The event was full of educational and networking opportunities on the bayside of San Diego’s Coronado Island
270+ NetSapiens’ partners, end users, event sponsors, UCaaS industry experts, and employees (from both NetSapiens and our parent company Crexendo) attended our annual UGM (User Group Meeting) last week at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort & Spa.
37 Knowledge-Sharing Sessions
Over the course of 3 days, attendees participated in 37 knowledge-sharing sessions with 26 different speakers (many did multiple sessions).
NetSapiens VP of Engineering Chris Aaker spoke at the most sessions: 8. He was a very tired man at the end of the week.
Job Titles in Attendance
The UGM this year was honored by attendance of at least1 66 senior executives. Their titles ranged as follows:
- 19 CEOs
- 20 Presidents
- 7 CTOs
- 5 COOs
- 15 VPs
1Not every attendee who registered provided a job title.
Event Sponsors and Vendors
The Exhibitors’ Hall was frequently packed between sessions. There were 55 exhibitors, representing 20+ vendors.
Event Organizers
37 NetSapiens employees from all over the US, Canada, and El Salvador participated, including the 6 staff members who organized the UGM 2021. Also, in attendance were 11 employees of NetSapiens parent company Crexendo, in town from Arizona HQ.
The Most Represented City after San Diego by Attendees
- 9 from Plano, TX
- 9 from Miami/Miami Lakes, FL
- 8 from Atlanta, GA
- 5 from New York City
- 5 from Pasadena, CA
Attendees from Around the Globe
Some folks came from as far away as Sydney, Australia. Also present were a number of Canadians hailing from the big cities of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Due to Covid-19 concerns there was virtual participation from as far away as China.
The Most Common First Names of Attendees
- 12 Chris/Christopher
- 10 Dave/David
- 9 Jon/John/Jonathan
- 7 Mike/Michael
- 7 Dan/Daniel
- 6 Mat/Matt/Mathew
- 5 Jason
NetSapiens Blogs Covering the Event = 5
- NetSapiens Holds User Group Meeting this Week on Coronado Island
- Hundreds Enjoy NetSapiens UGM Opening Night Reception
- UGM Kicks Off Day #2 with Q&A Led by TalkingPointz’s Dave Michels
- All the Way from Down Under for UGM’21
- “The Learning Goes Both Ways”
One Attendee’s 5 Takeaways
Vincent Finaldi of Tele-Data Solutions posted on LinkedIn profile his 5 take-aways from UGM ‘21:
“Last week we spent 4 days in San Diego with our key suppliers led by NetSapiens which was acquired by Crexendo Business Solutions recently.
Awesome industry event with so much information. I boiled it down to 5:
1. UCAAS/VOIP is hot, still over 50% of the market is using legacy dated phone equipment across the country.
2. Headset sales will trend larger than phone hardware sales as companies adopt more software for communication.
3. Voice still matters for certain industries that the inbound or outbound phone call generate revenue (HVAC, plumbing, home care services, auto, legal, medical for appointments) among many others.
4. Many Companies need SMS text strategy and video strategy.
5. Zoom and Teams have their place in this ecosystem and their own set of challenges. Working with them is practical as a compliment makes sense most of the time.”
* Disclaimer:
All the stats and numbers provided are unofficial and were not validated by any professional auditors.
