Empower Berlin: Highlights from an Unforgettable Event

I can’t believe how quickly Empower Berlin has come and gone! Months of detailed planning and preparation and then, poof! It’s over!

Although Empower Berlin is in our rear-view mirror, it will have a lasting impression on me as being one of the very best Empowers N‑able has executed to date – and I have been to A LOT of Empowers over the years! Empower Berlin marks the eighth Empower I have participated in, and it truly stood out. Here’s a roundup of some of my key highlights.

Pre-day Bootcamp: “Building Cybersecurity Programs”  

On the Monday before Empower Berlin started, I had the privilege of hosting a bootcamp that focused on building and selling cybersecurity programs. According to our 2025 Horizons Report, 90% of MSPs surveyed are expecting growth in their managed security services revenue over the next three years – up 80% from last year’s report. However, many MSPs that I work with still struggle with defining their cybersecurity packages, and this bootcamp aimed to address that challenge.  

Assisting alongside me with this bootcamp was an incredible panel of security and industry experts that included: Ethical hacker Rob Shapland from Cyonic, MSSPs/IR specialists, Oliver Spence from CybaVerse and Paul Cashmore from Solace Cyber, and cyber-liability Insurance specialist Dustin Bolander from Beltex Insurance. Each panelist shared their insights on the evolving threat landscape and critical areas MSPs need to address in their standardized cybersecurity packages to properly secure their clients’ networks. The biggest challenge we addressed during the session centered on how to get customers to CARE about security and see its value, with the panel providing excellent suggestions and recommendations on how to best overcome prospects’ most common objections.  

Sales & Marketing BreakOuts  

In addition to the pre-day bootcamp, I hosted and moderated another panel of experts for a two-day Sales & Marketing Track geared towards business owners, and Sales and Marketing executives. This track addressed another insight from our 2025 Horizons Report, which found that new customer acquisition remains the top challenge facing MSPs today.   It was the top business challenge cited in last year’s report, and it continues to remain top of the list for many MSPs again this year. The panel of experts that participated in these breakout sessions included: MSP Marketing expert – Mark Copeman from Wingman MSP,  Oliver Spence (again) from CybaVerse,  Nathan Austin from Mytec Partners, Olof Koch from Think4, and David Robinson from Cyberprae. We tackled participants’ top sales and marketing challenges that were holding their MSP back from achieving their growth potential, such as, generating more leads, succeeding without a dedicated sales and marketing team, and differentiating MSP messaging from competitors.

Sentiments received from participants after these sessions included such praise as: “Inspired” ; “Brilliant Collaboration!” ; “Rejuvenated” ; “Actionable Insights” ; “Motivated” ; “Psyched”;  and “Pumped”.  I couldn’t have asked for better feedback, and I’m thrilled that we were able to provide content that was considered relevant and useful to our partners.

If you have never been to one of our Empower events before, they truly are different from any other industry conference you might have attended in the past. Our goal for every Empower is for them to be educational and informative; not product pitches. And we pride ourselves on intentionally structuring them to be more peer-led, than vendor-led, and I believe this Empower delivered superbly on that goal. As David Weeks, our VP of Partner Experience, said during his mainstage introductory remarks, “The answer is in the room”, and that was never truer than what I experienced during my training tracks.

Keynote Session ‘Dare to Evolve’ by Terence Mauri

I was thrilled to have been able to sit in on the Keynote from author and MIT Adjunct Professor and Mentor Terence Mauri titled ‘Dare To Evolve’.  The biggest takeaway from his talk? “Not taking a risk IS a risk”. Businesses grow to the size of an owner’s thinking, and the status quo won’t work if your goal is to drive growth. MSPs cannot let fear limit their potential on what their MSP COULD become. After his talk, Terence graciously gave away copies of his new book ‘The Upside of Disruption’, and I can tell you, they were coveted pieces for those MSPs who were lucky enough to snag a copy!   

Head Nerd Lounge

A new addition to Empower this year was the dedicated Head Nerd Lounge, which I hope continues for future Empower events. Selfishly, it was wonderful having a place where the Head Nerds could hang out in between sessions, and chat with partners, away from the hustle and bustle. Historically for me, partner conversations were always done in haste and were limited to hallways, in between sessions. This year, it was brilliant to be able to say to a partner who wanted to talk, “Hey, let’s meet up in the Head Nerd Lounge and chat about that further!”.  

The lounge was fitted out with tables and chairs for discussions, where I could open up my laptop and talk about program design and sales and marketing strategies with those MSPs who were looking for further assistance outside of my breakout sessions. Along with the dedicated business section, we also had a gaming corner with couches, where the Head Nerds and N‑able partners could play Mario Kart; and we also had our Head Nerd swag tables that accompanied the Head Nerd Bingo game we were running throughout the event, where partners could choose from a variety of Head Nerd items after completing their Bingo card. I felt like a mini celebrity with partners wanting me to sign their Bingo Card or snap a selfie, so they could complete their card and claim their prize from the swag table. Seeing our partners walking around the conference wearing our Head Nerd gear made me proud!  

Closing Night Party!

Our closing night party Wednesday evening was the perfect way to cap off a wonderful week. Our Brew & Bytes Oktoberfest at Café am Neuen See brought everyone together for charcuterie, pretzels, and beer (my three most favourite food items in the world!) and the amazing DJ had us shimmying on the dance floor the entire evening! 

Peer Networking & Relationship Building

But the greatest highlight of the entire event was witnessing the peer networking and the relationship building that took place that week. With partners, sponsors, and N-ablites, representing almost 40 countries, it was awe-inspiring. For many, this was their first Empower experience, for others, it was another opportunity to meet up with long-time industry friends and acquaintances to continue building valuable bonds. At Empower, we have another old adage, “no one is a competitor this week”, and again, that was evident.

What’s next for Empower?

While Empower Berlin 2025 may be over, as a Canadian whose winters tend to drag on much longer than they really need to, I’m already looking forward to next year’s Empower, where we will be heading to beautiful, sunny Fort Lauderdale! How exciting is that? There is something about seeing palm trees when there is still snow on the ground back home that makes me giddy! 

So save the date! Empower Ft. Lauderdale is taking place April 13-15, 2026, and registration is now open! We would love to have the opportunity and privilege to host your MSP in sunny south Florida!

Stefanie Hammond is Head Sales and Marketing Nerd at N‑able. You can follow her on LinkedIn