7th Annual Avionté Client Connection Forum, Day One Recap

Day one of Avionté’s 7th Annual Client Connection Forum event brought in over 300 attendees for a full day of presentations, breakout sessions, networking and more.

Bright and early on Wednesday morning, attendees trickled in for breakfast and a chance to connect with their Client Managers and other attendees. Each Avionté Client Manager had approximately 60 attendees come out for this year’s Client Connection conference event. Bright-eyed and ready to network, this year’s attendees were able to get to know their Client Managers, at the very start of the forum.

Attendees wrapped up breakfast and made their way into the main atrium space for the Opening Ceremony (the official kickoff the 2016 Avionté Client Connection forum!). Avionté’s Technical Writing Manager Tony Poetz and Training Specialist Rachel Graff took the stage to let attendees know what to expect in the hours to come, then called John Long, Avionté CEO, up to the stage. Long spoke for approximately 30 minutes. His “Laying the Foundation” presentation highlighted recent changes at Avionté, including key new hires to Avionté’s Executive Management Team: VP of Product Management Jami Timmons, VP of Implementation Brad Kaus and VP of Sales Acquisition, among others.

Then, it was time to hear from leaders of our Product Management and Development teams during the Product Management Address. The room was packed, nearly every seat filled with a CCF attendee. Avionté employees gathered in the back of the room. Mike Ferrazzo, Avionté’s VP of Product Development, took the stage, providing first a development overview, then a view into the evolution of the Development Team over the past four years.

Peter Young was up next and spoke on the significant changes the IT Department has experienced in the past four years, touching on architecture improvements, API management, cloud search and enterprise search. With focus and commitment, Pete said, the team has seen significant results.Ferrazzo jumped back up on stage again, too, to reiterate Avionté’s promise to its customers. “We’ve got your back,” said Ferrazzo, “and a back office.” The crowd laughed, but Ferrazzo elaborated on the statement, emphasizing the fast-moving and innovative mindset the Development Team and highlighting the Avionté Aero Recruiter Module platform.

Joe Hiber, Jen Dye and Jerrry Olson, members of the Avionté Development Team, took the stage next to talk about the new functionality embedded into Avionté version 16.1 and to give attendees a sense of what is coming in version 16.2. Then, Jami Timmons, Avionté’s new VP of Product Management, took the stage to gave attendees a glimpse into her role as and her goals for the Product Management Team, which works to “discover, design, develop and deliver” an evolved product to Avionté end users. “It’s about the lifecycle,” Timmons said. “Avionté needs to be for anyone, anywhere at any time.”

Timmons also touched on Avionté’s “New Ideas Portal”, available for anyone to submit ideas that could directly impact the Avionté Roadmap and receive a response within 48 hours. “More releases, more communication,” Timmons said. Avionté users can expect a monthly “In the Know” newsletter from Jamie, which will give fast insight into Avionté’s development cycle and project plan.

After a quick break, it was time for breakout sessions! Wednesday’s breakout topics included Avionté third party offerings, Back Office, ACA, accruals, reporting and more. Peter Young, Avionté’s VP of Technology, also offered an exclusive breakout presentation, addressing Avionté’s hosted environment with a focus on performance and sustainability. Lunch was provided to CCF attendees at 11:25 a.m., followed by more breakout sessions in the afternoon.

Day one of Avionté Staffing Software‘s forum wrapped up at 5 p.m. Client Connection attendees and Avionté employees took some time to decompress and made their way to Seven Sushi & UltraLounge for Avionté’s evening event. The group took over sections of level two and Seven Rooftop, conversed over drinks and tasty appetizers, and enjoyed the magic tricks from local sensation Tyler Erickson well into the evening.