Another successful UnionWare Summit has concluded.
UnionWare Summit 2018, our 14th, was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada between October 2nd and 4th, 2018.
The host hotel was the Westin Nova Scotian.
Unions Attended
Individuals Attended
First-time Attendees
Members Represented
Halifax Facts
- It is the capital city of Nova Scotia, founded in 1749.
- It is a major economic and cultural centre in Atlantic Canada.
- A massive explosion of a cargo ship in 1917 killed over 2,000 people.
- Halifax Harbour is the second largest ice-free natural harbour in the world after Sydney, Australia.
- Halifax played a role in the rescue attempt after the Titanic sunk in 1912.
- The average high temperature in October is 14 ℃ (57 ℉).
- There are more pubs per capita than any other city in Canada.
The Westin Nova Scotian
The hotel opened in 1930 as the Nova Scotian Hotel after being built by the Canadian National Railway as part of the construction of a new Union station near Halifax’s Pier 21 ocean liner terminal. Halifax’s grande dame has seen royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana.
CN sold the property in the 1980s, and after several owners, the building was closed and scheduled for demolition. In 1996 with only a week before crews were to begin, the historic building was spared and soon became a Westin property.
The Westin Nova Scotian
Halifax Stanfield International Airport
Summit 2018 kicked off with a special session of UnionWare University. University began bright and early on October 2nd as a lead-up to Summit. More than 30 eager students attended this day-long deep dive into everything UnionWare. With so many topics to cover, our trainers split up and taught topics ranging from cases and finance administration to searching, grid layouts and dashboards.
Like in 2016, a technical track was included in the curriculum. Representatives from our Product Department not only gave attendees a look behind the curtain but also a unique view of different types of users and their interactions with UnionWare. They also provided insight into all the ways there are to access data, plus some recommendations for making your UnionWare experience as fast and efficient as possible.
Next up was the Welcome Reception, held on Tuesday evening in the Westin’s Atlantic Ballroom.
Attendees enjoyed refreshments and snacks (including a do-it-yourself Donair station) as they mingled, before being treated to an Irish dancing performance by Zeph Dance Company. A few lucky attendees even got a chance to learn some moves.
The meetings spread over two consecutive days. Day one began with client introductions followed by a few updates from us. Next up was a popular session we call “Client Stories”, where our Client Representatives described some of the more exciting customizations we’ve done for our clients.
- A right-to-work roundtable discussion followed by a session highlighting ways our software can help fight it.
- A presentation on voting and elections by Vogo.
- A details review of available options for training.
We often keep the location of the evening event a secret, and this Summit was no different.
In 2018, we chose to entertain our guests at the Waterfront Warehouse restaurant.
The fun-filled evening included a classic East Coast lobster dinner (complete with a lobster parade) and featured a live band known as Merimac.
Sociable!
Day two featured another full schedule.
We all began with a review of some of the hidden gems from the UnionWare family, plus some brand new things.
More breakout sessions followed, including:
- An interactive exercise where we prioritized ideas for the product.
- A session on best practices in maintaining UnionWare in your organization.
- A review of the latest Organizing features.
- Stories on how we’ve integrated with third parties.
- Strategies for improving member engagement.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
We sincerely hope everyone who joined us had as much fun and learned as much as we did. Thank you to everyone who made this year’s Summit possible.
Until next time!
The 2018 Summit Team