The HawkSoft User Group (HUG) held day-long regional meetings in 6 cities across the country this fall. Nearly 400 agents attended a meeting, beating the attendance numbers from last year, and 45 exhibiting companies attended in at least one city. 55% of attendees had never been to a HUG event before, so we enjoyed seeing so many new faces!
While each regional meeting had the same overall agenda, there were different agent and HawkSoft presenters in each city. Meetings began with coffee and bagels with the exhibitors, as well as HUG lab time where agencies could get hands-on, 1:1 help with HawkSoft. Morning sessions focused on changes coming with the upcoming HawkSoft 6 cloud platform, including overviews of features like Tasks, Activity Tags, Reports, Download Center, and the migration process.
After a lunch break and exhibitor time, the afternoon sessions focused on current HawkSoft features and workflows, including retention workflows, HawkLink, reporting, and commissions and accounting. Meetings ended with solution circles where agencies could network and share ideas on various topics (thank you to our agent moderators!), as well as a happy hour for attendees, allowing them to mingle with other agents in their area.
Take a look at our highlights and photos of each meeting below, and see what attendees had to say about each meeting!
In this article:
Salt Lake City, UT (September 7)
Agent presenters: Brent Thurman, Kelly Endicott, Dan Sage
HawkSoft presenters/attendees: Paul Hawkins (Co-founder & CEO), Matt Aman (CTO), Kenny Hendricks (Director of Partner Integrations)
Special speaker on time management): Mick Hunt (Premier Strategy Box)
Salt Lake City regional meeting attendees
Paul Hawkins presents HawkSoft 6
Feedback from attendees:
"It was even better than expected! Useful tips and tricks, and great to talk with Hawksoft employees."
"Love HawkLink. Had no idea what it was, so exciting to know enough to know I want to do more with it."
"Just wish it was longer - love the information shared from other agencies as well."
Cleveland, OH (September 21)
Agent presenters: Dan Sage, Kelly Endicott
HawkSoft presenters/attendees: Paul Hawkins (Co-founder & CEO), Michael Ley (Director of Network Relations), Ken Scheel (Product Owner)
Product Owner Ken Scheel presents about log notes and activity tags in HawkSoft 6
An attendee speaks with an exhibitor at the exhibit area
Attendees share ideas for their agencies in solution circles
Feedback from attendees:
"I love the interactive part, how to best use HawkSoft, tips and tricks to use it more efficiently."
" I learned so much I didn't know."
Milwaukee, WI (September 28)
Agent presenters: Bogus Handzel, Rikki Donnellan, Lori Wood
HawkSoft presenters/attendees: Paul Hawkins (Co-founder & CEO), Sean Hawkins (Co-founder & Chief Product Officer), Jennifer Thompson (HUG), Ashlie Fox (Product Support)
Attendees at the Milwaukee regional event
Bogus Handzel presents on monthly reporting in HawkSoft
Feedback from attendees:
"It was an 11/10!!! I was not expecting how personable the owners are and how involved they are!"
"It was great to see the upgrades to Hawksoft 6."
"It was helpful to the CSR staff to see how their piece fit into the larger puzzle."
Schaumburg/Chicago, IL (October 3)
Agent presenters: Bogus Handzel, Lori Wood
HawkSoft presenters/attendees: Paul Hawkins (Co-founder & CEO), Matt Aman (Chief Technology Officer), Darrin DeFouw (Sr. Product Owner), Kenny Hendricks (Director of Partner Integrations), Lisa Floyd (HawkSoft Managed Accounting)
Bogus Handzel and Paul Hawkins welcome attendees
Sr. Product Owner Darrin shows off the new Download Center in HawkSoft 6
Feedback from attendees:
"It was great to learn how Bogus manages and uses reports, not just what they are."
"It was really great to attend and meet everyone. The meetings and discussions gave me ideas and ways to see things differently. It was also great to see a CEO listen to what we had to say and tell his people to make notes to make changes happen. Very refreshing."
"Great event, didn't know what to expect being my first and will definitely go again. Time and money well spent! Thank you!!”
Orlando, FL (October 12)
Agent presenters: Sharon McNaughton
HawkSoft presenters/attendees: Sean Hawkins (Co-founder & Chief Product Officers), Brian Hawthorne (Product Owner), Brian Mitchell (Product Support)
Attendees at the Orlando regional event
Brian from HawkSoft helps attendees with HawkSoft during lab time
Feedback from attendees:
"Can't wait for the changes coming with the cloud-based format."
"Our office is very excited about HawkSoft 6! Loved how receptive HawkSoft was on user feedback during the meeting. Love how you are partnering with many vendors, etc to make our jobs even just a little bit easier. Thank you so much for having this convention. I truly learned so much!”
Long Beach, CA (October 26)
Agent presenters: Dirk Zeigler, John Crawley, Leigh Blackwell-Zellmer
HawkSoft presenters/attendees: Paul Hawkins (Co-founder & CEO), Matt Aman (Chief Technology Officer), Javier Torres (Senior Product Manager)
Attendees at the Long Beach regional event
Agents speak with exhibitors
Dirk Ziegler welcomes attendees
Feedback from attendees:
"I love the way Leigh thinks about things and the ideas she presented about retention bonus, etc. They were not all HawkSoft specific, but helpful to get ideas."
"I took one of our teammates and she was so excited about what she learned and conversing with other agents. She came back excited to the office and shared with the rest of the team."
"Very informative. Every presenter had a passion for helping agents, improving processes, growing our businesses."
Thank you for helping make HUG Regional meetings happen!
HawkSoft and HUG want to thank all of the many people who volunteered their time and effort to these meetings, including the planning committees who put together the local agendas and all the agents and HawkSoft employees who presented sessions. You make HUG a fantastic organization!
Ready for the next great HUG event? Registration is open for the 2024 HUG National Conference at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, CA on April 3-5! Don’t miss out on the best education opportunity of the year for your agency Register now to save your seat, and book your room through HUG for a discounted nightly rate. We can’t wait to see you there!
Learn more about HawkSoft User GroupLearn more about the events, webinars, and other resources provided by the HawkSoft User Group.
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