Graphisoft IPC 2014 – Budapest

I’m just back from the Graphisoft International Partner Conference – the first I’ve attended for a couple of years and the first I’ve attended in Budapest since the Icelandic Volcano Episode.

This year was the biggest yet with about 400 people representing 175 Partners.

As always the event was a great chance to catch up with old friends and make many new friends. It was also good to hear the results of 2013 and both, hear and see, the plans for the future – and there are some exciting things to come!

This year provided two very special highlights for Cadimage Group and myself personally.

First up, we were awarded the Distributor of the Year award. This is an award I have worked towards for a long time and have come close to before. To finally win it was a proud achievement.

Secondly, I had been invited to present the New Zealand Story to the conference so on Tuesday morning I presented the history of ArchiCAD in New Zealand over the last 22 years – 17 years of which I have been involved in.

The story had been billed as “New License Sales Success” and everyone was expecting our sales secrets. Instead they heard about the steps we have taken over 22 years to build up a successful business. There were no silver bullets, but a huge array of stories of what had worked and hadn’t worked for us.

Presenting to partners who have been invovled in ArchiCAD longer than I had was a nerve racking experience, but even some of these partners were able to take some ideas away for their own business.

To those who attended the IPC I trust you enjoyed my story.

To the New Zealand ArchiCAD Customers, thank you for being the essential part of our business and staying loyal over the 22 years of ArchiCAD in NZ. While Distributor of the Year was a proud personal achievement it was a direct result of the fantastic team and customers we have here in New Zealand.