27 – 28

Cincinnati, OH - June 24 – 25

Toronto, Canada - July 29 – 30

Atlantic City, NJ - August 26 – 27

Boston, MA - September 24 – 25

Orlando, FL - October 21 – 22

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Keynote speakers will be announced at a later date. MSPs and solution providers can receive an invitation to attend an IT Success Summit 2020 by sending an email to events@ascii.com.

For more information, please visit www.asciievents.com.

Follow ASCII on Twitter @asciigroup and #ASCIISUCCESS.

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‍About The ASCII Group, Inc:

‍The ASCII Group is the premier community of North American MSPs, VARs and solution providers. The Group has over 1,300 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 and VARs to grow their businesses. For more information, please visit www.ascii.com.-30-

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‍Press Contact

‍Alysia VetterVice

President of Marketing

Tel: 800-394-2724 x 131

Email: alysia@ascii.com

‍Web: www.ascii.com