The 451 Group has announced the acquisition of Tech:Touchstone, a UK-based events company cofounded in 2007 by ex-Gartner executive Simeon Turner. Tech:Touchstone events facilitate in-person sharing of insight between senior IT executives and create an environment where they have an opportunity to learn directly from their most trusted sources of information – peers and industry analysts. Event themes include critical IT topics such as virtualization, cloud computing, and information security and emerging issues such as big data and the mobile enterprise. 

Post-acquisition, Tech:Touchstone will become part of The 451 Group Events division, and Turner will become managing director, 451 Group Events, reporting to Christopher M. Hill, chief marketing officer,  The 451 Group's. The 451 Group Events is charged with producing all of the firm's events, including Uptime Institute Symposium, now in its eighth year, and the 451 Research Hosting & Cloud Transformation Summit in Europe and North America, now in its ninth year — as well as current Tech:Touchstone events and new events developed for the company globally. Moving forward, The 451 Group will expand the locations of its events throughout Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe and in other geographical areas, reflecting the global nature of the firm's business and clientele.         

Commenting on the acquisition, Martin V. McCarthy, chairman and CEO of The 451 Group's Chairman and CEO said, "We are delighted to welcome the Tech:Touchstone team to join me and the 225+ current professionals here at The 451 Group. Events are an extremely important part of our thought leadership communication efforts and represent the most powerful opportunity for our professionals from 451 Research, Uptime Institute and Yankee Group to interact with clients and industry leaders on a one-to-one basis. With Simeon Turner and his Tech:Touchstone team, we see an exciting opportunity to significantly extend The 451 Group's events focus as we provide leadership in the evolution of the Digital Infrastructure industry. Tech:Touchstone supports our operating philosophy of long-term, sustainable, profitable, global growth."

Commenting on the acquisition, Tech:Touchstone CEO Simeon Turner said, "Joining a dynamic and rapidly growing firm like The 451 Group is an exciting opportunity for me and the Tech:Touchstone team, and significantly enhances the value we can bring to our clients. 451 Research, Uptime Institute and The 451 Group's recent addition, Yankee Group, provide the rich source of thought leadership and global presence necessary for a thriving events portfolio that delivers highly valuable, actionable insight and facilitates quality networking for all of our clients. We look forward to ensuring that The 451 Group Events will be the preeminent producer of IT events within the industry."