An agenda full of educational and networking opportunities

After a pandemic-forced hiatus, NetSapiens’ annual UGM (User Group Meeting) is back this week at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort & Spa. We expect several hundred attendees, made up of partners, customers, event sponsors, industry experts, and employees (from both NetSapiens and our parent company Crexendo).

“Coronado Island is a fantastic place to have a user group meeting. It’s a short drive or ferry-ride from downtown San Diego and Gaslamp District. There’s so much to see and do in this area,” says Jason Byrne, NetSapiens’ SVP of Marketing. “We can’t wait to host our NetSapiens community guests here. We have an agenda that’s chock-full of educational and sharing sessions, networking opportunities, entertainment events, and fun activities.” 

50+ Sessions 

Over the course of three days in Coronado, attendees will have their choice to participate in 54 separate sessions divided into 4 tracks: NetSapiens Community (14), Technical (18), Sales & Marketing (6), and Networking (16).

UGM kicks off this evening (Tuesday, October 19th) from 6pm to 9pm with an opening reception on the Marriott’s lawn facing the bay and the downtown skyline. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, NetSapiens has three full days of sessions that start with breakfast from 7am to 9am at the resort. 

NetSapiens Community Track – Highlights

Wednesday, 9am-10am, in the main hall there will be a welcome to UGM event that will include introductions and a “state of the union” presentation.

Also, on Wednesday, at 11am in the main hall, platinum event sponsor Poly will have a session titled: What’s On The Truck, Poly? This session will be about how Poly is handling the global chipset shortage and supply chain delays. Darren Knapp, Director, Americas Channel Sales at Poly will provide attendees with the latest news and some strategies for keeping customers smiling.

On Thursday, 9am in the main hall there will be a panel discussion with Anand Buch, NetSapiens co-founder; Doug Gaylor, Crexendo’s COO; and Dave Michels, enterprise communications analyst at TalkingPointz. Topics for discussion will include the latest Industry news, trends, and how NetSapiens is planning to be at the forefront.

On Friday, 9am in the main hall Chris Aaker, NetSapiens VP of Engineering, will speak in a session titled Roadmap Update. Chris will give attendees a sneak peek at the next year of NetSapiens releases. He will start with a quick retrospective of v42 and the pivot forward talking about plans for v43 of SNAPsolution and 4.0 of SNAPmobile. This session will end with an attendee poll to provide NetSapiens with some guidance on the upcoming features.

Technical Track – Highlights

API Basics is the title of a session offered on Wednesday, at 2:15pm led by Justin Cate, NetSapiens’ VP Quality Assurance. Attendees can expect to learn the fundamentals of the NetSapiens API. Topics covered will include: understanding what exactly an API is, how the NetSapiens API fits into the NetSapiens ecosystem, authentication, making basic API calls, and observing the API functioning in the wild.

On Wednesday at 3:30pm, Kevin Selkowitz, NetSapiens’ senior director of solutions engineering, will present a session titled Endpoint Security Fundamentals. Attendees will be educated on the fundamentals of securing the Endpoints Module and phones to prevent common sources of toll fraud.

On Thursday afternoon at 3:30, NetSapiens’ James Weatherson will present at a session titled Introducing Our New Training LMS System for All NetSapiens Customers. James will demonstrate the new online learning management system that was designed to help our community members keep up with the fast-evolving world of regulations, best practices, and features of the platform.

On Friday at 1pm, Chris Aaker will present at a session titled Self Upgrades & Maintenance. In this session, the NetSapiens VP advises on how best to maintain your own system to help speed upgrades and control your own release schedules. Chris will also cover the new maintenance centric features added in v42. 

The final technical session of the week is called Best Practices Across the Board – From SNAPsolution to Platform. It will be led by Kevin Selkowitz along with Thiago Modelli, NetSapiens VP of Technical Operations. The session will begin with the sharing of best practice tips followed by a Q&A.

Sales & Marketing Track – Highlights

On Wednesday at 11am, NetSapiens’ VP of Sales Jason Beckett leads a session titled How to Make Money Selling SNAP.HD. Attendees will learn about SNAP.HD and the reasons why you should offer it to your existing customers and how to attract more net new customers.

Later on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30, there will be a panel discussion on the topic of End User / Retail Marketing. The panelists will be Stephanie Benzik, senior director of marketing at GreenStar Marketing; Joe White, Brightlink’s CTO; and Chris Turcotte, director of sales at NTS. Dave George, NetSapiens SVP of revenue and customer experience, will serve as discussion moderator.

Attendees can expect to hear a discussion about how to increase revenue with smarter marketing. This collaborative marketing session will equip you with real, telecom-specific marketing strategies that you can put to use for your business.

Networking Track – Highlights

There will be ample opportunities to network with fellow attendees, colleagues, and NetSapiens team members at the resort during the breaks between sessions and at meal times and social events. 

Wednesday’s big social event will be an evening dinner cruise around San Diego Bay on Flagship Cruise’s California Spirit. The boat ride begins at 5:30pm at the Marriott Hotel’s dock. The 158-foot yacht features two climate-controlled levels with open-air decks; rich mahogany, brass, and lush carpeting throughout; six full-size restrooms (one wheelchair accessible); and WiFi Internet.

On Thursday evening attendees will take a 5-minute walk from the Marriott to Peohe’s – A Chart House Restaurant for dinner starting at 6pm. With spectacular views, delectable cuisine and impeccable service, Peohe’s specializes in hosting unforgettable events. Nestled on the water’s edge in the Coronado Ferry Landing, Peohe’s features fresh tropical seafood dishes influenced by Pacific Rim flavors.

We’re looking forward to a fantastic time on Coronado Island this week. Please subscribe to this blog to see daily updates of the NetSapiens’ 2021 User Group Meeting.