Throughout the past couple of months, the AMTdirect team has been working hard to offer a new hands-on format to this year’s user conference. As a result, we are excited to be able to give our users an in-depth insight into our product and the industry. This year’s conference will offer a variety of new classes ranging from advanced hands-on SQL classes to the latest in Emerging Data Standards. Take a look at all the sessions being offered this year. Don’t forget! Early bird registration ends February 8.

Nearby Attractions

The location of the User Conference will be at the Omni Hotel in downtown Charlotte. The hotel is about a ten to fifteen minute cab ride from the Charlotte Douglas Airport. For those coming in early or staying late, there are a variety of nearby attractions.

Charlotte has seen a massive revamp in its downtown area over the past two years. Within walking distance of the hotel, we have the Blumenthal Arts Center where you can get all the best of the performing arts without buying a plane ticket to the Big Apple! The Broadway show Wicked will be playing during the month of April at the Blumenthal Arts Center.

The Charlotte Bobcats will also be having a game during the week of our User Conference and is a 5 minute walk from the Omni Hotel. Across the street from the Omni Hotel, is the new Epicenter which is a large mixed retail and entertainment center. Still craving more, then take a short stroll down the street to see the numerous bars and restaurants offering a variety of food and entertainment choices.

This year’s user conference will be focused on in-depth hands-on-training, but for those who will have some extra time, I encourage you to check out the Charlotte area. Don’t forget, if you have already registered, you still need to book your hotel room.

This year AMTdirect decided to break tradition and move their User Conference away from Cornelius, NC to a more scenic tourist locale.  Since the founders of the company are from Asheville, NC and the area is rich in history we decided it was a perfect fit. 

The conference and hotel accommodations were at the famed Grove Park Inn.  For those unfamiliar with the Grove Park it is a historic resort tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains minutes from downtown Asheville.  It is well known for the sensational views, spa and golf course.   

From my perspective I don’t think we could have asked for a better setup.  We had an entire outdoor terrace to ourselves for all of our meals and gatherings.  There were 4 conference rooms setup for our training sessions along with space for people to getaway and log into the wireless network if needed.  The staff at the Grove Park and our HR department made sure everybody was well taken care of in the food and beverages category.     

Anyways, getting back on track, I think the conference went well.  We had a great turnout.  The first day consisted of checking-in to the rooms and our welcome dinner/reception.  We did hold a user group kickoff meeting before dinner for those that could make it.  I thought this was a great session as there was plenty of participation from everybody involved and we came away with a lot of great feedback.  In fact, we will be hosting our second user group this August.   For more information on user groups check out the post explaining the concept of a user group. 

After a night of delicious food, drinks and a meet and greet we started bright and early with breakfast, a nice welcome ceremony and the first round of training sessions.  The welcome ceremony included some words from our CEO and CCO along with some nice door prizes. I don’t want to get into the details of each session in this post as I’m sure we can explore each session in other posts so this will be more of a high-level recap. 
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