Though Explorations is meant to be 3 days of sessions filled with training, learning, and sharing on nonprofit accounting software and financial management, who says we can’t have fun?

Thursday night we’ll hop on the 16^th Street Mall shuttle to the Denver Pavilions.  Up the escalators awaits our private party at Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge. Lucky Strike features 16 state-of-the-art bowling lanes, 4 billiard tables, a lounge, café and patio. We’ll have dinner and an open bar, so you’ll have time to perfect that gutter gall or call the 8-ball in the corner pocket!

Lucky Strike draws its inspiration from the iconic Hollywood Star Lanes, an institution that served Hollywood for 43 years and was home to the filming of “The Big Lebowski.”  In 2003, it was leveled to make way for a school. But just as the door to one icon closed, another opened. Six years and 18 locations later, Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge continues to roll its way across the country.

The Denver Pavilions is an open-air mall that includes 40 shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues including a movie theater and Lucky Strike.

The party begins at 6pm and ends at 10pm. The 16th Street Free Mall shuttles run late into the night, so you can return to the hotel at your leisure.  The Pavilions is approximately a half mile away if you choose to walk down the pedestrian mall alongside the shuttles.

Explorations 2010 is soon approaching, and if you are deciding whether or not to attend, we hope a preview to some of the training tracks below will sway you in the right direction . A popular topic of this event definitely focuses on reporting, which we will dive further into below!

The Power of Data—Need Reporting Tips or Help Creating Reports?

Back by popular demand!  More reporting sessions designed to help you present data critical for confident planning and decision-making:

• Basic Financial Reports - Create basic reports using the most popular and useful out-of-the-box financial reports.
• Dashboards with Microsoft Technology – Technical users can learn the steps necessary to create dashboards in SharePoint with real-time connection to Navigator’s SQL Server database.
• JET Reporting – Learn the fundamentals of Jet & begin using the Jet Designer functions under Excel to produce your own reports.
• JET Reporting Advanced – Learn advanced features like graphs, nested functions and arrays.
• Reporting Voice of the Client - Identify your reporting pain points and prioritize your needs in this interactive VOC session for reporting.
• SQL Reporting Services – Create different Navigator reports in both tabular and graphical displays.  Experience with report writers recommended.

With a focus on training, networking and enhancing your investment in Navigator, this event will put you miles ahead in achieving more for your mission. Plan on participating in one or more of the following training tracks:

• Financial Management & Beyond
• Maximizing Your Investment
• Data, Metrics and Reports
• Lab and Consultation

View the preliminary agenda. We hope to see you there!

Bestselling Author and Motivational Speaker to Keynote Explorations 2010

We welcome to Explorations 2010 Josh Sundquist, a bestselling author, motivational speaker, and Paralympic ski racer. Josh has spoken across the country to groups ranging from Fortune 500 companies to inner city public schools—to the White House!

Josh’s journey began at age nine, when he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and given a fifty percent chance to live. He spent a year on chemotherapy treatments and his left leg was amputated. Doctors declared Josh cured of the disease at age thirteen and he took up ski racing three years later. He trained for the next six years and in 2006 he was named to the US Paralympic Ski Team for the 2006 Paralympics in Turino, Italy.

Not only is Josh an amazing athlete, but he is also dedicated to helping others.  He served a two-year tenure as the National Spokesperson for the Combined Federal Campaign, an effort that raises over $300 million dollars a year for charities. On top of that, he has been featured on the back of Doritos bags nationwide for being the founder of LessThanFour.org, the world’s largest social networking website for amputees.

Josh received a degree in business from the College of William and Mary and a Master’s in Communications from the University of Southern California. He has been featured on CNN, USA TODAY, and NPR, and his memoir, Just Don’t Fall, was a National Bestseller.  Josh currently lives in Washington, DC.

Serenic is very thankful and honored to have Josh Sundquist be the keynote speaker for Explorations 2010.  For such a large event that caters towards helping nonprofits succeed with their accounting methods and software, we couldn’t think of a better person.  Find out more information about Josh, and Explorations 2010 through the links below!

Serenic Software – Explorations 2010

Josh Sundquist’s Website

Josh Sundquist on Facebook

Josh Sundquist on Twitter

by Randy Copeland, Senior Consultant

I have worked with Navigator for seven years—five years for a VAR and the last two for Serenic Software. I had always heard great things about Explorations – our user conference:  the wonderful people you meet, the informative sessions and learning where Navigator is headed.

With my first Explorations in May 2009, I was eager to see if it could be as good as I had heard.  I was not only attending Explorations, but I was jumping in the deep end as a presenter.  Being a Serenic consultant, I have trained small and large groups my entire career.  I felt nervous trying to live up to the presentations I had heard about from previous Explorations attendees (for those who know me, not a common occurrence).  I had two sessions to present:

1. General Ledger – Views, Account Schedules and Analysis & Report Requests
2. Workflow & Approvals

All the sessions were aimed at training instead of demos of new features.  The training emphasis of the sessions and the One-on-One Sessions were what set Explorations 2009 apart from other software conferences I have attended. Based on my reviews, and the overall conference reviews, we accomplished our goal of increased knowledge.

I had a wonderful time at Explorations 2009!  Networking with Serenic users, partners and staff was extremely valuable.  It was important to be able to meet clients face to face after talking with them via GoToMeeting and other electronic tools.  I was able to spend time with our nonprofit clients, inquiring about their Navigator installation, and discussing their daily accounting challenges.  I also attended sessions where I learned new accounting software tips within Navigator.

Explorations 2009 was different from any other software conference I have attended, and Explorations 2010 looks to be even better.

The feedback from Explorations 2009 was taken to heart and I am glad we will have more Software Consultants available to troubleshoot with users in the One-on-One Sessions.  New sessions have been introduced and training will be enhanced with a consistent approach (I would reveal more but then what would be the fun in that?).  This year, I am going to teach Procurement.  In just two hours, I’ll be covering the process from requisition to purchase order to invoice.  Will be a crash course !

We at Serenic are all working to make Explorations 2010 a conference that you can say was, “the best software conference you have ever attended!” If you have not signed up it is not too late–register here. This is your chance to learn more about Navigator, where Serenic is heading, network with other users in your industry and get help with your daily challenges.  I look forward to meeting you at Explorations 2010.

We, at Serenic, were thrilled to once again be featured as an exhibitor during the 2010 InsideNGO Annual Meeting for finance, grants and contracts. As usual, it was a great time for us to connect with our users and attract potential clientele who shared insights and concerns about their current financial solutions.

This year’s meeting turned out to be great success across the board! Sessions for the 2010 InsideNGO included Stay Ahead of the FASB Curve, Cooking up a Sub-Award, and Indirect Cost in a Cap Environment. We also recently teamed up with InsideNGO to deliver a great webinar.  We look forward to many educational events with them again (and again!).

However, the most common obstacle faced by many of our prospective users  was the lack of integration between  financial software HQ’s and their field office solutions, who’s software often lacks multi-currency capabilities—thus, forcing organizations to use multiple applications to track their projects’ finance and awards. As you can imagine, this can be a real drag because many NGOs  end up having to duplicate their efforts, taking time away from work just to manage and sync their various software applications! Luckily, people were very responsive to our discussions about how Serenic Navigator can consolidate their efforts and overcome these challenges.

As it turned out, this year’s Microsoft World Wide Partner Conference happened to coincide with the InsideNGO Annual Meeting, giving top Serenic executives, like Randy Keith (President and CEO) and Chris Stevenson (VP of Sales), as well as members of Serenic’s Africa-based partner, TechnoBrain, to come out and press the flesh with InsideNGO attendees.

One of the attendees, Denise Graves, Budgeting Administrator at Jhpiego, actually won the $80 Visa Gift Card in our raffle—congrats, Denise! Use it wisely

All in all, the 2010 InsideNGO Meeting was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who attended the sessions, shared their experiences and discussed with us at Serenic their specific needs. It is through these kinds of constructive exchanges that we are able to improve our products in order to better serve you, the clientele.

Brooke and Ryan holding down the Serenic Software booth!

Brooke with Tanya Johnson, Finance Manager at Family Health International

The gentlemen from TechnoBrain, Ltd, our Africa-based partner! Left to Right: Thomas Cullen (VP, US Sales & Marketing), Manoj Shanker (Group CEO), Mahesh Patel (Chairman), Clint Cuny (CEO, USA)

We are excited to share some photos and information from our very first international conference, thanks to Isabelle Bourquin, our Channel Sales Manager based in Europe!  Isabelle was happy to attend the CFDG along with Matthew Dredge, Director of Sales, Touchstone NAV. Ltd. —our new partner based in the UK. Matthew has years of expertise with Navision solutions in the UK, and both Matthew and Isabelle had the pleasure to meet with various charitable organizations during the exhibition.  We are looking forward to our first round meetings with each organization and empowering their missions with accounting software built specifically for nonprofits and NGOs.

The challenging part of the event was setting up our stand and fixing the banner. Luckily, Matthew came to our rescue!

Matthew putting the finishing touches on our sharp looking booth.

The final product!

Some words on CFDG:

The Charity Finance Directors’ Group is an umbrella charity aiming to advance public education and promote improved standards of management in charities. The CFDG vision is a transparent and efficiently managed charity sector that engenders public confidence and trust.  CFDG delivers services to its charity members and the sector at large, which enable those with financial responsibility in the charity sector to develop and adopt best practice.

Founded in 1987, CFDG today is a dynamic network of professionals in charity finance. Started initially by a group of finance directors of large charities who felt they would benefit from sharing information and cooperating in some areas, the organization has grown to currently over 1,500 members and as of February 2009, CFDG’s membership manages a total of over £14 billion of charity income.

Thanks again to the team, and to all who attended for helping this great event come to fruition!

We are excited to share some inside information on the start of our very first International Training this week!  While we’ve gone on-site in the past to teach our courses to new partners, this particular training session is the very first classroom presentation done internationally—with both partners and clients.  Serenic’s very own, Zac, is presenting our new RTC Financial Management course (in W1 version) in Chertsey, which is close to the Heathrow Airport in London.  Courses are being held at the Microsoft facilities in Culverdon House—a very generous thanks to Microsoft, as they are letting us use their facilities at no cost!  Could it get any better?

As I mentioned above, course attendees consist of both partners and clients, which allows for some great discussion and insight on different situations.  Some of the attendees for this week’s course include:  Monier with Tectura Switzerland, and Stéphane and Manos with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

From Left to Right: Manos, Herve, & Stéphane!

Now any first event is never complete without some sort of technical difficulty; while we sent several emails with instructions to prepare laptops loaded with  Navigator 2009 in Classic and RTC, we had an early morning challenge with SQL loaded in Greek! Obviously, Zac said this was not compatible and after a three hour download, his class was finally on its way.  Rough first day, but the first day is almost over now!

Although Zac is leading sessions, he is definitely not the only Serenic staff, as well as 3rd party staff, helping put this event together.  Our first international training event was a huge team effort, with kudos going to Baris and Isabelle for working abroad with our clients and partners to bring in registrations; and to Donna, Rhonda, Quiana and Zac for working stateside to prepare course materials in RTC for W1.  Last but not least, Microsoft was essential in providing the facilities, our catering order (a European version), training room requirements and available hotels.

With such great help and initial success, onward we go—AwardVision is scheduled for June 14-15 and DonorVision is scheduled for June 16-18 at the same location.

Thanks to everyone who has been apart of the planning, execution, attendance, as well as all the readers who tuned into this post!

It’s looking like a busy next few months for Serenic—but we’re not complaining!  Below is a list of trade shows, conferences and annual meetings where you can see the financial management and business operations software options provided by Serenic.  Check if Serenic will be coming to a town near you!

Charity Finance Director’s Group

May 18, 2010
London

• Covers key strategic and operational issues you will face, as well as innovative strategies that other charities have adopted in order to position themselves optimally on the long road out of recession.

Directions EMEA 2010

May 19 – 21, 2010
Prague, Czech Republic

• Focuses on strengthening and enhancing Dynamics NAV channel community, including NAV Partner communications & the relationship with Microsoft.

InterAction Forum 2010

June 2 – 4, 2010
Washington, DC

• Connect, Influence and Engage with hundreds of professionals, organizations and peers representing the international non-profit community, government, corporate and philanthropic sectors.

AICPA National Not-For-Profit Industry Conference

June 17 – 18, 2010
Washington, DC

• Provides critical training and the latest updates on auditing, accounting, tax, management, operational analysis and new strategies to enable the Not-for-Profit community to survive in this economic climate.

InsideNGO

July 12 – 16, 2010
Washington, DC

• Three separate NGO events covering: 1. Finance, Grants & Contracts 2. Cross Operations and Technology 3. Human Resources

AZA CFO Seminar

August 25 – 27, 2010
Seattle, WA

Association of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI)

September 26 – 29, 2010
Washington, DC

• An opportunity for AIRI members to network and get in touch with the top decision-makers at non-profit research institutes across the country.

Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference (DFMC)

September 26 – 27, 2010
New Orleans, LA

• More information coming soon!

Directions 2010

October 3 – 6, 2010
San Diego, CA

• Focused 100% on “Charting the Future” with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and its partners. Content created on partner feedback, providing best practices as well as interaction with peers.

A lot of information to take note of, but we will keep you updated as each trade show approaches!  Either bookmark this post, our follow us on Twitter and/or our Facebook Page—hope to see you there

Serenic Software was pleased to once again be a part of Microsoft Convergence 2010 as a Bronze Sponsor.  The event was held on April 24-27th in Atlanta, Georgia.  Serenic employees Lisa Ramsey and Bill Wilson were joined by AVF’s Jeremy Fass to staff the booth.  Speaking of the booth, Serenic’s new booth graphics were instrumental in getting passerby’s to stop and take a look, with lots of great feedback!

An upbeat buzz covered the show and sessions with new and old attendees created excitement about NAV 2009 and the continued progress of Microsoft Dynamics in general.  Attendees had the chance to dive into products – new technologies, new skills, new features and new knowledge and were able to see how the new, innovative technologies Microsoft is creating will influence not only how we conduct business but how we will function in the world.

Traffic was high with more leads coming in the first 24 hours than all the leads collected at last year’s show!   New potential prospects and partners were discovered and old friends were reacquainted once again .  A special thanks to our customers that took time out to visit us at the booth!

As always, the evening after events were quite festive.  The main event was held Monday night at Opera—only the hottest nightclub in Atlanta.  A good time was had by all and let’s just leave it at “what happens in Atlanta stays in Atlanta!” Serenic looks forward to another incredible 2011 Convergence—and if you attended Convergence 2010, we’d love to hear about your experience! Feel free to comment here, or share you story on our Facebook Page!

NGO Connection Day was an awesome chance for nonprofit organizations to come together and learn more about nonprofit technology.  We were able to interact with many other organizations and participants, making new connections and partnerships throughout the conference!  The best part about this nonprofit summit was—of course—the sneak-peaks from Microsoft and other technology solutions; being able to discuss technology trends in the not for profit industry allowed for awesome networking and sharing of best practices.

Our very own, Lisa Ramsey, happened to get interviewed by Matt Rothman from Tech-Tips about Serenic and our services.  Check out what she had to say—and what he had to say about her accent —in the video below:

Hope everyone enjoyed this nonprofit summit—let us know your thoughts by commenting below!