In October, hundreds of city leaders and innovators from across the country will convene at Accela’s annual customer conference, Accelarate, in Denver, Colorado. Conference attendees are treated to information- and inspiration-filled days of keynote presentations, workshops, product training, customer panel sessions and networking opportunities with colleagues, product experts and Accela staff. But this year, we are introducing new elements to the conference for even more value-add. Here are seven reasons to be excited about what’s in store at Accelarate 2019.
Denver Simply Rocks
Sometimes, it’s not the journey, it’s the destination, and the Mile High City is the perfect place to support this year’s conference theme, Government Elevated. Surrounded by the rugged peaks of the Rockies, attendees will be immersed in keynote addresses and solution training that will inspire them to aim higher to transform citizen service delivery in their communities. If schedules allow, plan to bookend the conference with a few extra days to explore the many outdoor attractions around the city. From family-friendly attractions, museums, and gardens to outdoor adventures, bike tours, craft breweries and more, you are certain to enjoy the great city of Denver in fall.
In this 2-minute video, see why our CEO, Gary Kovacs, is excited about our upcoming conference and looking forward to seeing you there!
Killer Keynotes
Keynote speakers are always a conference draw, and this year’s lineup will not disappoint. Accelarate keynotes will feature industry leaders, visionary executives and influencers sharing insights into how technology is helping city leaders build better communities. Day One will welcome Accela’s CEO, Gary Kovacs, who will kick off the event and share the company’s vision, product enhancements and roadmap for ensuring customer success now and into the future, as well as highlight the importance of our growing partner ecosystem.
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson of Gary, Indiana and President of National League of Cities, will follow Kovacs and promote how cities across the country are building thriving communities through resident engagement
Dana Barnes, VP of State and Local Government at Microsoft, joins us on Day Two to talk about the Art of What’s Possible through the Accela and Microsoft partnership, and will then be joining a technology partnership Q&A on stage with other technology visionaries.
Our keynote speaker for Tuesday evening’s Gala Awards dinner will be Alison Levine, a history-making adventurer who served as Team Captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition and spent four years as an adjunct professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She knows a thing or two about leading teams in extreme environments and will be eager to share her thoughts from the edge with conference attendees.
All New Accela Experience Center
Our best products come out of conversations with users like you, and at the Accelarate 2019, we have made it even easier to connect at the Accela Experience Center. Here you can engage with your Accela Experts in Support and Customer Success, learn about our upcoming Accela University Training Center, see demos of products you have been interested in, and influence elements of future product direction—all in one place! Be sure to stop by the Usability Research Lab for a sneak peek at new features under development and future visions in the works. You’ll be able to share your opinion on a range of product features, ideas and concepts. Your input is our best tool for helping you serve your residents better.
3x the Amount of Hands-on Training
Sure, we’ve always offered training on products throughout the conference, but this year, we’ve tripled the amount of training classes available so attendees can choose from a full-range of cutting-edge, hands-on courses on every Accela solution and at all knowledge levels. Whether it’s a day-long scripting course or a shorter session, such as “Ad-hoc Reporting” or “Get Ready for the Cloud”, you’ll be able to easily find great opportunities to deepen your knowledge on the Accela Civic Platform.
More Breakout Sessions
Based on feedback from last year’s conference for more opportunities to get deep on products and best practices, we’ve added a greater number of breakout sessions featuring customers, partners and product experts around the following topics:
- Delivering Exceptional Citizen Experiences
- Creating a Data-Driven Government
- Getting Ahead of Emerging Regulations
- Realizing the Value of the Cloud
- Extending the Accela Civic Platform
- Best Practices/Success Stories
In total, we’re offering more than 60 breakout sessions across 7 different tracks, so attendees can gather additional learnings and networking time with peers. Our breakout session schedule is now available and space in some of our most popular sessions is already filling up, so if you haven’t added these to your agenda yet, be sure to do so soon.
Meet the Accela Ecosystem
This year, the Accela Partner Pavilion will showcase our sponsoring partners and our growing ecosystem of Certified Partners, who will be on-hands throughout the conference. Whether it’s our Services Partners who assist customers on their go live, product enhancements and other strategic Accela projects and integrations, or our Technology Partners whose offerings seamlessly integrate with Accela to add complementary functionality to enhance and expand the Accela solutions they have implemented, or our Value-Added Resellers who assist customers with acquiring solutions from Accela and our partners in the most cost-effective way, the Partner Pavilion will be well-filled with the solutions and tech know-how attendees are looking for.
We Love Celebrating our Customers
We are very excited to have a large platform, such as Accelarate, to recognize the innovative government agencies and leaders elevating progress and better processes in their communities with our annual Trendsetter Awards. Be sure to nominate your agency for one of the nine award categories such as Ultimate Citizen Experience, Civic Hero: Protecting Citizens, and Digital Service Transformation. Winners will be selected based on how the locality or individual elevated their community by harnessing new technologies, automation methods, digital strategies and other modernization methods. Award winners will receive bragging rights, social media promotion and a free pass to Accelarate 2020.
See you in Denver!
