My 14th visit to a NASPP Conference is in the books, and this one rates highly. Working a booth has its moments, but being free to roam the crowd, meeting or seeing people who more or less avoid the marketing scrum you get at the booth let’s me have a different type of conversation (see Going Big at NASPP). Equity Point may yet get a booth, but we would do a better job of getting out into the crowd even if that was the case. So many people to see…no use waiting (and hoping) for them to come to you.
Things I liked
The HUB, and all those mini-talks
A few years back, I went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Stages all over the place, and the music ran the gamut from rock to country, bluegrass to gospel. You went from a crowd of 8,000 watching Phish to a small group of onlookers watching some guy pick a banjo. There was real great flow to the event, and if you got bored with one thing, you went to the next. I am seeing the same thing evolve at the NASPP Conference. Love the lunchtime and small TED-type talks in the HUB and adjacent hallways…but really, love how those things are bringing everyone together more in the HUB area (I still call it the Vendor Hall; old habits die hard. P.S. Really glad they got rid of the guards at the door to the vendor hall a few years back. Still trying to understand what they were guarding). Most of why I am there is to network, catch up with old friends, and drink free coffee. I hit the trifecta this year, and that was because the conference is doing such a good job of packing the schedule with interesting mini-presentations centered in the HUB.
Great Events
God bless these companies with deep pockets, and the battles they wage to get people to their events. If the NASPP Conference is the equity comp Super Bowl, these are the expensive commercials. Always great food (though I ate with regret, knowing there was less room for the good stuff out there in the city). On Sunday (you need a day of cushion to do these conferences properly), I was part of Top Chef challenge with UBS, and mostly lent moral support as my team took the title with a pork dish I would pay good money to eat. On Monday, I made it to Fidelity’s bowling event. Great set up…I love the captive audience that comes with having to share a lane with me. Not so great was my performance, but felt better knowing that even ace bowler Bill Storey (or newly formed YES (Your Equity Plans) wasn’t at his best. Tuesday, went big, and got to walk the Superdome field and eat Chateaubriand with TD Ameritrade, then go see a band (Train) that I had never heard, but who was apparently a big deal (and I did recognize one song) with ETRADE at the House of Blues. My favorite event moment was emerging from that hall, and finding a truck from Café Du Monde serving beignets and coffee. Still gives me goosebumps. Finally, had a really nice dinner with the folks from Raymond James. Final night events should be a little more relaxed, and this definitely fit the bill.
New Orleans
If the NASPP made me commission of such things, I would just alternate the conference between New Orleans and Las Vegas..maybe throw in a wildcard every five years or so (Miami would be nice). No offer yet for this position, but stay tuned. Towns like New Orleans put everyone in a great mood, and that in turn leads to more attendance at events (though probably not at early morning sessions), a more lively crowd, and overall joviality to the gathering that you don’t get anywhere else (besides Vegas!) I love joviality. Leaving you with my top 5 NASPP cities, and (shameless plug) a list from my notes of the top 5 Equity Point-associated products and services we ended up talking about with that great crowd.
Top 5 NASPP Cities
- New Orleans
- Las Vegas
- San Diego
- Chicago
- Houston
San Francisco is #180, right behind whatever the capital of Nova Scotia is. I live here. I don’t want to go to a conference here.
Top 5 Equity Point products and services that kept coming up.
- Temp stock plan staffing and/or project work
- Equity accounting (with a lot it being ESPP accounting)
- Stock plan outsourcing
- 6039 Reporting
- Compensation outsourcing (a lot of comp people there, and definitely like to talk to them about how they manage the day-to-day comp stuff)
(All about Equity Point here)
Final aside
Someone asked me: “Where are all the young stock plan administrators? Doesn’t the hall seem to be aging? Where is the next generation going to come from?” Astute observation! I actually heard the same thing from a few people. Maybe there is some bias in our eyes, and, only spotting the people we know (who, of course, are aging) we miss the fantastic youth movement taking place. Topic for a future post.
Be well, and we were really happy to see so many of you out there in New Orleans!