With Tensoft’s FSM User Conference approaching and Microsoft’s User Conference just past, I’ve had user conferences on my mind lately.  These events are rarely money-makers for the vendors and are often inconvenient for the customers, so it’s easy to wonder if all the trouble is worthwhile for anyone.  My experience on both sides has been that it is, but not for the reasons that you might think. 

You might think, for example, that all of the amassed conference content would provide the key benefit to attendees.  However, over the years that Tensoft has been hosting an annual User Conference, we’ve learned that our customers may benefit from the in-depth discussions and presentations that we’ve put together for them, but they’re really more interested in learning how other customers are managing their businesses.  As a result, we’ve shifted to our agenda to accommodate this. 

You might also think that these conferences primarily benefit vendors by giving them a forum to promote additional products.  On the contrary, Tensoft quickly discovered that the group discussions with customers provided a product roadmap for the next year, allowing us to add enhancements that our customers not only wanted, but had discussed with each other and reached some consensus about exactly what would be most useful to the majority of end users, based on industry best practices. 

This process of discovery through discussion with - and among – our customers has proven to be a powerful tool for improving our products and increasing customer satisfaction.  But it should not be confused with giving each customer what they ask for individually.  Early in Tensoft FSM’s development, one of our advisors cautioned us to avoid being overly influenced by any one customer’s needs and wants, which can sometimes simply be a reflection of the way that one company does business, not an  industry best practice.   Good advice, which our User Conference has helped us follow. 

So, why wouldn’t every software company take the time and effort to hold an annual User Conference?  There’s the time and expense involved, of course, but I suspect that most could find some way to overcome that.   The bigger issue to overcome is the one faced by companies who didn’t follow the advice that we were given, or who provide highly customized solutions to their customers – there’s less common ground for discussion among end users, and little hope of delivering enhancements that will benefit the majority.  And, to me, that means the loss of the special alchemy that’s created through discussion, listening and taking action.