Earlier this month, we held our annual conference at the Pullman King George Hotel here in Brisbane. It was a wonderful weekend and a great time was had by all.
Once again, this year we had a huge number of franchisees attend the conference from all over Australia, with some travelling from as far as Perth.
It was a weekend full of many laughs, and lots of learning and sharing. This year it was apparent yet again, that our franchisees simply love catching up with each other and sharing their tips and tricks. Conference is a great time for them to connect, share ideas and talk about all things Gutter-Vac.
We kicked off the conference on Thursday night with a meet and greet, where everyone got the chance to relax, chat and meet the new faces in the crowd. It was a great night, overlooking a beautiful view of the city.
When Friday morning rolled around, everyone was definitely ready for more. We dived straight into presentations on customer service, pressure cleaning and blogging, before spending the afternoon playing a team building game and listening to some wonderful panel sessions on corporate business and contract compliance. There was definitely a lot of discussion, and a lot of brilliant ideas were bounced around.
Our team building game this year involved blindfolds, multiple teams and building blocks, and I can assure you, there were a lot of laughs as everyone crawled around on the ground trying to get their bearings. While it was very entertaining, it was also very educational as everybody learnt to work as a team and discovered new things about themselves.
Saturday was a day of more informative sessions, and a lot of brainstorming! This year we set up the conference so that it facilitated more discussion than in previous years, and it was a real success. From social media and blogging, to staffing, to pressure cleaning and debt collection – everything was covered.
Our awards dinner that night topped off a brilliant weekend. It is always wonderful to be able to acknowledge the excellent work that our franchisees do. This year we added a new award, the Outstanding Customer Service Award, and it was awarded to Clint and Sam McCoy from Coffs Harbour. We really pride ourselves on customer service, so it was wonderful to be able to recognise the great year that Clint and Sam have had. The other winners were Tim and Madonna Grinter (Cairns), winners of the 2016 National Single Franchisee award, Steve and Wendy Hamby (Sunshine Coast South) first runners up, and Bruce and Suzanne Liddell (Mildura) who were the second runners up. The 2016 National Duel Franchisee award went to Norman and Susan Dodds (Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven). Thomas and Sarella Kessel (Midland, Joondalup and Wanneroo) and Andrew Luke (Moonee Valley and Central Victoria) were the first and second runners up respectively. The 2016 National Multi Franchisee award was awarded to Phillip Valencour (Brisbane Central, Brisbane North, Brisbane North East and Brisbane North West). Mike and Marie Downey (Adelaide Central, Adelaide South, Adelaide Outer North, Adelaide Hills and the Northern Territory) were the first runners up and Peter Hayne (ACT South, ACT North, Sutherland Shire and Sunshine Coast North) came in as the second runner up.
We are now looking forward to our 2018 conference in Adelaide, South Australia! It will be a very tough job to top yet another great conference, but we are definitely up for the task!
