QualVegas Kick Off - Day One

The first day of The Fabulous Qualtrax User Conference 2017 was a smashing success! As promised, Elvis was in the building bright and early, ready to welcome attendees from across the country–and also from international locations. Not only do we have diversity represented based on locations, we also have a wide variety of industries present, from crime labs to testing labs, manufacturing to energy and utility companies.

Our CEO, Amy Ankrum welcomed the attendees and then introduced a video we are especially proud of. What makes us proud of this video is that it personifies our purpose, it was a video of our customers sharing how Qualtrax has impacted compliance within their organization, for the better.

After the video we were excited to hear a keynote address from Dr. Eli Jamison. Dr. Jamison is a professor from Virginia Tech and came to speak to us about “Quality, Organizational Culture, and the Gamble for Success.” She didn’t disappoint! Dr. Jamison brought a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm to the stage as she led us through an interactive and engaging talk about fostering a maintaining a workplace culture truly focused on culture.

Dr. Jamison not only shared her ideas, but she asked all participants to share theirs as well. We paused to talk as small groups at our tables, in order to learn from each other. We shared about our own culture of quality within our industries and workplaces. We discussed the specific aspects of our work environment that support the idea that quality matters. Dr. Jamison also helped us understand the increased need for focus on quality, as productivity has skyrocketed across most industries as of late. So how can we sum up an amazing keynote in a brief statement? How about this:

What maintains the quality improvement culture? People who believe it matters.

Following the keynote we broke up into our first sessions for the day. Depending on the session, attendees learned about topics like workflow HTML tips, getting the most out of trainin

gs, and the benefits of hosted. After a brief (and delicious) lunch break we dove right back in with sessions about being a system administrator (basic and advanced options), document control (basic and advanced), and new product features.

One first-time QUC attendee, Ashley Robinson a Criminalist San Diego County Sheriff’s Crime Lab commented, “Everything is Relevant!” Another first-time attendee, Jill Franke with the State of Arkansas Veterinary Diagnostic Lab shared, “I’m getting a lot out of it since I’m a newbie. From asking questions to networking with other users and seeing how they use Qualtrax.”

Yep, our conference attendees worked hard and learned a lot! As promised though, not only would they learn a lot but they’d also “live it up”. We wrapped up the day with a delicious dinner against the backdrop of the Virginia Tech Hahn Horticulture Gardens. The weather was perfect and the sunset was picturesque. It gave us the opportunity to get to know each better as we enjoyed live music, played corn hole, and relaxed after our day of intensive training. We didn’t stay out too late though–tomorrow will require us to be on our A-game as we face another fun and exciting day of training at the Fabulous Qualtrax User Conference!