Level 3 Rounds Up Advisory Council in Colorado

Jim Crowe (CEO) and Sunit Patel (CFO), speaking to BPAC members.

On June 17-18, Level 3 Communications hosted four master agents and seven direct and subagents at its third annual Business Partner Advisory Council (BPAC) at the Level 3 campus in Broomfield, Colo.

Master agents in attendance included Jay Bradley, Intelisys; Jack Knocke, MicroCorp; Ken Mercer, TBI; and Vince Bradley, WTG. Direct agents included Steve Rome, Advantage Communications Group; Lisa Campbell, Choice Communications; Ian Kieninger, CDW; Chris Palermo, Global Communication Networks; Joel St. Germain, Global Communications Group; Mike Nguyen, Silent Partners Telecom; and Bart Beatty, Simplify.

The Gold Hill Inn Partner dinner.

On Thursday, June 18, top Level 3 executives presented to the council the vision and strategy for Level 3, specifically around its enterprise strategy and services. Level 3 reinforced its commitment to the Business Partner Program and anticipates this to be a critical part of its growth strategy. Speakers included Jim Crowe, CEO; Sunit Patel, CFO; Jack Waters, CTO; Jeff Tench, president of Level 3’s Business Markets Group; and Craig Schlagbaum, vice president, Indirect Channels.

The Gold Hill Inn Partner dinner.

In the afternoon, the partners broke into two different sessions by partner type and held working sessions to identify best practices Level 3 can leverage to strengthen the partner program in areas such as subagent engagement, and channel model and communications best practices. Partners were then asked to report back to Level 3 on what their recommendations were, and Level 3 is currently evaluating their suggestions.

Jeff Tench, speaking to BPAC members.

For fun, Level 3 hosted a partner golf outing in Broomfield Wednesday afternoon, followed by a partner dinner. Then, on Thursday evening, the company closed the event with a dinner and bluegrass concert at Gold Hill Inn, located in the foothills outside Boulder, Colo.