Channel eNews Signature


An Electronic Newsletter for the Predator Distribution Channel	December 20, 2000

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Predator Hawaii Sales Contest

Less than 2 weeks to go!
We're in the home stretch of the Predator Hawaii Sales Contest. Based on top revenues for 2000, the winner lands a trip to Hawaii that includes airfare and hotel accommodations (5 nights) for two people, and $500.00 spending money. With less than two weeks to go in our contest, Shop Floor Automations of San Diego, Calif. has actually increased it's lead over second place Machinery Systems. But never rule out Machinery Systems or Predator Software Europe until the final tally. As of December 20th, the top three resellers are listed below.

Shop Floor Automations, Inc. (California)
Machinery Systems, Inc. (Illinois)
Predator Software Europe Ltd (UK)

With time running out and Christmas coming up, make that last big push so that you're the one basking in sun come next year.

Predator's 2001 Annual Reseller Conference

Scheduled for 1st Full Week in March!
Mark your calendars, we're giving you a little heads up on the dates we've selected for our 2001 Reseller Conference. Conference dates are March 7th through the 10th. Technical training will also be available, the exact dates are yet to be determined. Stay tuned, more comprehensive details will follow in upcoming issues of Channel eNews.

Tech Note

by Casey Baker

We ran into a issue with the installation of a Flex/N hub by one of our resellers. The hardware install went fine until the very end when he tried to ping the Flex/N hub from a PC on the network. The reseller knew that Flex/N hubs are 10 MHz only devices and cannot be plugged into a 100 MHz only network hub. We confirmed it was a 10/100 switching network hub, and confirmed the IP addresses and subnet masks. All this checked out. We found that this customers D-Lock network hub was in fact a 10/100 switching network hub, but if it found two or three devices working at 100 MHz, it forces all other devices to connect at 100 MHz. This behavior is not normal with 10/100 network hubs from 3Com, Cisco, Intel and other major vendors. So, be aware of this possibility if you cannot ping a Flex/N hub that is connected to a D-Lock or other inexpensive network hub.

NEW Documentation

New Getting Started manuals are now available for Predator DNC, Predator Virtual CNC and Predator CNC Editor. The manuals are well-targeted to the end user, smaller and meet Predator's new corporate look and feel.

NEW Presentations

New PowerPoint presentations for Predator DNC, Predator Desktop, Predator MDC, Predator Virtual CNC, Predator CNC Editor, as well as a corporate overview will be available on Predator's FTP site by end of the week ending December 22. The presentations are much more interactive and provide a slide to customize with your own contact information.

Predator Software Europe News

New Offices

At the first of the year, Predator Software Europe will be located at a new address. Here is their updated contact information:

Grizzly House

40 Carter Street

Fordham

Cambridgeshire

CB7 5NG

Tel: (44) 1638 723171

Fax: (44) 1638 723170

According to Joe Connolly, European Operations Manager, the new office enable his team to put more resources in place to improve their reseller support. It will also allow them to plan for growth and expansion.

Unocad.srl Signs with Predator Software Europe

Unocad.srl of Vicenza Italy has committed to selling the full line of Predator Software products. With offices in Vicenza, Milan and Modena, Unocad's Ivano Ambrosini says that Unocad is excited at the prospects for growth that Predator products will bring. The Predator Europe team is equally excited at having signed a premier CAD/CAM VAR in Italy. "Ivano and his team will make a significant contribution to our channel," says Joe Connolly, "they are focused on manufacturing and have a very successful organization. Please welcome them to our team. Unocad product training will commence on January 15, 2001.

Other Predator Software Europe Training

Product training is vital to sales success. Resellers who wish to carry Predator Virtual CNC should attend an upcoming training session to better improve their product knowledge and demo skills. Virtual CNC training will be available Thursday, 11 January through Friday, 12 January, 2001, at The Riverside Hotel in Mildehall. Room rates are £58 and includes breakfast and VAT. For reservations call (44) 1638 717274.

Predator in the News
Machine Tools Online

Predator Software's recent announcement of acquiring X_Net's DNC technology was featured on Machine Tools Online (www.machinetoolsonline.com). Read the full story online.

Metalworking Equipment News

Predator Virtual CNC v3.4 made Metalworking Equipment News' Top 25 IMTS Products of Note in its December 2000 issue. The article, which starts on page 54, covers Virtual CNC on page 69 and includes a detailed description of the latest release along with a 4-color screen shot of the application's interface..

Happy Holidays
Offices closed

Predator Software's US offices will be closed December 25-26 (Monday/Tuesday), and January 1-2 (Monday/Tuesday), 2001 during the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The US offices will also be closed Thursday, December 21 from 12 noon to 3:00 pm PT so that Predator employees have the opportunity to may celebrate the holidays together.

From everyone at Predator Software, we wish you and yours the happiest of holidays and a prosperous New Years.

Predator Links
- Website
- Predator-Europe Website
- Reseller Site
- FTP Site