We were thinking it would be cool to plan a MC convention where MC clients and MC team could get together for a two to three day convention/ conference.

The benefits we think this would be:

a. a great opportunity for MC to meet our clients and our clients to meet the MC team.
b. an opportunity for clients to meet other members of the MC community.
c. a neat way to share SEO tactics, design techniques and to share ideas for future e-commerce development.
d. a great excuse to get out of the office!

Is this a good idea? Would you come? Where and when should it be? I think we are about 6 months away from implementation... but I would like to gather some feedback on whether or not this would be of interest to each of you?

Thanks!

I have been to a few of these with other companies and find them to be FUN and Very Motivating. Not too mention they are usually very informative.

Sometimes it makes for a good reason to get away once in awhile.

A lot would be based on the location and a money involved to attend. (flight, food, overnight accomidations, etc...)

I would be interested to see what others think.

That sounds like fun...i would have to agree with Cbhale though...

Works for me as long as it is centrally located and not in the most expensive place.

Las Vegas would be a good choice.
Cheap to fly to and stay in.
There is a big gift show there in August.
http://www.merchandisegroup.com/merchandis...ummer/index.jsp

Or Dallas then everyone could go shopping for new items at the Dallas Market Center.

Parties like that, oops I mean, Conventions are a great thing to not only meet your customers but to share things to come, ways to improve your site (since you guys have connections with Google, etc.), and much more.
But, as always location is a factor for everyone, because even though there are places such as cheaptickets, tickets and accomodations can still be spendy.
You might want to look into an airline and hotel that is willing to offer discounts for large groups (even if they are not on one flight). I have heard of conventions be able to do this for their visitors.

I like the idea! Just pick a fun city!

I think is a natural if you are serious about your customer service which you really seem to be. I personally tend to make more commitments when I get to meet folks face to face. It might go a long way toward retention. This being said at a time when your competition is barely answering support questions. I referred 3 of the bigger dogs from the other guys today to review the setup.
Momentum is the key in any business!

Hi Captain

Sounds like a good plan, Bangkok would be the ideal location for me , just think, a nice convention followed by a few days on the beach, just what you all need after getting over the first half of the year ...I can get some good hotel and convention hall pricing

Cheers

Chris

I love Bangkok. Been there on multiple occasions.

Bangkok?

You have got to be kidding. With SARS and the cost of airfair.

Count me out. I thought the idea was to get together with as many as possible. Not those that had million dollar sites.

I propose as a compromise Bali! No SARS, cheap rates since the bombing (no problems since!), beautiful scenery, food, weather, etc.

Bali?

Robert, I guess you can afford it having gotten a month of Free hosting.

Just kidding. Congrates and thanks for all your input.

Why not take in the sights of New England? Boston is a great place for conventions

Seriously. I would be interested and agree with everyone else... location and cost are the two factors. Also I would recommend a weekend convention as the middle of the week could be an issue for some of us.

Other than that I'd love to meet everyone and discuss ideas face-to-face. We all support each other in the forum and I've even placed an order from Dollproperties and soon at MineralBeauty (both stores). I look forward to the Mall and giving as much support/business to others in our Community.

Keep us updated Captain.

So we all want a great, glamourous place at super low costs! That seems doable!

I think Chris mentioned Bangkok as a joke.

I like the Boston idea... what about St. Louis? That is where we are headquartered... and it is in the middle of the country for East and West coast clients. Southwest has a hub there and airfare is cheap...

If we did STL, everyone could visit our facility etc?

Just a thought... everyone keep discussing this so we can implement the ideas...

Alaska sounds fun

St. Louis is fine. Can we hold it at a Motel 6?
You are not thinking about charging us for the confrence are you?
If so how much?

I've organized a couple of conferences like this in the past.

I think the St. Louis idea is great. Everyone in the office always wants to go...but everyone can't go because that leaves no one watching the store, if you know what I mean. Not to mention how expensive it is to fly/lodge 3/4 of your staff in another city. If you hold the conference in the city where you're headquartered, more of your staff can participate without endangering your operational support or your budget.

On the other hand, if your headquarters in situated somewhere that's expensive to fly into - say Hawaii or Denver - or somewhere with limited hotel options, then no one comes. In that case, I vote for Vegas, Orlando, or LA.

Hi Bob

Bob, hope you had a good holiday weekend, you sounded like you needed a good break, naturally I wouldn't expect everyone to fly to Bangkok, though if I ran a multi million dollar site I'd happily pay for everyone to fly across .

SARS? Bangkok? You must be confusing us with China . I think more Canadians died of SARS than did people in Thailand.

Cheers

Chris

Birdman,

The conference would be free. We wouldn't charge you to attend.

How about Oregon? The best scenery you will ever see! Cheap airfare, cheap hotel, no SARS (joke)!
And I don't have to go anywhere! LOL
We also have more theaters per capita than any other place in the world, so you can see any movie you want when not hanging out at the conference

Captain, on a more serious note, what would the conference cover? What did the company have in mind with regard to workshops, talks, and the like? It seems to me that the folks who hang around here already have a pretty good command of the software, marketing options, and so forth.

Just wondering what new stuff might be provided.

Hi Robert / Captain

While what Robert says is true, it only applies to us folks who hand around here, I would imagine there are quite a few store owners around who might not have a clue and would benefit from the conference and from actually meeting the people who hand around here and do have a clue.

Also it would be nice if there was some kind of post convention mail out to those of us who can't make it so we know what was covered, a kind of detailed minutes.

What might make it even more interesting would be to invite people from connected industries, for example from Google, ShareASale, 2CheckOut, Verisign, Authorize net and so on.

Cheers

Chris

This is great feedback... your ideas will be what molds the conference.

Here is what I have gathered so far:

1. Provide the conference free of charge (I always intended it to be free).

2. STL would be ideal because it is in the middle of the US... and affordable.

3. Invite industry partners (GeoTrust, Search Engines, etc)

One thing we could consider for the first time around is... have a pre or post-convention for 1/2 day or a day before or after the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose (this August).

There would be a full SEO conference to attend... and we could use that as an opportunity to meet one another and to discuss future conventions and the future of the storebuilding software.

Not August. There is a big gift trade show in Vegas I have to go to on the 10th-14th

Topics to discuss:

Store Design, Graphics, Images
Customizing Sites
Search Engine Placement
Newsletters and new SPAM laws
Shipping
Where to find Products
Finding Dropship Dealers
Stats and tracking Sales
Sales TAX
Overview of 4.0

Just a few things I would want to talk about.

I think it's a great idea. My first pick of cities would be Vagas or Orlando. Loads of hotels and cheap flights.

Perhaps the best reason to attend would be to party with Jenna's from Jenna's Fun Chest! Wahoo!

I think once a place is finalized. I think it would be important to have someone try to make hotel/motel/resort arrangments. There is usually a decent discount for larger parties.

Just a thought!

Hello all,

Thanks all for the time and effort you’ve spent on this forum. Very informative, and great reading with my morning’s Denver Omelet.

Before I give our thoughts on the convention, allow me to offer the following by way of background: ours is a religious goods store that is currently using a proprietary system that, although it does have some nice features, also has some virtually insurmountable bugs, and this is the reason we are now building an MC-based store. At this time we do employ a (worth every penny) IT professional to help us both launch the MC-based site and new brick ‘n mortar POS software, and be able to lend an hand in the future as neeeded, but he is really an on-call type employee whose hours we would like to minimize as much as possible. That is why we chose a comprehensive, off-the-shelf system like MC that does not, strictly speaking, require software expertise.

For us personally, the convention idea has merit, but we need to have the sense that it will cover issues in a way that does not inadvertently exclude folks of our skill level. In other words, both the topics and the way they are discussed should take into account the existence of MC clients like us who do not have a “good command of the software, marketing options, and so forth”, as Robert put it.

Even if we couldn’t find the corporate funds to get me there, I may still go.

The issue of “when” was brought up; Ultimate mentioning that a weekend affair might be better for most, and Captain posited that August (in San Jose) might work. Is it the case or not that most (exceptions always exist) product-based internet sites do indeed experience a bit of a slow-down during the North American summer?

Also, is it possible that MyAP and Affiliate Wiz might be included among the reps that can attend?

Anyway, I will sit back and continue to read these many great posts.

Leathus

Good Idea!

In my software business we call this a "User Group Meeting". We have been having them for 12 years and they are very popular and productive. To learn how organized and useful they can be, please visit my User Group website. www.AUGI.org

Keith
SADDLEBUM

In San Jose wed be there. I have a sister just outside and use any excuse to visit!
Anyplace would be fine for us and we would really like to brianstorm with everyone.

It would be fun to corner all of you and pick your brains for a weekend.

Dont be scared we will only take a little knowledge.
And have lots of fun.

I think newbie would pick everyone clean.......... Just kidding....

I think St Louis would be a good place as we could also see the operation also and like Capt said it seems to be central and Southwest Airlines is a cheap flight if there is a hub there.

Just my 2 cents

BALI IS FOR SURFERS!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Keep posting this is been a great thread, we might come too...

You have to do Vegas. That has got to be the convention capitol of the world!

Living in NJ we go to Ac a few times a year, always wanted to get to Vegas. SO to be able to write it off would be great!

But Id also like to see at work, we'd be able to meet everyone.

I think a lot of us will be gonig to Vegas in August for the trade show...

I vote for St. Louis. It's quick, cheap, centrally located, where MC's office is located and easier for you guys to arrange your first conference because it's close to home. And, it's only a 4 hour drive for me from Kansas City!

-Scott-

We also vote for St. Louis.......we would love to view/tour/see the MC Headquarters and I definetely think that we would be able to visit with more MC staff that way since they wouldn't have to pay to fly elsewhere AND they could still monitor things going on with the system while enjoying the conference.

It is centrally located with great transportation options.....and a nice tourist area as well.....no gambling like Las Vegas, but still some great features!

Would putting out a poll help? Great work so far!

Jackie and Sandy
ScrappinDeals

Hey Team!
I would vote for St. Louis for one big reason.....If we do it somewhere else, the whole MC team will not be able to attend (as normal operations can't cease.) If we do it in St. Louis then every MC team memeber will have the opportunity to participate. I can't wait to meet you all. It will be a great weekend
-gup

St Louis is good for me. Only a 14 hour drive.

Should we plan on St. Louis this Spring?

We will need a few months to plan and I am sure MC merchants will need a few months lead time for scheduling...

Let me know what you want and we'll make sure we get it done.

I would go for St. Louis but please when you do it, list hotels to book at and let us know ASAP so that I can book my flight now.

Thanks

Sounds like a grand plan and I am sure if enough of us can come Great and Almighty Capt can get us a really good group rate in the area for a hotel.

This would be very beneficial assuming it caters to all levels of experience and various business types/models. I would be interested in meeting MC partners as well as other vendors that can support e-commerce.

I think we can all provide feedback on some of the things we've learned and perhaps we should start a pinned thread where we can highlight some of the sites/companies we have found to be most useful in creating our storefronts today.


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Tony
YourPCGear.com

I would also be up for St.Louis

I vote St. Louis. Mainly because of the central location and proximity to HQ. I'm on the East Coast of Virginia so it's not a short trip for me but it also not unaffordable.

Sounds like there is a need for technical forums, for instance:
- shopping cart config
- SEO Optimization
- customization by placing html in existing cart fields
- variant tips/tricks
- etc.

and functional/business forums such as:
- cart layout for best customer usage
- e-business in the future
- search engine strategy
- product description strategies
- etc.

I think a conference is a good idea all around.

Tom

Thanks for the input Tom... we will narrow down the dates after the new year.

What has become of this? Has there been a convention? Did I miss it? I hope not! I would LOVE to attend something along these lines.

You haven't missed it... hasn't gotten past the concept stage. I'll make sure I post if the idea ever comes to fruition.

Thanx Captain. I'm really looking forward to it!