What is Sage Summit?
Sage Summit is a learning, networking, and training event that took place July 26th - 28th. It was held in Chicago, IL this year. The event was hosted by one of SkuVault's newest partners, Sage, which offers business accounting software.
Here at SkuVault, we're so thrilled to have Sage as one of our newest integration partners! The Sage Summit was a last minute addition to our usual conference schedule, but we're so glad that we went. We sent team members Danny Shaw and Del Clark to The Windy City, and this is what Del had to say about his experience:
Attendees
We had a lot of fun, and met a lot of attendees at our booth, but one attendee, in particular, who stood out to me was Brandon Norman. Brandon's business sprang from what was initially a not-for-profit, called "One World Everybody Eats!" The goal of the not-for-profit was to help end hunger with pay-what-you-can community cafes. He is from South Carolina, and currently has a business partner in the Virgin Islands, and they now have their own for-profit fresh fish business. They recently just landed a huge contract with Whole Foods! They supply fresh Talapia, whole-fish as well as fresh filets, to over 250 Whole Foods locations, and are quite interested in our SkuVault Warehouse Solution!
Venue
Other than an initially rather drawn-out registration process, I would grade their overall venue as an A++, both in their accommodations and, in particular, their entertainment venue!
Speakers
Sir Richard Branson ( @ richardbranson ), of the well-respected Virgin brand, delivered an almost-hypnotic keynote address with his passion-filled irreverence and bold sense of humor. He was introduced by Sage CEO, Stephen Kelly ( @ SKellyCEO ), yet another dynamic entrepreneur, with a history of promoting many small businesses everywhere.
Other speakers at the event included entrepreneurs and actors Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher, and Zooey Deschanel, “Shark Tank” stars and entrepreneurs Robert Herjavec and Daymond John.
Workshops
There were many workshop sessions available to the many hungry-for-success attendees on topics such as how to get 10X more business traffic using referrals and contests, the ABC's of social media branding and selling, an intro to Sage One, an intro to Sage Live (our native, out-of-the-box Partner) amongst myriad others.
R & R
And, what, you might ask, is simply the perfect recipe for polishing off an event loaded to the gills with very informative, and hands-on workshops, in-depth product training, as well as one-on-one in-depth mentoring? Well, R & R, that's how! Now, not only does that mean Rest and Relaxation, but (and the vocalist in me LOVES this) this "R & R" is also the acronym for some good, ol' fashioned Rock & Roll!! What could possibly beat great food and drinks, the Chicago skyline, the shores of Lake Michigan, and our local boys, Houndmouth, as the warm-up band for the Grammy-nominated band, the Killers. They rocked us all out with all of their biggest hits, which, of course, included Somebody Told Me, and Mr. Brightside.
Conclusion
Overall, Sage Summit was an inspiring experience that combined networking with learning from the most dynamic speakers. We're so glad that we were invited to be a part of this event that was hosted by one of our newest integration partners, and we hope that we can return next year!
