The purpose of FUNcon is to provide greater value to our customers through case studies, demos, networking, and of course, having fun! FUNcon ‘18 was a two-day deep dive into the Fonteva user journeys for business users, events users, Salesforce/Fonteva Administrators, and developers. We loved seeing customers connect with other customers to learn how they’re solving similar challenges. And all of our Fontevans had wonderful interactions with our customers and really enjoyed getting to know each of them better.
Fonteva works hard all year long to bring new insights, features, and usable content to each FUNcon. This year, we focused on providing more customer-led sessions to deliver new ideas about how to implement features, execute initiatives, and deliver greater value – all from the user’s perspective. There was also an incredibly positive reception to our new “Ask the Experts” program, which gave customers the opportunity to have a 1-on-1 conversation with solutions experts to ask technical questions specific to their organizations.
Paul Lundy, Fonteva co-founder and Chief Customer Officer, welcomed attendees to FUNcon ‘18 by sharing how the vision of “bringing modern cloud-computing technology to the association community” guided Fonteva in its early years. The initial dream was to improve the world of work and that has propelled Fonteva to where it is today and continues to shape the path forward.
As Fonteva co-founder and CEO Jerry Huskins noted, “Eight years later, it is still our opportunity and is still our dream…our greatest success is ahead of us, not behind us.”
Without question, Jerry and Paul have placed Fonteva customers at the center of the company. Fonteva was founded on three core values: put the customer first, commit to invention, and be patient. This year, trust was added to these core values, because it’s fundamental to all business relationships and every human relationship. Fonteva also knows it’s not enough to only build relationships with the executives of our customers, because success relies on every user – from c-suite executives to staff users experiencing success with the Fonteva platform.
In the next year, Fonteva will be rolling out new, innovative features – including Artificial Intelligence (AI), and an improved mobile experience to better serve our customers. However, while these exciting new features will enhance both the user and customer experiences, it will be the same core functionality that will take us into the future. We remain committed to innovating around events, membership, eCommerce, and communities.
Day One
Polly Sumner, Salesforce’s Chief Adoption Officer, delivered a powerful keynote focusing on Salesforce’s non-traditional approach to defining and attaining customer success in the context of digital transformation.
Our conference partners included Mogli SMS, Comm Partners, fusionSpan, Higher Logic, Fionta, HighRoad Solutions, BlueSky, US Transactions Corp, OpenWater, Greatwave, and Jitterbit – all of whom shared how their solutions work on the Fonteva Platform throughout the conference. Throughout the remainder of the first day, we had innovative showcases from CommPartners, Mogli SMS (who we partnered with for SMS surveys throughout the conference), and Higher Logic.
We had enlightening breakout sessions led by customers and partners from fusionSpan, Pepperdine University, Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, Airforce Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, EdChoice, Food and Drug Law Institute, and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association.
A common theme amongst all presentations was that even though customers have very different business processes, challenges, and goals, they are all going through some sort of transformation. By attending and presenting at FUNcon ‘18, customers learned, shared, and taught each other how to overcome challenges and accomplish their business objectives.
We concluded day one with a rousing good time at POV at the W hotel. Fontevans and customers enjoyed closing the day with drinks, hor d’oeuvres, and an incredible view of the Washington Monument at dusk.
Day Two
The theme of defining an organizational journey and defining success for organizational alignment carried into day two of FUNcon ‘18. Technology is a key component of that success. Fonteva is focused on improvement and making that technology more accessible. Since last year’s FUNcon, our product now supports more than 100 new features, 75 percent of which originated from customer ideas in FUNcommunity, the community forum for Fonteva users to share and learn. We listen to our customers – they are informing our roadmap. In addition to product improvements, we’ve added 13 new cloud applications to help us serve our customers better such as Zoom rooms and online training.
Mac Anderson, Fonteva co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, delivered an exciting roadmap of features to be unveiled over the next year. His mantra: “No Code, No Time, No Problem” set the tone for the last general session of the day that focused on customer feedback and interaction around features and functionality for Fonteva Events. If audience engagement was any barometer, the Events product will thrive as collective insights help continue to shape it as the preeminent solution for events.
As we shared at the start, our entire team at Fonteva can’t thank our customers and sponsor partners enough for a successful 2018 and productive two days together! Our past, present, and exciting future is truly a testament to the passion and engagement of Fontevans, customers, and partners. The combination is a force to be reckoned with and has resulted in a business with products that make us incredibly proud. We can wait to connect with you all in the year ahead and reunite again at FUNcon ‘19!