The Azione Unlimited buying group will hold its first-ever online conference, dubbed the Azione Absolute Fall Conference, from October 13-15. The digital conference will replace the association’s typical in-person conference. The three-day digital event offers members 28 sessions including presentations, workshops, interactive small group meetings, and more.
“Azione Unlimited was built on pillars such as sharing ideas, learning from one another, building lasting relationships, and having fun,” said Richard Glikes, president of Azione Unlimited.
“The current situation doesn’t permit us to be together physically but we can, with a curated agenda, execute on all the things we would do in person. We are excited to promote two-way dialogue and offer some cornerstone conference elements like holding roundtable discussions, listening to smart speakers, enjoying presentations on salient business topics, and sharing a beverage at the end of the day.”
The Azione Absolute Fall Conference will run from October 13 to October 15 and be free to all dealer and vendor members as well as their staff. Sessions are run on a software solution and provide ‘Zoom-style’ meetings to augment face-to-face interactions with voice and video. Each session will be recorded and made available to all Azione Unlimited dealer and vendor members after the conference.
Azione Rethinks Idea Exchange
While this year’s conference will take place on a virtual platform, the Azione Absolute Fall Conference key differentiator is a focused schedule that fosters two-way dialogue between members.
“The power of an Azione Unlimited conference has always been in the candid and honest exchange of ideas between members,” says Glikes. “I hate using the word virtual, and I especially don’t want our members thinking they are attending another onslaught of webinars. This conference is built on the philosophy of sharing ideas with members, and we are thrilled to facilitate that in a meaningful way.”
The Azione Absolute Fall Conference schedule is designed with five unique categories: keynotes, one-on-one speed networking, small group meetings, workshops, and presentations.
“The current situation doesn’t permit us to be together physically but we can, with a curated agenda, execute on all the things we would do in person.”
— Richard Glikes, President, Azione Unlimited
Keynotes include talking points from CEDIA senior vice president of education and training Samantha Ventura, TheCoTeam founder Chris Smith, and interior designer business coach Nancy Ganzekaufer. One-on-one speed networking will allow dealer and vendor members to match for five-minute sessions to catch-up, share information, and realign business goals.
A majority of the events will run at the same time as education blocks. These education blocks are split across six total sessions and run four meetings simultaneously. For a dealer, that means they would pick one of the four sessions to participate. The four meetings offered are two small group meetings, one workshop, and one presentation. Each of these meetings are run with a moderator or presenter and drive two-way dialogue.
Small group meetings assemble 16 dealers for genuine roundtable-style discussion on a variety of different topics, including topics such as “How-to Structure Your Sales Commission” and “Be Your Electrician’s BFF.” In these sessions, dealers are encouraged to bring ideas, successes, failures, and questions for discussion.
Presentations are domain experts sharing their unique perspective on topics such as “How to Create a Business Process from Scratch” and “Engage Your Team for More Profit and Less Drama.” Workshops will be a hybrid of small group meetings and presentations by offering a short presentation followed by an interactive discussion.
The conference will also feature opening remarks from Glikes and two virtual cocktail parties.
“In a time of social distancing, Azione Unlimited has created many vehicles to keep dealer communication strong, and our conference takes that mindset to the next level,” says Patrick McCarthy, director of new business development and member services.
“Many of our members are experiencing some level of digital fatigue. Azione Unlimited has always prided itself on creating exceptional opportunities for our members, so we knew we had to do something different. I think our team has nailed the perfect balance of robust education and two-way interaction, and we are excited to capture some of the lightning in a bottle that our in-person conference offers.”
