It’s hard to believe that 2014 is coming to an end. Well, at least the calendar year is. For us at Avanti, September marked the beginning of our 2015 fiscal year.
As I reflect back on all that we accomplished in 2014, as well as what we’ve already achieved in FY 2015, I can’t help but feel pride in our company, our product, staff, and of course, our customers and partners.
2014 was our best year yet at Avanti. We grew 8% over FY 2013. 2014 also marked our 30th Anniversary and 10 years since Stephen McWilliam, Peter Funnell and I assumed ownership of the company. You can read the full press release here.
As mentioned in the last Newsflash, this year’s User Group was extended to 4 days and, according to the feedback from those who attended, was one of our best ever; plans for the 2015 conference are well underway. Once again, the User Group committee has chosen to hold the conference in Toronto. However, we will be changing the date to the fall. We recently sent out a survey to determine the best date.
If you haven't already done so, please click on this link to access the survey and submit your opinion. Once the final date has been confirmed, the information will be posted to our website.
This year’s Graph Expo was a tremendous success for us. There is simply no substitute for live, face-to-face interactions with customers, prospects and partners. Our brand new booth got rave reviews and dramatically increased our demo capacity. For much of the show, it was standing-room only, as people crammed in for demos of Avanti Slingshot. We are extremely proud to have won a MUST SEE 'EM for Avanti Slingshot’s Advanced JDF Framework workflow module, as well as a Reader’s Choice award from DPS Magazine.
We are also thankful to our partners. We had two pods in the Ricoh booth and received terrific exposure from our friends in the Printerverse. They made us feel extremely comfortable during the “live print chat” interview and we had the chance to answer some great live tweets. And, of course, Graph Expo is an excellent opportunity to connect with other vendors and delegates.
Finally, I’m very pleased to announce some new customers to the Avanti family. The following companies recently went live with Avanti Slingshot and we look forward to featuring them in future issues of Newsflash, as well as welcoming them to our User Group. These customers are:
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service – providers of educational programs and research-based information to the people of Arkansas in the areas of agriculture, family financial management, and youth education.
Phillips 66 - a growing energy manufacturing and logistics company with high-performing Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties businesses.
In closing, I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and peaceful holiday season and a prosperous New Year.
As always, I welcome your feedback and can be reached via email at pbolan@avantisystems.com or phone 800 482 2908 Extension 266.
Sincerely,
Patrick Bolan,
President and CEO