The 2012 joint TrulinX and Tribute user's group meeting was held last week at the Renaissance Cleveland hotel in Cleveland, OH. The meeting brought in 124 attendees from 62 companies. We are happy that so many of you 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 began the User's Group meeting on Tuesday with a welcome from Tribute president Tim Reynolds, a recap of personnel changes and programming updates from Tribute and TrulinX, and new features to be completed in the upcoming year. Mark Tomalonis of WarehouseTWO followed with a talk on effective business communication. Mark's common-sense tips included: leave focused voice mail messages, go talk to your coworker a few steps away face-to-face instead of sending an email, and never begin an email message with "Hey". Mark then wrapped up our general session with a speech on "Excess Inventory:  How to Prevent, Identify and Reduce It".

On Tuesday evening, Tribute and TrulinX customers were welcomed with a reception in the elegant Ambassador Room at the hotel.

Our breakout sessions were held on Wednesday and Thursday. TrulinX and Tribute had some separate breakouts, while others were combined and relevant to all users. These included presentations on bill of materials processing, accounting, credit card processing, report writing, customer consignment, importing/exporting data, EDI, social media, new features, and "tips and tricks". Users also participated in roundtable discussions on subjects such as cycle counting, rebates, and best practices for "going live". We hope our attendees left with new knowledge about Tribute and TrulinX to take home to their businesses and put into action.

We also send a big "thank you" to Rubber Tree Systems as our Platinum Sponsor and generous sponsor of our teambuilding event (otherwise known as "beer pong tournament"). We also send huge thanks to WarehouseTWO, Tour de Force CRM, Enlighten.Net, 3Delta Systems (3DSI) and Parker Hannifin Corporation who also attended the meeting. All of these vendors provide very important products and services and we hope to see them at the 2013 meeting.

Naturally we had to interject some fun into our conference as well. On Wednesday evening we enjoyed the President's Dinner, which was held at Pickwick and Frolic restaurant and comedy club. Everyone savored the great food and three funny comedians, all with their own style. (Please send us a photo if you try those red tinted contact lenses!) It was a great opportunity to have fun and network as a large combined group.

Coincidentally, our conference was held at the same time as Marine Week in Cleveland. Many folks stepped outside the hotel to Public Square and enjoyed a fine display of helicopters, artillery, a tank, Humvees, and other equipment, along with concerts and demonstrations by the U.S. Marine Corps.

Several new officers and committee members were also elected at the meeting. We decided to hold one business meeting and elect a single combined slate of officers representing both Tribute and TrulinX, while keeping separate priority-setting committees. The current members are:

Officers:

• 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:

• Kirk Downey (Hyspeco)
• Janie Vasu (IMS Company)
• Tim Pritchard (Zemarc Corporation)
• Terry Montefusco (Epperson & Co.)
• John Dewey (Brennan Industries)
• Maria Panza (Progressive Hydraulics)
• Ed Murphy (The Hope Group)

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)
• Betsy Hansen (RJ Vedovell Company) – Class of 2014
• Teresa Freeman (Indiana Fluid Power) – Class of 2014
• Kevin Cutts (Hydraulic and Pneumatic Sales) - Class of 2013 (Term 2)
• Walt Rodgers (Cline Hose and Hydraulics) – Class of 2013 (Term 2)
• Kevin Martin (S. G. Morris Company) – Class of 2013
• Rod Illanes (Hayes Pump) – Class of 2013

We especially appreciate the efforts of last year's presidents, Sybille Hamilton and Eric Bourg (Connector Specialists, Inc.), with all their assistance in the business meeting.

Next year's conference will take place in Denver, with the date yet to be determined. We look forward to another great meeting in 2013!