SedonaOffice held its ninth annual Users Conference in mid-January, on Marco Island, Fla., and co-founders Michael Marks and Don Faybrick want to share not only how well-attended it was, but also how well SedonaOffice’s customers are doing. “That’s the one common thing [we’ve gathered] as we’ve talked to customers. Businesses are all growing, expanding, adding employees, RMR. The positive vibes throughout the conference were just incredible,” Marks related.

This year’s SedonaOffice Users Conference had “the highest attendance we’ve ever had,” Marks noted, with 285 people representing approximately 100 companies. It includes more than 30 SDM 100 companies in attendance — including Karen Baker, vice president of The Protection Bureau, SDM’s 2010 Dealer of the Year.

The conference opened with a keynote address to the general assembly by Marks and Faybrick, who discussed the state of SedonaOffice and detailed the new development projects that either had been completed or will be released in 2011.

“We presented a review of 2010 performance. It was our best year ever,” Faybrick said. “Sales and revenues were at an all-time high in excess of 20 percent over 2009. 2009 was also a record year given the state of the economy.

“In 2010 we had a record number of new customers go live and begin using the software. There are more than 35 implementations in the queue to go live in 2011. It’s very impressive for the security industry,” he said.

Marks added that SedonaOffice had a significant amount of new hires. “In 2010 we had 12 percent staff growth and we anticipate 10 to 15 percent staff growth in 2011.”

Faybrick announced that the company’s new Sedona FSU (field service unit) Web addition that uses Microsoft Silverlight technology has just been released. Also new is SedonaWeb, a Web portal for end users that enables bill pay, credit card processing and ACA service management in the field.

“Our goal for ourselves and for users who walk away from [the conference] is to gain a better knowledge and understanding of how to best run and operate their business using features available through SedonaOffice,” Marks described. “In today’s economy everything is about how to do more with less — how to be more efficient, more profitable.”

Faybrick added, “The customer feels like an island [and being at the conference] they learn much by interacting with each other. They can share how they use our software in daily operations. They form a community of users and we encourage them to interact with each other.”

As at previous Users Conferences, the 2011 event wasn’t all about SedonaOffice. It also was about educational opportunities for companies to improve. Over the two-and-a-half day conference, there were 32 educational sessions. “Each one had its own overflow crowd,” Marks said, and some had to be repeated.

For instance, one of the big introductions at the conference was a new service management module. “We released the new module at the Users Conference and had education tracks specifically on usage and operation, which Don ran. They were absolutely packed, overflowing. We had to repeat the track. Clients are raving about this. They can’t wait to get their hands on it. There are free upgrades to all users,” Marks said.

Networking events included a business sponsor’s beach party held on Marco Island oceanfront beach and a party at Captain Brian’s Comedy Club. “We had special musical performances by Don Faybrick and a fantastic comedian, The Midnight Swinger, direct from Las Vegas. He had the crowd on the floor laughing and singing along with him,” Marks described.

SedonaOffice’s 2010 Customer of the Year Award was presented to Security Solutions, Norwalk, Conn., represented by Jamie Orvis. The 2010 SedonaOffice Employee of the Year was awarded to Jim Mayes, support director at SedonaOffice.