Editor’s Note: Nicole Smith is the Marketing Associate at IQMS and this is her first User Group experience. Please join her over the next three days as she chronicles the exciting events occurring at User Group 2012!
Daniele Fresca and I began planning for User Group 2012 (#IQMSUG2012) more than a year ago and I can’t believe it is finally here! For those of you unfamiliar with the User Group experience, here are the details. Held every other year, IQMS User Group conferences are jam-packed, three day events featuring industry networking, best practice discussions and software development sessions. This year, more than 300 attendees from companies across North America are joining IQMS employees for our largest User Group conference yet.
To be honest, I was a little nervous this morning when registration opened (I wanted everything to run perfectly), but the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas has been an accommodating, friendly venue and Day 1 went off without a hitch. Too many exciting experiences happened today to mention in one blog post, so here are a few of my highlights:
- Registration: The energy at the check-in table was high as new IQMS employees (such as myself) had the opportunity to finally meet our customers in person and put faces to names, while other User Group veterans had the chance to reconnect before the event began.
- State of IQMS: IQMS is in growth mode and the State of IQMS focused on our recurring hiring sprees, the upcoming ground breaking ceremony on our second 30,000 square foot building, our consecutive Inc. placement back in August and our predictions for the rest of the year.
- New Product Announcements: I am constantly amazed at the innovative developments designed by my fellow co-workers. From a new SolidWorks integration tool to recent RTStation enhancements to the hundreds of features in our upcoming manufacturing ERP software release, IQMS has a lot of exciting projects in the pipeline.
- Networking Tables: IQMS designated special mealtime networking tables for manufacturers to interact and connect over the course of the event. Today’s grouping was by industry and it was great to see business relationships formed, ideas traded and knowledge shared between leading manufacturers.
- Welcome Reception: Our private welcome reception was held at the swanky Tabu Ultra Lounge. Sponsored in part by our database provider, Oracle, the afterhours party was a great chance to mingle with our customers on a more informal basis.
- IQMS Manufacturing Success Award: At the welcome reception, IQMS presented its inaugural Manufacturing Success Award. Our five finalists were all strong contenders and selecting the highest achiever recipient was a difficult decision for our external panel of judges. In the end, the highest achiever honor was given to Plastikos, Inc. for its Automated Production Labeling & Tool Tracking project. Plastikos was a very proud recipient and recognizing our deserving clients ended up being my favorite part of a very full day.
Stay tuned for another update tomorrow. Any attendees out there who want to add their favorite highlight of Day 1?
