Flew into Harrisburg, PA. on my way to the Vasont Users’ Group. One of my most favorite things about flying into this meet-up is the size of the planes going into this conference. I truly believe I’ve been in larger restrooms, but hey, it makes for an adventure. Outside of feeling every little bump the ride in is really quite remarkable. You circle around Three Mile Island where you can see the nuclear reactors. There are four stacks in all, but only two billow smoke as they produce energy. It definitely makes for a unique experience every time.
From the airport it is off to Hershey, PA. and the Hershey Lodge. We were given a very nice reception upon our arrival Monday evening. I’ve always enjoyed seeing partners and clients face-to-face. The reception provided the perfect forum for us to just relax and talk about what’s going on in the industry; what we’d like to see improved, and what we would like to get out of the conference.
The next morning, breakfast at the hotel and off to the conference. The opening session is always an awesome review of Vasont the company and its solutions. Here they talk about past successes and future possibilities. It’s always an informative session which sets the right tone for a lead in to the presentations and labs.
As noon rolls around everyone gears up for lunch. One of the benefits of having a conference at Hershey, is the desert. If I had a nickel for how many times I heard, “well I have been on a strict diet, but I have to take a break from it while I’m in Hershey,” I would be able to buy this town. However, it is a perfectly sane statement, because you really can’t get better chocolate in so many different ways anywhere else in the world. Even the smell of chocolate in the shampoo and conditioner was so good I had to have a taste to see if they were edible. After the 3rd bottle I determined they were not.
The Vasont User Group sessions were broken up into four different zones. Zone 1 focused on static content and dynamic deliverables. Zone 2 focused on getting the most from your translations. Zone 3 showed users how to measure success in the Vasont CMS, and zone 4 focused on using Vasont across the enterprise. I would have to say that my personal favorite was zone 1. Not just because this was the zone I was presenting to, but because of the topic. Quadralay always has its ear to the ground when it comes to technical communications. We have watched technical communication move from print, to digital, and on to Mobile. Content can now keep up with users and it’s becoming more dynamic every day. I think Vasont did a really good job informing their users about the important of this topic.
The first day of the conference ended with an icebreaker that really entertained the attendees, they called it Grapevine. Basically, the attendees split up into groups. The first player in the group gets a phrase in which they have to draw on a piece of paper. The player sitting next in line looks at the drawing and then writes down what phrase they think the drawing represents. That continues from player to player until everyone in the group has had a chance. It definitely generated a lot of laughter and gave everyone a really good time. By the way, if you’re curious, the phrase was, “if you pour milk on your feet, you will grow taller.” It was a really great way to end the day.
Day two started bright and early, jumping right into presentations and labs. I was slotted to give a 9:30 presentation over ROI out of your TOC. A nice crowd showed up for the presentation and it was well received. Everyone want to impact their business in a positive way, but the comment I received most after I present it, “my company would never let me do that.” It makes me realize why the industry is looked at the way it is today, however I have to respectfully disagree. Your company would let you do that, it’s just a matter of moving out of our comfort zones and presenting the business case. If you would like to see some notes form my presentation, just click here.
All in all, the Vasont Users’ Group was a great success and very informative. I can only hope that my presentation has given at least one person the confidence to start having this ROI conversation with their company. I truly believe it is an integral part of a business’ growth cycle in today’s world of business.
