Hi everyone
I am just getting back and settled from Sage Summit. I found it to be better than even I anticipated and probably one of the best opportunities I've had to interact with consultants, CEOs, and other high-level connections from the 90 Minds Community. Just being able to have conversations and solidify relationships, something I am unable to do during Meeting of the Minds, was truly invaluable.
Sage was super tight on the passes as you know. But I wasn't the only one. I heard several stories of partners who believed that they had tickets flying into Vegas, even other countries, and were not being allowed into the show. They could not have been any more strict.
But it worked out great having the parties and other outside time. Not only was I able to connect with people I wasn't anticipating being able to connect with. I was also able to actually sit in on some conversations and over hear chitter chatter which gives me a lot of insight into a lot of things going on both with Sage and in the industry. It was beneficial on so many fronts including strategic initiatives and relationships moving forward.
As a matter of fact, I would love to plan a consultant-only event at MOTM. Perhaps one in which I am moderating (and not working) to allow for more conversations with me as well. I am open to ideas. But being able to even just hang out for a couple of hours with the consultants not working was truly one of the most beneficial parts of this week.
SAGE Notes
I had several opportunities to spend a little bit of time with the Sage team. I had lunch with Dianetta and another colleague from Canada - Alise (300). I also was able to hang out with Diane Lane, Jeff Scott, and a big Sage team at the Paya party.
Side note:
Marc Monday will be replaced soon. I suspect that they are in negotiations with somebody now. They had hundreds of candidates that were narrowed down to basically three as of March. Even high-level staff do not know the status of this but I can tell they are all overwhelmed by Nancy's departure and are ready to have another set of hands on deck.
90 Minds has the ear of the SAGE team. And that was repeated twice to me.
Sage 100 and 300 team super focused on new business and that was the talk of lunch. They did seem like they wanted more Sage 100 attendees.
Dianetta specifically mentioned how they want MOTM different and apart from Summit. There was a mild perception of competition coming from her. I wonder if they were disappointed with the Sage 100 turnout at Summit? Although by all accounts, they had way more than anticipated.
She even mentioned looking at the dates of MOTM in the future to separate the events. I feel like right now if Summit stays in the summer we're pretty good as long as they're over 3 months apart. But it maybe will come up again....
Events:
I attended two events. The PAYA/AvidXchange/Scanforce Happy Hour and the Scanco Fortis Top Golf event. Both events were fantastic. I was able to connect with Scanco, Summit, Fortis, SPS, Net@Work, and more. Many of the CEOs were in attendance.
Cons:
Not having a pass truly was the worst part, however, with the help of Michelle (Thanks Michelle!) I was able to spend a strategic hour in the neighborhood connecting with all of the isv's that I had already vetted out ahead of time. All of those meetings happened and were fruitful and I will summarize a little bit below. I had many sponsors actually offer me passes which in the future I will absolutely take. This is included some people from Sage who are telling me to go ahead and get my hands on one. I was afraid of offending them since I had asked and was told no. However, it really wasn't up to any of them so I learned next time if I don't have a pass just work my way around it and plan on staying the whole time. By the time Wednesday rolled around I had a handful offered to me.
Take Aways
Next time stay the entire conference and get a sponsor badge from a partner after first day (day three - I had so many offers but had already planned to leave).
Add a board member to attend if possible (or Committee Member?) to report back on the inside happenings.
Plan a 90 Minds Partner Event with Affiliates or on our own around the event
NEW Affiliate possibilities
Solver
Net@Work (renew)
Versapay
Stampli
API Worx
PlateIQ
Venn
There are so many more people I connected with so I have no doubt that I will have extended the outreach beyond this list. But it seemed really good for me to be there and I think it was a big win either way!
In whatever capacity we can, I recommend this remain an item in our marketing budget moving forward.
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Anne Sawyer
Executive Director
90 Minds Inc.
Huntington Beach CA
15626651241
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