Last week, Vasont Systems’ customers and partners traveled from all over the world to attend our annual Vasont Users’ Group Meeting in Hershey, Pennsylvania, “The Sweetest Place on Earth.” This interactive event gave Vasont CMS users the chance to discover more about our products and related digital publishing topics, network with other users, and provide feedback for future development.

We hosted a Monday night reception to give our clients and partners a chance to meet before the official Tuesday start time. Photo booth was a popular icebreaker tool for a lot of our guests. We had a photo contest, complete with Vasont- and Hershey-themed categories. As you can see, people really enjoyed it! Take a look at our winning pictures:

“New Vasont Friends”:

“Crazy about Vasont”:

“Amazed at what Vasont Can Do”:

“High on Chocolate”:

We began the next day with a brief discussion about our exciting merger with a Vice President from TransPerfect. “Having TransPerfect share their vision with everyone was really exciting,” said Christopher Ward, the Director of Sales at WebWorks. “I can see how that union is going to help drive a new and needed strategy in the Content industry.” The rest of the day was filled was filled with insightful roundtable discussions, hands-on labs, and notable presentations from Vasont Systems’ staff, clients and partners.

Sharing information, tips, and ideas was a highlight of the meeting. Attendees found that meeting with other users to see how they were using the Vasont CMS to get things done was most valuable. One user found another user to be extremely similar to their own story in that their business practices, tools and experience are almost exact, and they are a few steps ahead in their Vasont CMS implementation. Another user said, “I’m always surprised that other users experience the same issues or have the same requests that I have.”

Throughout the week, Vasont Systems’ technology partner sponsors, including DeltaXML, Data Conversion Laboratory, Adobe, Syncro Soft, Antenna House and WebWorks, presented product demos to attendees. This gave guests the opportunity to learn about products and services that complement the Vasont CMS and help with mobile and DITA publishing. Partners found the week just as beneficial, according to Sarah Draper of Syncro Soft. “Not only was it a great opportunity to meet Vasont Systems’ team and strengthen our partnership further, but it was a useful forum to learn more about the solutions and support provided by Vasont to their customers, stated Sarah. “It became clear to us very quickly that Vasont Systems and Syncro Soft share the same business ethics in providing high quality customer service and support to help customers achieve their strategic business objectives.”

“Coming into this week, I wanted to deliver a presentation that would help Vasont CMS users start the process of building a strategy around delivering to multiple devices,” explained Christopher. “Our product combined with the Vasont CMS provides the most efficient and advanced workflow for businesses who want to reach their entire audience.” – Christopher Ward, WebWorks

“We were pleased to be given the opportunity to speak at the Vasont Users’ Group Meeting for the first time this year. We look forward to working more closely with Vasont Systems in the future as they continue to integrate our tools to provide essential differencing functionality to their customers.” – Tristan Mitchell, DeltaXML

We began our Tuesday evening entertainment by hopping on the Hershey Trolley to explore Hershey, PA, a town built around Hershey’s chocolate factories. On the tour, guests learned about Milton Hershey’s inspiring life while indulging in some of Hershey’s popular candies. The Trolley dropped guests off at our dinner venue, Events Etc. by Hershey Pantry, where we shared great food and great company.

On Wednesday, we continued with our sessions, roundtables, and labs until our feedback session, giving customers a chance to tell us their ideas for future Vasont CMS enhancements. We also offered an optional Vasont University training course for our customers on Thursday. This year’s training course took place in the Cocoa Boardroom at the Hershey Lodge, complete with bowls of Hershey Kisses for attendees to snack on throughout the day. Saying our taste buds were well taken care of throughout the week would be an understatement. Candy. Was. Everywhere.

Thanks again to the users, partners, and TransPerfect family members who attended this year’s Vasont Users’ Group Meeting! We hope to see everyone again next year. To see more about this event, watch our video.

If you missed it this year, plan your budget now for next year! Look for information about our 2015 Vasont Users’ Group Meeting in the Users’ Zone at www.vasont.com