Report from an Intern: Three Conferences in Six Weeks!
Customers and partners gained a deeper understanding of the value that the SpaceLink relay system brings to spacecraft operators who need continuous access to data from orbit. SpaceLink held dozens of meetings at Satellite 2022, Space Symposium and GEOINT. Our intern tells the story.
May 2022 — By Lea Khouri, SpaceLink Marketing Intern
Picture this- you are in your final semester of college, and you just joined SpaceLink- a company of extremely successful, accomplished industry professionals as they are about to embark on a three-conference run in the span of six weeks that will have impact on their future success. That is the position I found myself in just three short months ago.
Satellite 2022
I jumped in on my first day starting to manage everyone’s schedules for Satellite 2022, the largest satellite industry conference which takes place each year in Washington, DC. You would think this would be as simple as it gets for an intern, and I will admit, it is not rocket science to schedule meetings. But going from being a carefree college kid whose only real concern was where they were going out on Friday night to suddenly being responsible for a CEO’s business meetings, was quite a change to say the least. A change, however, that I am forever grateful for as I got to learn from the most experienced professionals and even attend this first conference in my hometown of Washington, DC.
SpaceLink’s presence at Satellite 2022 was successful with over 60 productive meetings with commercial and government customers, investors, partners, suppliers, regulators, and other stakeholders. I even got to sit through one of these meetings and sharpen up my acting skills as I sat there nodding pretending to understand all the technical space lingo that was being said.
At Satellite 2022, SpaceLink’s video was shown before two government and military track sessions, which was excellent visibility for the company. The company also received the 2022 Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Innovation from the Mobile Satellite User Association (MSUA). Dave Bettinger, SpaceLink CEO, spoke to a full audience during the final mainstage panel session, “Preparing for Challenges Ahead.”
Tony Colucci spoke on mainstage panel at Space Symposium
Space Symposium
Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief that I didn’t mess anything up, I heard, “Space Symposium’s just one week away.” I jumped right back into managing about 15 people’s schedules (and personalities) for the second of three highly important conferences.
SpaceLink had another very successful presence at the 37th Space Symposium, held annually at the elegant Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. There were 39 formal meetings including 11 with U.S. government seniors and dozens of additional informal meetings with commercial and government customers, investors, partners, suppliers, regulators, and other stakeholders.
Our Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, Tony Colucci, participated in a mainstage panel on Leveraging the Synergy of Proliferated LEO and GEO Systems for National Security Missions. His comment on the advantage that startup companies, like SpaceLink have, was quoted the next day in a story in Via Satellite magazine.
SpaceLink held more than 50 meetings at GEOINT 2022
GEOINT
As the Space Symposium came to a close, it was time to start planning for GEOINT, a conference focused on the business of geospatial intelligence. This conference is important because SpaceLink’s network of MEO satellites will help increase the immediacy and quantity of data that can be delivered from remote sensing satellites to geospatial intelligence end users, like emergency services providers and the military.
At this point I considered myself a veteran scheduler and was given the most responsibility with this conference. I just had one final conference to not mess up. Luckily, we had another successful presence with more than 50 formal and informal meetings with customers, partners, and influencers. At GEOINT, we also were sponsors of the press room, which exposed the SpaceLink brand to journalists and press conference attendees.
And so here we are a couple of quick months later from that very nervous first day. As chaotic and unexpected as it was, I can honestly say this was an excellent experience and I learned so much. Yes, now I can deftly manage multiple Outlook calendars simultaneously, but I also have a better understanding of the value that industry conferences bring to a company like SpaceLink that needs to raise its profile and develop and nurture the customer relationships that lead to revenue and success.