Greetings everyone. I’m back in the office after a fantastic week in Melbourne with some of the Storman team for the Self Storage Association of Australasia’s (SSAA’s) annual convention & tradeshow – and what a wonderful event! I’ve included my convention blog below (scattered with photos throughout) – feel free to leave a comment at the end.
Tuesday 30th August
The convention kicked off on Tuesday morning with the concurrent O-Day and Optional Educational Sessions taking place from 8:30am onwards. Ben Williams led the “Modernise your Self Storage Software Experience” educational session, with a large number of people in attendance.
I spoke for about 45 minutes during Ben’s session, with a section titled “Modernise your Self Storage Marketing”. A number of attendees expressed an interest in knowing more about marketing in the self storage industry – so I’ve created another post on that exact topic for you here.
Tuesday afternoon saw the majority of the conference attendees board buses for the annual Facility Tour, which saw regular delegates visit three local self storage facilities and the O-Day group visiting one facility.
Following the facility tours, delegates returned to the tradeshow area to explore the latest offerings from industry Service Members such as Storman. Those that visited our booth were able to see;
- BPAY Payments
- Xero Integration
- Storman Reporting Online
- Our new Client Knowledgebase
- Storman Moveins Online (test drive it here)
- Storman Payments Online (test drive it here)
- Storman Reservations Online
- Storman Hub
- The Storman API (read more here)
- Our latest v10.0.14 release – you can download a trial here
Wednesday 31st August
On Wednesday, the plenary sessions kicked off with a variety of local & international guest speakers keeping delegates up to date with the latest industry gossip, sales tactics, marketing tips and legal information to ensure they can make the most of their self storage facilities & take advantage of the latest industry trends.
Delegates were treated to some fantastic food during the breaks, which were also held in the tradeshow area.
On Wednesday evening, a number of delegates took part in the “Industry Leaders Dinner”; a social gathering for members to enjoy a meal & conversion with key industry players. I attended the group that headed over to Cumulus Inc, a delightful cafe / bar with an upmarket menu, in old rag trade building with Guy Wilson (of Fort Knox Melbourne) and Susan Phillips (the CEO of the SSAA).
Thursday 1st September
Today was the final day of the convention – with delegates taking part in a number of plenary sessions on crime prevention, sales and social media. The tradeshow also drew to a close today, with service members packing up the trade stands in the afternoon and the evening drawing to a close with the annual Gala Awards Dinner with a number of well-deserved awards being awarded to facilities in both Australia and New Zealand.
Thank you to everyone who came and saw our team at the Storman stand. It was a great opportunity, as always, to put faces to names and to walk you through everything we have on offer. I look forward to seeing you in Queenstown in 2017 for the SSAA Summit!
Until next time…
