"None of us is as smart as all of us" ~Ken Blanchard, The One Minute Manager

After the two difficult years we’ve all been through, I am so pleased to be able to end my tenure as TUG Chair by celebrating the year of the comeback. I started my term just a few weeks after we all went into lockdown in response to a global pandemic, the likes of which we’d never seen in our lifetimes. I got a first-hand view of how our industry stepped up, our organization shifted gears, and our TUG community held together to help each other weather the storm.

Dear Friends, I hope you will all join in my excitement to finally meet up with friends and colleagues in person again at this year’s event from April 18-21! With the dates for TUG Connects 2022 being confirmed, the words momentum and engagement will continue to resonate as the conference approaches. Conference registration is officially open , and we could not have found a better venue than the beautiful Diplomat Beach Resort (curio collection by Hilton) in Hollywood, Florida! It’s a perfect spot for networking, re-establishing old friendships, and meeting new colleagues after two years of connecting virtually. That eagerness we all share, to meet all together in one place, goes to the heart of our main conference theme. To me, momentum is about moving forward again, building on the good and bad of the last two years to drive our businesses forward. Our virtual event in 2021 was a brilliant success, and TUG Connects 365 continues to create virtual opportunities for us all to connect from our own desks, all year round. But despite that convenience, nothing will take the place of what we can learn from face-to-face conversations and networking opportunities that we took for granted before the pandemic. You can look forward to a reinvigorating combination of peer learning and informal gathering at TUG Connects 2022. Our format for 2022 is tailor-made to create unparalleled engagement across the TUG community, building on what we’ve learned over the last 18 months of online events. We’re aiming for an event that bridges the convenience of virtual content with the rich experience—at this point, the sheer delight—of the traditional face-to-face conference that so many of us crave. General Sessions and Breakouts will be recorded and posted online after the conference ends to be re-consumed or shared within our companies. Content will be repurposed throughout the year into the TUG Connects 365 platform. The bottom line: 2022 will be the year when TUG "connects" in more ways than ever before. Here’s what I find most exciting as I look ahead to a new year. After living in a digital cocoon for nearly two years, I know there is no way to fully replace the interactive, two-way experience of a live event with a digital format, no matter how hard we try. I can’t wait to see you, share a laugh, sit down for a drink, and learn together in April at TUG Connects 2022 Momentum . Until then I wish each of you and your families a wonderful Holiday Season and a very Happy New Year!

My biggest takeaway from TUG CONNECTS 2021 was how powerfully TheUserGroup.org delivers knowledge, networks, and value to member companies. We serve distributors by going wide , with a global community of practice where members share their ideas and solutions every day. We help member companies stay strong by going deep , with tailored educational content for every part of the business—from IT to finance, from the warehouse to the executive suite. We’ve made good use of online channels to build a year-round conversation —where a 10-day, all-digital conference is one important gathering point for a community that never stops meeting, discussing, sharing, and learning. That’s why I’m so excited that registration for TUG Connects 2021 is still open. Yes, you read that right. The conference is in the rear-view mirror, but the knowledge and education we all gathered to share are still relevant. If you’ve already registered for the conference, you still have access to all the keynote speeches and educational sessions that made TUG Connects a milestone experience for everyone who attended. If you still haven’t signed up, it isn’t too late—the conference is still one of the best sources of distribution industry education on the planet, and the library is live online until October 31. Register today for TUG Connects 2021 and choose from more than 280 recorded sessions until October 31. Conference highlights include: Keynote addresses by Infor CEO Kevin Samuelson and senior executives Doug Bellin, Dan DuFault, Nancy Mettenberger, Eric Ryerson, Kelly Squizzero, and Catherine Henn; Industry expert sessions by economist Conor Lokar, inventory management expert Grant Howard, operations and logistics wizard Andrew Weith, and tech advisor James Spellos; Over 250 Focus sessions on an array of topical issues, from eCommerce best practices and warehouse operations to when and whether to return to the office. So many of us are looking forward to meeting up in person at TUG CONNECTS 2022. But there’s a lot to love about digital formats—we saw a big surge in registrations this year, with companies realizing they could assign many more staff to pick the sessions they needed to attend without disrupting their workdays. That means the best choice of digital or face-to-face formats is all of the above, 365 days per year. The learning, information sharing, and collaboration to solve problems all happen wherever TUG members gather—in an online forum, or at a live event next year where we’ll be able to see each other and catch up on two years of crisis, persistence, and resilience. The numbers tell the story about our online webinar series, TUG Connects 365. In the 12 months leading up to the conference, we hosted a mind-boggling 87 sessions for a total of 3,989 live participants. Those webinar recordings also drew a total of 5,754 views, nearly double the number who attended in real-time. And of course, our TUG Member Forum is still the cornerstone of our digital presence, the place where the principle of users helping users runs wide and deep every day. The Forum has 20 active Networking Groups spanning every key technology and business function. So far this year, we’ve hosted 600 unique discussions that have generated more than 1,500 posts. By supporting your participation in TUG, your company has already taken the first essential step to keeping up with a permanently disrupted business environment. Your next assignment is to make sure you get the most out of your TUG membership and to encourage your colleagues in every other part of the business to do the same. Member companies can register an unlimited number of their employees on the TUG Community Forum at no additional charge. We hear again and again that joining TUG, attending webinars and conference sessions, and participating in the Member Forum is like having an incredibly versatile, knowledgeable consultant on call 24/7/365. (And by the way, whoever heard of a consultant who can answer any question within minutes and never sends an invoice?) If you haven’t registered for TUG CONNECTS 2021, sign up today , and get ready for an intensive learning experience that will help you build for success.

You know TUG has a lot going on when I have to combine two blockbuster announcements in one ' Note From the Chair.'