The NOW18 Conference in Kansas City was another great opportunity for us to see Maestro Communities, welcome several new Maestro users, and continue learning new tactics for downtown revitalization.
We’ve been attending the NOW Conference since it was the National Main Streets Conference, and there are always positive things to take away from the experience. In addition to having a booth at the conference, we always try to take advantage of the continuing education that is offered at the conference as well, and this year was no exception.
There are always great sessions offered, and we love hearing about new opportunities or strategies for success. Yes, it benefits us as we develop Maestro as well, but as a group we are passionate about downtown revitalization and the NOW Conference is a great opportunity to fan those flames. The conference is packed full of informative sessions and we were able to bring back new things that we’re already talking about how to incorporate into Maestro.
This year, I was lucky enough to be selected to present a crash course at the conference as well. My session, Planning for Success: The Key to Volunteer Recruitment, was on the third morning, at 8:30 AM. Now, I’ll be honest, I’ve been going to the conference long enough to know that may have been a short straw when it came to scheduling. I was prepared for the course, but I fully anticipated I would be sharing my knowledge with 7-8 dedicated souls who got up early and weren’t in one of the deep dive sessions. I was astonished to find out just how wrong my expectations were. The room was nearly full and people must have had their coffee early that morning because everyone seemed to be completely engaged, asking questions and offering their input. It was absolutely fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for better. As a presenter I was on cloud 9.
I must say, the team at the Missouri Main Street Connection did a fantastic job with the NOW18 Conference. Gayla and her team put together a fantastic event, and everyone that I talked to was talking about the quality of the sessions. The events, such as the Welcome Reception and Big Bash were terrific. Kudos on a job very well done. Each of these Coordinating Programs (Bill last year, Gayla this year) has an enormous task. They manage the conference all while still maintaining the level of service the programs have come to expect, and certainly these last two years have taught those who will follow how to do it with class.
The Maestro booth was also busy the entire time. From the moment they opened their doors until the time we took down the booth, there was always someone to talk to. Often, we seemed to have two or three people waiting to ask their question, get a demo, or sign up for Maestro. We were so excited to get so many new communities to sign up for Maestro.
This year was extra special because the conference was close enough that several of our staff members were able to come over for a day and experience the conference. I am usually the guy who gets to to travel for Maestro, and it was truly exciting for me that the team that works so hard to build and grow Maestro was able to share in some of the successes this time around. We got to see the excitement and passion of the Main Streeters, and hear success stories from our users, and celebrate as a team.
