Affiliated expands educational structure for Catalyst 2018

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—Affiliated Monitoring is gearing up for its third Catalyst conference, an annual event focused on PERS sales and marketing, which will be held here this year from May 21 to 23. Daniel Oppenheim, Affiliated's executive vice president, spoke with Security Systems News about some of this year's speakers and educational sessions.

Zappos' speaker of the house, Erica Javellana, will be Catalyst 2018's featured speaker. Her presentation will cover “how to improve customer service at your company, and [it will] really give actionable, real-world tips and methods that can be applied at companies big and small,” Oppenheim said. Improving customer satisfaction can lead to better employee morale as well as more customer loyalty, he noted.

One aspect of Catalyst each year is an on-stage interview between Oppenheim and an industry executive. “This year, we're excited that we're going to have Rob Flippo, from MobileHelp. They're a very successful, innovative company; one of the largest PERS companies in the United States,” Oppenheim said.

In previous years, Affiliated has hosted keynote speakers and educational session on a main stage. This year, the conference will feature breakout session tracks for the first time, with presentations led by industry professionals and Affiliated employees.

One of the educational tracks will be focused on products, with two sessions: “4G & The Future of Mobile PERS,” and “The IoT Explosion and Your Business.” An additional track on analytics is also featuring two sessions: “Managing By The Numbers: 3 Metrics Every PERS Company Needs to Track,” and “PERS Company Valuation: What the Banks are Looking For.”

In addition to education, Catalyst also allows for networking, allowing industry professionals to reconnect and form new relationships—a valuable aspect of the conference for many attendees, according to Oppenheim. “With that in mind, we have planned some fun, interactive and challenging networking activities that will culminate with a beachside dinner that is always the highlight of our event,” he said.

Affiliated is expecting the attendance at Catalyst 2018 to be the highest yet, with an approximately 80 percent repeat attendance from attendees of Catalyst 2017, according to Oppenheim.