I’m extremely thankful that I was able to attend the Epicor Insights event again this year. It is an amazing conference to experience, and I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to attend now for the second time.
This year’s event was held at the impressive Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville, Tennessee, renowned for its impressive exhibition spaces, water attractions, and close proximity to the best places in the city.
My Arrival
I arrived in Nashville, also known as the home of country music, on Sunday, May 19th. The next morning, while at the hotel, coincidentally I ran into Brad Feakes and our friends at EstesGroup, and I was honored that they invited me to attend their strategic meeting.
When traveling to events like this, not only do you get to experience the amazing places they’re hosted in, but you often get to meet friends and experience chance encounters. It helps make trips like this even more rewarding.
Day One – Monday, May 20, 2024
On the first day, Epicor hosted their Influencer reception and I was really glad to be a part of the kick-off festivities. It was great to meet with the Epicor Executives – Lisa Pope, the President of Epicor, Vaibhav Vohra, their Chief Technology Officer, and the rest of the executive team. During the reception, they showcased their different products in the marketplace.
While at the Influencer event, it was also a pleasure to meet up with some of our DCKAP customers and familiar people from the P21 and DCKAP Communities. In particular, I met with Jake Barlett from Western Pacific Distributors and we had a really enjoyable chat.
Day Two – Tuesday, May 21, 2024
As the stage was lit, the tone of the event was set by Lisa Pope, the President of Epicor, as she walked us through what was in store for the conference.
After the introduction, Lisa had a conversation with Rich Murr, the Chief Customer Officer and Chief Information Officer at Epicor. During this session, they talked about their EpicCare platform as well as the different measures they are taking to ensure customers have a great experience with the Epicor products, and they get a great value for their investment.
Steve Murphy, the CEO of Epicor walked us through Epicor’s journey over the years and he talked about how they have been consistently growing and profitable. He shared that Epicor had recently crossed over the $1Billion mark in ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue).
It was noted that most of this growth has been organic, and they have also focused on strategic acquisitions. Steve also talked about the practical uses of AI and how ERP is no longer just a system of record, but a system of action.
Fluidra from Spain won the CEO Champion of the year award. Keith McQueen, the CTO, and Bob Swearengin, the Sr. Director IT Applications, received the award on behalf of Fluidra. Also, the winner of the Innovation Champion Award was announced to be Anderson Process, a distributor based out of Wisconsin.
A great takeaway from this first-day experience was witnessing the value of partnership between Epicor and its customers on the journey of Innovation. They innovate by solving new use cases for their customers.
Vaibhav Vohra and his team demonstrated the different innovations they are working on, especially with the Groww Platform. Vaibhav is a great storyteller and he shared analogies of his son solving problems and innovating at home and how that relates to the different innovations they do at work.
They also offered a demo of the Connected Process Control (eFlex Systems, a company which Epicor acquired last year). I was also lucky enough to chat with Dan McKieran, the Co-Founder of eFlex, at the marketplace.
Also, on that Tuesday, I was able to sit down and record a compelling episode for our Driven by DCKAP podcast with Frank Heenan, the Global VP of Distribution and LBM (Lumber and Building Materials) at Epicor. Frank was very kind and he talked about how distribution has evolved over a period of time, and he shared a piece of his vision on its future.
I also had the chance to sit down with Brad Feakes, the President of EstesGroup, to record an episode discussing the importance of ERP Planning and Implementations. His wealth of knowledge is always impressive and it was very fulfilling to speak with him on the subject.
Additionally, I was able to chat with Sam Snow, the President of P21WWUG and CEO of T.J. Snow and Company about User Groups and how the P21 WorldWide User Group works and helps the community.
A special thanks to our amazing videographer at the event, Aaron David Thomas, working through Gary Musick Productions, and the amazing Epicor team for helping us with the perfect venue for recording. It was a full day of great interviews to add to our amazing lineup of guests on the show.
Be sure to check out and subscribe to the Driven by DCKAP podcast, and you can watch all our episodes on YouTube here.
Later, to end the jam-packed day, I was fortunate to attend the amazing Influencer Dinner which was hosted by Epicor and attended by its executives, customers and other Influencers. It was a great opportunity to network with the who’s who of Epicor and meet even more interesting people across the community.
Day Three – Wednesday May 22, 2024
The third day kicked off with a delicious breakfast alongside the Epicor sales teams. It was a great experience to have the opportunity to hang out with different people at Epicor, learn about their different products, ask questions, and more.
Wednesday’s Keynote started off with an insightful address by Epicor’s CFO, Joe Ayers.
He talked about the evolving role of a CFO and a postmodern CFO. The main takeaway I had was that the role of a CFO is to equip businesses to make the best decisions with data. Jenny Victor, the CMO of Epicor, did a great job moderating the session.
A standout highlight of Wednesday’s keynote was a conversation with Bear Grylls, interviewed by Andy Coussins, the EVP-International at Epicor. Andy did a great job conversing with Bear Grylls, as he talked about failures, how he was not a smart kid growing up, however he worked his way up and picked things up along the way.
Bear also talked about the bond he had with his father, and he shared that one does not have to be the best at what they do, however they need to give their best. Similarly, he shared more about building resilience by doing tough stuff (even something like taking a cold shower for 30 seconds). He talked about risking everything, failing many times and never giving up. For every success he has had, he has overcome at least 8 failures. The main takeaway I had from this was that we have to learn to thrive in uncertainty, and we need to get comfortable with it.
Additionally, when Andy asked Bear about his favorite animal, he talked about the rhinoceros, as they are adventurous and want to try new things, and he explained more about the rhinos and their significance in the animal world. As the Rhino is also the DCKAP mascot, it was music to our ears to hear this.
You can read more about our Rhino Story here, and check out our two real-life rhino mascots, Ramu and Rhine, at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP) here.
On this day, I was also able to record yet another episode for our Driven by DCKAP podcast with Clint Oram, the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of SugarCRM. Clint talked with us about resilience and how they are in the business for the long term. An interesting fact about Clint is that he reads over 50 books a year, and it was great to chat with and learn from him.
In the evening, Epicor hosted a dinner and the night ended with some amazing entertainment – a concert by Old Dominion, a modern American country music band formed in Nashville.
The following day, they would also hold sessions and classes for the Epicor Community. However, with my travel plans scheduled, I had to leave before then. Even though I missed the last day, I feel as if my time at the event and all that I was fortunate to experience left my cup running over, and I had much to take back with me.
Conclusion
The main thing that struck me about the whole conference is how Epicor has such a powerful presence, the way they have built the company up over a period of time, and how they’ve done it with class. Over 200 employees of Epicor were in attendance and many of them have been with the company for a long period of time – some even over 20 years. This tells you something about the strength of Epicor’s culture, the company and its people.
I am very grateful to have been able to attend Epicor Insights in Nashville this year, and meet with some amazing people. It was an unforgettable venue and experience.
Thanks so much for inviting us, Epicor!
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