It’s a new year and a new chapter in the thINK user group.

Happy New Year! I am pleased to begin 2018 as your newly elected thINK Board President.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Chief Customer Officer at SG360° and I was Conference Chair for thINK 2017. I’ve been involved with thINK since the very beginning, serving on the steering committee. As part of a group of ten Canon Solutions America customers, we began meeting in April 2014 to shape the group’s direction, goals, and educational objectives. 

Mark DeBoer, our previous thINK President was also part of the steering committee, and I’m focused on picking up where he left off. I’m also excited about working with all the board members. They are an amazing group of people with a lot of knowledge and viewpoints to share. 

thINK 2018 and Beyond
The thINK conference has grown every year. Attendance is up. Sponsorship is up. Our educational offerings are right on target. Our challenge going forward is to stay in tune with the marketplace and keep the conference content fresh and valuable for everyone, whether they are just implementing inkjet or are on their second or third iteration. That will be the key to keeping people coming back year after year. (Be sure to mark your calendar now for thINK 2018 —you won’t want to miss it: September 5-7 | Boca Raton, FL)

Going into our fourth conference, one of the most exciting things I’ve witnessed is that over half of the presenters are attendees themselves. I talked to people at the very first conference who were just implementing inkjet. Last year, many were back presenting. What’s really unique about our group is that we are technically competitors, yet people are so willing to share information.

What I’d like to bring to the conference is to continue developing that sense of community. Each year I recognize people coming back, and each year it’s easier to quickly pick up the conversation where we left off. We also need to remember that our group is more than just a yearly conference. There are monthly eNewsletters and a quarterly publication to keep us connected, as well as our thinkforum website that’s constantly being updated with new resources and information. 

What changes would you like to see going forward? Email me with your ideas and suggestions for the community and the conference. 

Let’s keep the momentum going!