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Highlights of P21WWUG Connect 2021 in Atlanta

Catherine Sulskis
August 24, 2021 |

P21WWUG CONNECT is an annual event for members to come together from all across the world to share knowledge, network and make meaningful connections. The Prophet 21 WorldWide User Group board hosted the most recent 2021 event at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Atlanta, Georgia and it would be held from August 15-17. 

They presented a well put together event with a variety of classes taught by fellow members, Epicor, third-party solution providers, and guest speakers. This was offered alongside sponsors and vendors from various fields, which we were proud to be a part of as Gold Sponsors for our fifth year of partnership with P21WWUG.

At DCKAP, we had a great experience during the 2021 P21 Conference. After landing on Saturday night in Atlanta, Georgia on August 14th and getting a good night’s sleep, we were ready for our first day of the event and a very full agenda ahead!

P21WWUG CONNECT 2021

Pre-Event

Our schedule started in the early afternoon on Sunday, August 15th with first hosting a special lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Downtown Atlanta, just a few minutes walk from the Hyatt Regency hotel. There we met with several of our customers, prospects and partners and enjoyed a really good meal and great conversation together. We were happy to learn more about them all, as well as get some of their feedback on working with us and the DCKAP team. Thankfully, everyone had wonderful things to say, and we’re honored and proud that we’ve been able to create these beneficial relationships with each of them.

Table 1 hosted by Catherine Sulskis

 

Table 2 hosted by Karthik Chidambaram

 

After lunch, we headed back over to the hotel to get our booth put together and ensure everything was ready for the meet and greets with the many attendees of the conference. It was a simple setup to create our station and display our products, and we even used an ingenious support system to ensure the projector stayed on target. Thanks to our plush mascots, the DCKAP #Rhinos, who came to the rescue!

 

Day One

To start things off, we attended a couple of informative sessions on the first day and learned more about Epicor and the P21WWUG community and how they’ve been able to host these conferences every year. We learned that Epicor does an estimated $900M in revenue per year and CD&R purchased them for approximately $4.7B. There are currently around 230 customers on P21 Cloud, and they receive about 10,000 orders a day, with an estimated 7,000 daily users from five countries.

The Welcome Reception began at 6:30 PM EST. With hand sanitizer at the ready, partaking in hand washing at regular intervals and our masks ready for any crowds, we were ready to go before the time came and very excited to get things started!

Karthik & Catherine P21WWUG Booth

We were able to share several of our branded backpacks to some of our customers, and it was great to see them sporting the DCKAP backpacks at the onset of the networking event. We met with many wonderful people during this time, including several of our customers, prospects, and partners, as well as some key folks at Epicor.

Backpacks at P21 Connect

Our products DCKAP Integrator (Cloras) and DCKAP PIM (flexiPIM) were front and center at our booth, making sure to let everyone know how we could help them with their goals to succeed in eCommerce. We also hosted a fun and educational game to help #SaveTheRhino, where attendees could share random rhino facts and tag us on social media to win a gift card. It was really well received and it was great to share some awareness about our beloved mascot.

Rhino Facts

We had a lot of brand recognition in all, and we’re extremely thankful that our presence grows at this event every year. This being our fifth year in Partnership with P21WWUG, we were proud of the welcoming we received. Thanks to everyone who came by to visit with us during the reception. Overall, we had a great Day One at the event!

The only thing missing was having Tim Diep with us, our amazing Customer Success Manager at DCKAP who spearheaded our involvement with the event, and we’re all keeping prayers for him to get well soon and come back from being ill. Some of the folks at the conference were kind enough to ask about Tim and enquire about his health. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and kind wishes as he recovers. We’re sure he would have loved to be there with us.

Day Two

Catherine at P21WWUG Booth

With our feet on the ground early, starting at 6:30 AM on Monday, August 16th, we were ready for another full day on the agenda. It was refreshing to be back at an event venue and meeting with customers and prospects in person after a year of virtual experiences. After a delicious breakfast provided at the venue, we began another prosperous day of networking.

Coffee and Breakfast at P21

Day two held a full day of classes with several breaks for networking with attendees, and the DCKAP booth was a hit among many of them. Our plush rhinos drew in regular visits, and many people already knew of us or were very excited to learn more about our company and how our solutions can help them to grow in the eCommerce space. 

We also enjoyed having one of our amazing clients, Kendall Ducote, Vice President Technology at Moody Price on deck to help us discuss our success together with some of our prospective customers. It’s always great to be able to share the details of how our products and support has been able to contribute to greater sales and the growth of their company.

Kendall & Karthik at P21 Connect

In the evening, the wonderful event coordinators put together a great dinner and networking to be at the renowned Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. While there, we were able to enjoy all the amazing exhibits with delicious food and a stocked bar of drinks at the ready alongside the crowd of attendees. We had a great time mingling with all the people and the animals!

Georgia Aquarium

 

Sea Dragon Aquarium

From a variety of saltwater fish and Sea Dragons to many species of Sharks, the aquarium was full of many intriguing exhibits and they had experts there to help explain them along the way. It was a very fun way to network with everyone who joined the event, and we were sincerely impressed with the great entertainment, the delicious food, and the wonderful conversations had there.

Sharks Aquarium

 

Karthik & Zach at Aquarium

Among the many hundreds attending, Karthik Chidambaram was able to meet and speak with an Olympic Silver medalist, Zach Garrett, and chat about the challenges of competing in the archery event. It goes to show, you never know who you will meet at these events and how you will be inspired!

Day Three

After experiencing two successful days of the event, we were very excited for the final day that began at 7:00 AM on Tuesday, August 16th. This was the morning of our presentation, “eCommerce, Smart Integrations & PIM: A Complete Solution for P21”. The session was led by Karthik Chidambaram (Founder & CEO at DCKAP), alongside our esteemed client, Midland Scientific, featuring Rodrigo Neves (Director of IT) and Hans Leong (Lead Website Developer). 

It started at 8:30 AM in a professional classroom near the ballroom where the booths were stationed. After setting things up and getting everything ready, we began the session and went through the full experience. We’re happy to say it was a good turnout and we had a great conversation with some insightful questions after the presentation from those who attended.

P21WWUG Connect Session 1

 

P21WWUG Connect Session 2

 

P21WWUG Connect Session 3

Afterwards, we went back to networking from our booth station, enjoyed a nice lunch, and continued to meet many wonderful people from many different backgrounds.

In the evening on day three, it was finally time to pack up and get everything ready to come back home. And almost every plush rhino we brought found a home, which we were very happy for. Thanks to the P21WWUG and their event leader, Cheryl Richardson, for an amazing experience altogether. We’re already looking forward to next year!

Post-Event

After the event was packed up and completed, we took some time to enjoy the city and check out some of the area while riding the local electric scooters. It was great to also have a moment to enjoy some of what the city had to offer after experiencing such a successful conference.

Downtown Atlanta Skyline

 

Georgia Tech Campus

 

Atlanta Fountain

In all, it was great to be at the P21 Connect event and in the city of Atlanta. Thank you to everyone who attended, visited with us, and helped us to make it a great success!

Catherine Sulskis

Catherine works with the marketing team at DCKAP writing compelling content, strategizing and leading various marketing projects, helping to broaden the brand and the company mission, and producing the Driven by DCKAP podcast. With an educational background in creative writing and sociology, and having worked in partnership building and being focused in the tech industry for most of her career, she has a special affinity for the power of connection, compelling storytelling and the future of technology.

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