Oct 16, 2013

Staffing World 2013: Thanks for Having Us!

Last week, we sent 12 Avionte employees out to Orlando for ASA’s annual Staffing World Convention and Expo. Overall, we feel the show was a huge success!

This year’s Staffing World Convention and Expo, put on every year by the American Staffing Association (ASA), hosted over 1,600 attendees. It was my first time attending the show, and I was told beforehand that it would be a busy but rewarding few days in Orlando. It was definitely that, and so much more! I had a lot of fun, and loved being able to interact with so many great people throughout the show.

Here is a recap of our time in Orlando at ASA’s Staffing World conference:

Bright and early on Tuesday morning, our group gathered outside the Eagan office to commute together to the airport. Our flight left at 7:15 a.m., so most of us utilized the few hours of flight time for some much needed shuteye. After landing, the group traveled straight to the Orlando World Center Marriot to begin setting up the booth. John Long and Brenda Long had flown in the night before and had already gotten a great head start on the assembly, but there was still much to be done!

We had two booths at the show this year: our main demo booth and our Tiki Lounge! Visitors stopped by our demo booth to chat about Avionte Staffing Software with our sales reps, and took time to relax with us at the Tiki Lounge. We’re happy with how our booths turned out this year; have a look at the photos!

Once we got the booths set up, our group headed back to the two houses that we were renting off-site for the week to get ready for the night’s festivities, which included an ASA-hosted happy hour event, and a party hosted by our technology partner Essential StaffCARE, held at the Hard Rock in Universal Studios! The party was a lot of fun. In fact, it was so much fun that we continued to party, well after the event wrapped up!

Wednesday morning’s activities began with breakfast outside the expo hall. The show began at 11 a.m. and went to 7 p.m., with sessions taking place throughout the day. Staffing World attendees seemed to enjoy the sessions, which focused on topics ranging from how to prepare for the ACA, to selling techniques. After the days sessions wrapped up, we had some dinner, and most of us spent the night talking with new and old friends at the hotel lobby bar.

Thursday was another full but fun day! The day began again with breakfast, and we spent the afternoon talking with show attendees. We sure were busy at our booths, throughout the show:

At our demo booth, visitors collected and traded colored lanyard pieces to earn prizes. The first 50 people that returned to our booth with a completed lanyard set received $20 cash, right on the spot, and all who completed the set were entered into a drawing to win one of our iPad Minis. Congratulations to the iPad Mini winners Kellie Mumme, Tammy Strain, and LeAnn Keller!
We had food, drinks and great conversations with many of our visitors at our Tiki Lounge, which was complete with an umbrella, parrots, photos, and more. This is also where we played our Dos Equis video parody, which was a huge hit! We think it turned out well. Check it out you haven’t seen it yet!
We kept busy at our “No Sales Zone” and demo stations! We loved hearing the questions and feedback from everyone who stopped by.

Thursday night was our combined party with Global Cash Card, Haley Marketing and Odell Studner at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville bar and restaurant in Universal Studios. It was a great venue to unwind at after our busy couple of days at the Staffing World show, with lots of food, drinks and even a hand-rolled cigar bar! The night lasted well into the morning, and the majority of the team made our way back to the hotel lobby bar to wrap up the night.