by Bob McAdam
TWENTY YEARS of in-person Directions NA was celebrated in early April at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, NV, and a wonderful time was had by all! With just shy of 1400 in attendance, it was the largest Directions NA event in the history of this BC partner-only gathering. The event site was quite large, so all attendees had ample room to network with each other and relax near several pools on the property. Personally, I’d like to see this event top the 1500 mark next year in Orlando as my trip to Vienna in November for the EMEA version saw more than 3000!
Three consecutive mornings with keynotes were held in The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, which has hosted numerous famous musical acts over the years in the 4600-seat venue. Microsoft had the usual suspects in the Business Central arena up on stage, spent a lot of time focused on practical uses for Copilot within the application, and also announced a new milestone of 45,000 customers using BC. The 40K customer count was announced last summer, so this was an unexpected surprise, not to mention nice to hear. Momentum in this space is more than evident.
Foot traffic at the various hallway kiosks could have been better, indicating that session content was pretty robust. We all spent a decent amount of time in the expo area where meals were served, and opportunities to network were solid. Tasklet & Yaveon had adjacent kiosks in the main hallway, giving us excellent opportunities to discuss our brand new, unique partnership. Microsoft wrapped things up with a wonderful ‘advanced networking opportunity’ by the pool, complete with perfect weather.
Overall, it was a very successful event and everyone I spoke to enjoyed it. I so appreciated watching several Danish colleagues see a unique Las Vegas for the very first time. As many know, it’s never a dull moment in ‘Sin City’, and I’m happy to report that every ‘first timer’ from Denmark that I work with had a glorious time in southern Nevada!
After two consecutive years on the west coast, the Orlando 2026 event is set for late April at the Hyatt Regency Orlando on the famous International Drive. Those who attended ‘Convergence’ conferences in the past will remember this property as ‘The Peabody’, and the official dates are April 27-29, 2026. Weather in central Florida in late April is usually nothing short of fabulous, too, so I hope to see another record-breaking crowd!
