I’ve always been a HUGE advocate of software users groups. When I was on staff at an association and a daily user of my AMS, it was incredibly valuable to have a community of like-minded users for me to easily access when I had a challenge. Many (but not all) of the AMS vendors now hold annual users conferences where their clients can gather to learn more about the product and the company, as well as to learn from each other. These meetings are incredibly valuable and I always encourage my clients to attend them.
A nice trend that I’m seeing among the AMS vendors is the addition of quarterly “town hall” teleconferences. With these conference calls, the AMS vendor has an opportunity to present the latest information about the product and roadmap. It’s also an opportunity for the vendor to get direct feedback from their client base.
If your vendor is hosting quarterly town hall teleconferences, be sure to participate in them. And if your vendor isn’t offering them, find out why!
Yes! Town halls and overview sessions are so important. We hold overview sessions for every quarterly MatrixMaxx release to walk our clients through the new features and discuss the roadmap for upcoming releases. We also hold a couple town halls each year to get feedback on our road map and get specific feedback on development underway. We display wireframes and share designs. We have heard from our clients that these sessions are invaluable, and very few clients ever miss them!
I’ve sat in on a few of those, Joanna, and they are quite valuable!