RFMS recently held its biennial RFMS Owner and Education conference, bringing together companies in the flooring industry. The two-day event provided opportunities for owners, managers, and users to learn about software developments, collaborate with industry peers, and strategize with RFMS staff.

“Discover the Possibilities’ is designed to inspire users through community engagement and software training,” said Terry Wheat, president of RFMS. “We consistently introduce many system enhancements per year influenced by industry trends and customer feedback. This conference offers opportunities for users to discover why the new features were developed and how they can be implemented to add real, tangible value to their company.”

2017 marked the first time RFMS has offered an off-site training event with an actual “hands-on” opportunity. At any given point over the 2-day conference, up to 100 users were logged into their own private cloud and received instructor-led training using their own computer.

“This is the first time (of which I am aware), that such a large group was able to learn in a hands-on setting,” added Wheat. “We work with a third-party data hosting company who created a hosted cloud right inside the hotel, without the use of the internet. It was absolutely amazing to see technology be deployed in this way.”

Other features of the user conference included: hands-on training, 30 sessions covering the best business practices for commercial, retail, builder, multifamily and the measure software; owner sessions, 2 days of various management/owner topics such as financial benchmarking, mobile applications, eCommerce in the flooring industry, new features, and reporting; mystery interactive dinner theater; a pre-event reception; and networking activities.

Over 250 users from more than 115 companies traveled to the conference, and all 82 RFMS staff members were present to meet and network with the attendees. Following the 2-day user conference, the entire RFMS staff enjoyed a day of team building activities, donating 11 bikes to the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham, Ala., and had a family night dinner and entertainment.

For more information, visit www.rfms.com.