SAPPHIRE NOW and the ASUG Annual Conference - May2011
Wow – what a week we had at SAPPHIRE in Orlando! There were almost 15,000 attendees who include SAP & ASUG Employees, Customer, Prospects, Partners, Exhibitors, and Volunteers. It is a well-run conference and I think most will agree, a little overwhelming! With several keynotes, 600+ sessions, rows of exhibitors, and plenty of networking events spread across the Orange County Convention Center – it is impossible to see and do everything but with the right shoes and attitude, you are guaranteed to go home with more knowledge than you ever imagined.
Although we’ve attended SAPPHIRE in the past as attendees, this was AccM’s first time as a SAPPHIRE exhibitor. We had prepared for 6 months for the opportunity to showcase TOP® Software and consider the last week a success! Here is a summary from our standpoint, but I encourage you to read other SAPPHIRE blogs to get a full picture of the conference.
The AccM Team flew down Saturday night just on the tails of all our booth materials which arrived Friday (whew!). We sent Brochures, Spinning Tops, Coasters, Surveys, Business Cards, and a few other items. After a few hours’ sleep and breakfast, we parted ways to attend 3 different pre-conference sessions. I sat in on the Procurement Excellence presentations and was impressed with the Customer Case Studies. After lunch, we met up at our booth and set up all our materials and did some strategizing. All the exhibitors were working hard in order to have their booths complete by the 5p deadline. Sunday evening included a Partner Town Hall and an ASUG reception.
On Monday, the exhibit floor officially opened and we were excited to get things started! Our slideshow cycled thru on the monitor, we kept the tops spinning, and we had the laptop prepared to do TOP® demonstrations! We also fired up our badge scanner that allowed us to scan attendees rather than collect their business cards. We had steady business all 3 days with heavier traffic during lunch and in the late afternoons. Since there were 3 of us, we were able to take shifts. When we weren’t at the booth, we were eating, checking emails, talking to clients, attending sessions, and soaking in the SAPPHIRE experience. We had many visits to the booth that ended up in great conversations about Contractor Management and how TOP® Software could provide a needed solution. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sending more information to those attendees we scanned and hope to build on the relationships begun at SAPPHIRE.
In the evenings, many attendees had private receptions and dinners to attend. We left the exhibit area by 7p and tried to experience SAPPHIRE nightlife in our own way. Charlie and I still had some energy on Monday for a run on International Drive followed by dinner. In addition to the full flights, it was great to see the busy restaurants and shopping. I don’t know if Orlando has noticed the recession with all the amusement parks and conferences that take place, but this last week must have been great for their economy. On Tuesday, our legs and feet were tired, but we still went for a long walk before/after dinner. On Wednesday, we all gave high-fives as the conference came to an end, closed up our booth, and headed to the Sting concert which is part of the SAPPHIRE registration – very cool!
Looking back, we learned a few lessons and will be better prepared for next year. The experience was amazing and we are thankful for all the honest conversations about Contractor Management. We hope to continue those discussions over the next few months as we introduce TOP® Software to these organizations.