The 2013 TribNet (TrulinX and Tribute user's group) meeting was held last week at the Denver Marriott City Center in downtown Denver, CO. The meeting brought in 128 attendees from 58 companies. We are pleased that so many of you continue to find value in attending the annual meeting.

The week began with a day of intense work by the TrulinX PPAB and the Tribute Program Review Committee. Members review and rank the TrulinX and Tribute open project lists, which helps determine the direction for future software development.

We officially kicked off the User's Group meeting on Wednesday with a welcome from Tribute president Tim Reynolds and a review of personnel changes and strategic initiatives put in place by Tribute, Inc. this year.

Next, Howard Ives of 3Delta Systems (3DSI) helped us understand how Visa and MasterCard interchange rates work and gave us tips on reducing merchant processing costs by including Level 3 card data in trasactions. On Thursday morning, Tim updated us with the yearly "State of Tribute" address at the President's Forum.

As always we enjoyed some informative breakout sessions. TrulinX and Tribute had some separate breakouts, while others were combined and relevant to all users. These included presentations on inventory management, system maintenance, cash deposits, reports and queries, accounting tips, credit card processing, and several other subjects. Users also participated in roundtable discussions on subjects such as progress billings, EDI, emailing, and social media. The sessions were well attended and hopefully everyone left with new knowledge about Tribute and TrulinX to take home to their businesses.

We also send huge thanks to Rubber Tree Systems and Tour de Force CRM for their sponsorship of the meeting, along with Enlighten.Net, 3Delta Systems, Harland Technology Services, and WarehouseTWO for exhibiting. We were also pleased to welcome representatives from Qantel Technologies, Parker Hannifin Corporation, Eaton Corporation, and Dixon Valve who also attended the meeting. All of these vendors provide very important products and services and we hope to see them at the 2014 meeting.

Of course, our meeting was not all work with no play! On Wednesday evening we experienced fun and games at a reception at Allie's American Grille. On Thursday evening we enjoyed the President's Dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Everyone enjoyed yummy food and unique Denver brews while we mingled and played some pool.

It was a wonderful opportunity to have fun and network as a big combined group. Many attendees also enjoyed marvelous dining, shopping, Rockies baseball, and sightseeing in and around Denver.

Several new officers and committee members were also elected at the meeting. We are now holding one business meeting where we will elect a single combined executive board representing both Tribute and TrulinX, while keeping separate priority-setting committees. The current members are:

Executive Board members:

• President: Sybille Hamilton (Seals Unlimited)
• Vice-President: Emily Thompson (Hose\Conveyors, Inc.)
• Secretary: Brian Teddlie (Wilson Company)
• Membership Chairperson: Delilah Wirtjes (Monarch Automation, Inc.)

Tribute Program Review members:

• Dennis Boragine (The Hope Group)
• Maria Panza  (Progressive Hydraulics)
• Janie Vasu  (IMS Company)
• Jessica Robersom (Rocklin Hydraulics)
• Tim Pritchard (Zemarc Corporation)
• Terry Montefusco (Epperson & Co.)
• John Dewey (Brennan Industries)

TrulinX Program Priority Assignment Board (PPAB) members:

• Bryan Green (George E. Booth Company) - Class of 2014
• Samantha Berndt (Hart Industries) - Class of 2014 (Term 2)
• Lennette Brunker (R J Vedovell Company) - Class of 2014
• Teresa Freeman (Indiana Fluid Power) - Class of 2014
• Dana Sadowski (Hyquip, Inc.) - Class of 2015
• Sarah Kacsur (General Rubber Company) - Class of 2015
• Katie Smith (S. G. Morris Company) - Class of 2015
• Rod Illanes (Hayes Pump) - Class of 2015 (Term 2)

We especially appreciate the efforts of president, Sybille Hamilton, with all her assistance in the business meeting, and also Membership Chair Delilah Wirtjes with her help in contacting members and encouraging them to join TribNet and attend the conference.

Next year's conference will take place in northeast Ohio, with the date yet to be determined. We look forward to another great meeting in 2014!