Wondering what transpired at ADP’s 2022 Annual Convention? Keep reading to find out.
This year’s annual convention was held in Orlando near numerous entertainment attractions. And although Mickey or Minnie didn’t attend, we had a great group of members that learned about the game-changing industry initiative SmartAds™ powered by ADP.
The three-day conference opened with a Welcome Reception sponsored by Northern Directory Publishing, TXPAGES and UpSnap, where members enjoyed a meet-and-greet with their fellow attendees.
The Conference Opened With Cindi Aldrich & In-depth Presentations on SmartAds
The conference opened with President and CEO of ADP, Cindi Aldrich, welcoming attendees and thanking hibu for sponsoring both of the General Sessions. She then introduced ADP Board Chairman Chris Heilbock, Regional Vice President at hibu, who proudly told members how hard the Association had been working the past couple years on SmartAds, and that over the next two days they were going to learn a new revolutionary way to sell bigger print ads and help their advertisers be found online.
The morning’s speakers detailed how ADP is now being labeled a disruptor, meaning it has found an innovative way of doing business and is shaking up the status quo by developing SmartAds – the new and improved generation of selling for directory publishing.
Attendees heard presentations on how to transform their advertiser’s print ads into SmartAds to be easily found online; publishers’ success stories on using the SmartAds Sales Tool; role-playing the do’s and don’ts of convincing an advertiser of the visibility and profitability of buying a bigger ad, plus examining the many avenues to apply this amazing new opportunity.
The SmartAds Sales Tool & Media Kit Was a Big Win
Following lunch, ADP’s comprehensive Media Kit for salespeople to fully understand the power of the SmartAds Sales Tool was highlighted. The Media Kit conveys the value of this innovative program to both the advertisers and their business. This kit gives salespeople the confidence to talk the advertiser’s language, and the ability to increase sales performance for print advertising.
Media Measurement Solutions sponsored the Networking Reception, where members enjoyed the camaraderie of attendees and discussed the day’s speakers. Thank you to Bernadette Coleman, Garrett Frankwick, Mary Jo Gleason, Andrew Palmer, Mark Smith, Layne Snyder, Azim Tejani and Amber Weems for presenting.
SmartsAds Got Smarter With the SmartSheet
The next morning, members learned the quick and easy way to produce a SmartAds SmartSheet™ (for an existing or a new prospective client) that will help them sell a bigger ad in print, and help their advertiser be found online wherever they search.
A presentation on how to gain more leads for your advertisers using the Trusted Local Directory™ and increase a publisher’s bottom line was given, along with the do’s and don’ts of SEO to help local businesses dominate the top of local search results.
Following lunch sponsored by UpSnap was everything you’d want to know about Google indexing and the number of ways to affect the search result – and which features and what information you should highlight in an effective online business description.
Jeopardy ADP Style Closed Out the Day
Attendees enjoyed a fun game of ADP Jeopardy to see what they’d learned at the conference, along with some sports and local trivia questions. It got a little competitive as there were prizes involved!
Cindi closed the General Session with the announcement of the new members of the 2022/2023 ADP Board of Directors. Thank you to Bernadette Coleman, Lissa Duty, Chris Heilbock, Patti Hughes, Cathy Mogler, Richard Peterson and Azim Tejani for your sessions on the convention’s final day.
The Conference Closed With the Directory Excellence Awards Celebration
The presentation of the Directory Excellence Awards is a highlight of the convention – and the perfect ending. The Celebration, sponsored by Quad, highlights the industry’s “best of the best” in two divisions, directory and marketing. Advice Local sponsored the Bar, so the drinks were on them throughout the evening. Shout-out to Lissa Duty for emceeing the awards ceremony again this year. As always, she delivered and kept the presentation of the awards on track.
Each year, the Publisher of the Year Award is given to the member company that has the most cumulative winning points in both divisions. Congratulations to CPC Yellow Pages for winning this distinction two years in a row.
The member company that won Directory of the Year in the 50,001 and above circulation category was The Villages Media Group.
PBC Multi Media won the Directory of the Year in the 50,000 and under circulation category.
The Digital Directory of the Year was awarded to WeCare4.
Cindi closed the Awards Celebration and the conference by thanking all the sponsors and the members that attended, stating that she also looked forward to seeing everyone next year at the 2023 Annual Convention.
Join Us Next Year for the 2023 Convention – You Don’t Want to Miss It
At ADP we’re focused on providing our print and online directory publisher members with the resources needed to help their advertisers get new business. So you can bet we’ll have something new and exciting to present in 2023. In the meantime, if you would like to learn about SmartAds and how you can get access to our sales tools, call (800) 267-9002.
