Daylight's First Annual User Conference Serves as Key Information Exchange Hub

Daylight Software's first-ever Annual User Conference - held at the beginning of summer - at Bellagio in Las Vegas - drew about 150 users and technical developers and supporters of customer-centric Daylight enterprise and Daylight ASP. The event's three days of technology training sessions and open information exchanges on industry trends, emerging challenges and opportunities, and related best practices proved to be a valuable tool for helping users better leverage their Sales and Catering applications while also helping them more closely and actively shape today's and tomorrow's leading-edge solutions.

'Having nearly 150 attendees at our 1st Annual User Conference exceeded our best hopes and proved what we had suspected all along: That Daylight's applications have reached a critical mass of users who are eager to share and learn from one another the tips and tricks of the trade in using our software to increase sales and productivity while reducing operating costs,' said William A. Duncan, president and CEO of Portsmouth, N.H.-based Daylight Software. 'Our agenda was focused on giving our end users specific information they could take back to their properties and put to work immediately to capture an even greater competitive advantage ... The Daylight Advantage.'

Training & Sharing
'Training is one of the biggest challenges we face,' remarked attendee Mike Pratt, Corporate Director of Sales and Marketing for Magnolia Hotels. 'The advantage of attending this conference was the sharing of information between users. Being able to see how other properties are using the system and the integration of it into their business plan is extremely helpful to my own plans of utilizing Daylight's solutions to their full capability.'

Gretchen Cox, Regional Sales Operations Manager for Sonesta Hotels & Resorts, stated:
'I really liked the presentations that demonstrated how other users were trying to get as much potential out of Daylight's system as possible. Since I work out of a regional office rather than a specific property, the ability to really ramp-up my use of reporting functionality across the system alone was worth attending the conference. The event's presenters were excellent.'

Constant Client Input
Constantly turning open ears, eyes and minds to clients' existing and emerging needs, Daylight Software conducted a post-conference survey of attendees to help further shape the direction the company drives in 2005 and beyond.

'We need constant, no-holds-barred feedback from our users so we can continually improve the functionality and configurability of Daylight enterprise and Daylight ASP,' Duncan said. 'I've been to many conferences that were simply instructional in nature and while our 1st Annual Users Conference certainly was instructional, attendees were impressed with the amount and level of idea exchange that took place alongside the staged learning.'

Following are just a few of the comments made in the user conference follow-up survey:
• 'I loved the New Report Tools module and the chance to see how other hotels are leveraging the system.'

• 'The conference gave me motivation to use Daylight's applications more aggressively.'

• 'As a brand new user of the Daylight system, it was great to have the opportunity to listen to other users share their experiences integrating and growing with the system.'

• 'I learned a few things that I didn't know about the current release and gained some insight on future enhancements. Some of the features a lot of us have been looking for will be available in the next release; it's great to see that that many of our suggestions do not go unheard.'

• 'My department is definitely not using Daylight to its fullest capacity. I'm excited to begin maximizing our investment!'

• 'It was great to see and meet the Daylight staff. Being able to network with many different Daylight users in all sorts of varied capacities allowed me to find that others love Daylight just as much as I do!'

The Daylight User Conference at Bellagio was an unqualified success in the eyes of both Daylight and its clients. Plans are already being readied for next year's venue and agenda.

'This conference was only the starting point for the increased amount of partnership communication we are looking to continue as a Daylight customer expectation benchmark going forward; stay tuned for next year's 2nd Annual Conference,' said Jim Kenney, Daylight Software Senior VP - Sales & Marketing. 'There is no better way to see and hear how we're doing and what else must be done than to continue to spend quality time focusing on customers and their needs.'

About Daylight Software
A privately-held company headquartered in Portsmouth, N.H., with sales offices in New Hampshire and Arizona, Daylight (www.daylightsoftware.com) is the only global, customer-centric software company dedicated to providing Advanced Sales and Catering (ASC) solutions for the hospitality and gaming industries. Daylight's solutions are CRM-enhanced, flexible and configurable for single or multi-property organizations, including casinos, hotels, resorts, conference centers, and restaurants. Daylight's open architecture enables seamless two-way integration with leading Property Management Systems and other hospitality and Microsoft Office applications. Daylight Software has received several Microsoft Retail Application Development Awards for exemplary customer solutions. Daylight's customers include, among many others, MGM MIRAGE, Sonesta Hotels, Resorts & Nile Cruises, Gaylord Hotels, Morgans Hotel Group, Accor North America, Melrose Hotel Company and Orient Express Hotels.


Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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