Presenters & Staff for 2019
Beginner Eclipse Training: Michael StarkmanIntermediate Eclipse Training: Keith Vincent
Advanced Eclipse Training: Jeremy Thorne
Voice Eclipse Training: Jennifer Thompson
Realtime Coach: Marybeth Everhart
Sound & Audio Training: Chris Carfagno
SearchMaster Software: Lynda Barker
Punctuation Seminar(s): Margie Wakeman Wells
Tech Seminars: Scott Friend
ESP Network Staff: John & Marybeth Everhart, Angie Ryder, Erik Hedin, Scott Friend, Jennifer Thompson
Technical Support: Angie Ryder, Erik Hedin, Scott Friend
2019 Conference Wrap Up
Bally's, Las Vegas has been such an amazing home for us since moving here from the Flamingo many years ago, and each year seems to get better and better! We had a really incredible event this year, with a LOT of positive energy thanks to fresh faces and the addition of several new vendors that joined us to keep the breaks busy and productive. From an organizer's standpoint, this was probably one of our smoothest years in memory thanks to some incredible preparation and streamlining techniques applied by John and Marybeth Everhart. Moving our event five months back, from April to September, was a big change for us, and the general conscientious has been incredibly positive. The weather in Las Vegas was still really pleasant, there was no change in the services or entertainment offerings, and there was a noticeable decrease in the tourist population at that time of year. So it was faster to get into restaurants, bars and entertainment venues, which was a pleasant surprise for nearly everyone in attendance!
Michael Starkman rejoined our presenters staff this year, lending his amazing teaching talents to our Basic Eclipse Training course, as well as providing on-site personal training for attendees who wished to take advantage of that additional service. Our good friend Steve Kosmata had an emergency and had to cancel his appearance as instructor for the Basic Training class, so a big thanks to Michael for stepping up to fill the role. Keith Vincent and Jeremy Thorne returned once again this year and did a masterful job presenting our Intermediate and Advanced level Eclipse Training suites, respectively. Also joining our staff this year were a few new faces from our friends at eVerbatim, including Erik Hedin, along with his girlfriend and infant daughter, who stole the show! Erik joined the eVerbatim team just under a year ago and has been spearheading their technical support efforts as well as their custom laptop configurations. Also returning this year was the incredible Margie Wakeman Wells, who rejoined us to present a PAIR of seminars on Saturday and Sunday, a real treat since we usually only have her for a single event before she jets out!
Our Saturday evening reception and raffle drawing was a blast this year, and, as usual, LOADS of great prizes were handed out. Master of Ceremonies, Marybeth Everhart, kept everyone on their toes, and the addition of a little background music seemed to relax everyone just a bit more than usual. At this year's raffle we gave away almost $5,000 worth of toys and tech, including several iPads and laptops, plus LOTS of donated items from our friends and vendors. Each of our new vendors was also given a chance to make a quick presentation to the crowd, and then it was back to the festivities and enjoying the wonderful heavy appetizers provided by the Users' Group for this social event.
As always, we are infinitely grateful to have such an amazing user base and an incredible team of presenters and staff. As is the case with the evolution of the Eclipse Software we all know and love, we feel our meetings and attendees seem to just get better every year, in no small part because we continue to listen to our audience. The lessons we learn, mistakes we make, and the comments we receive after each event are always taken seriously and help us shape everything that follows. Attendee feedback is the vital ingredient that makes our conference the premier Eclipse training event, year after year. Once again, thank you for another amazing conference and we look forward to seeing everyone again in 2020!