Kaseya Connect is always an exciting event. We look forward to meeting new people, walking 4+ miles each day, learning new things that will grow our business, eating, drinking, and having fun. Did I mention long walks? This year was especially gratifying for the MSP Builder team. Lauren Barnas, our Digital Marketing Manager, joined us for her first Connect experience. We had productive meetings with the VSA and Traverse engineering teams, as well as most of Kaseya's senior management team. We also got to meet so many of our RMM Suite customers, many for the first time face to face. It's so nice to be able to put a face with so many of the people we talk to.

There were some surprises, like when Mike Puglia shared a photo from an early career path. At least, that's what I was told - I had stepped out of the room at that moment. At least I can see where he gets his determination and focus from!

Of course, there were regular gatherings at the dispensers of the magical Elixir of Life, especially during the morning breaks. Many of us fought for space at tables close to these oasis'. I even tipped one of the urns to allow a fellow Kaseyan to enjoy one more cup. Squeezing the urn did not help, however. These sessions were a great place to meet and share experiences and ideas.

A personal highlight of this event was my presentation, which - thanks to confusion surrounding both the title and the description - became known as "Automate or Die!". Thanks to Lauren, a last-minute post provided clarity about the topic and content, and we had far more people attend than the handful I expected.

The session covered many of the best practices related to using the VSA that allow you to use automation effectively.

One topic that we covered was how to use Custom Fields effectively. These can be used for reporting as well as to control the automation in your VSA. Using these effectively, with proper planning will pay huge automation dividends.

Some of the best moments of the event came during the awards ceremony. The MSP practice (Baroan Technologies) that spawned MSP Builder was nominated for the MSP Efficiency Award. Shortly thereafter, we were awarded the Community Award - which is awarded to "companies that have demonstrated thought leadership within the IT Services industry by sharing best practices with peers to shape a better technical community". Here, Dimitri Miaoulis looks on as I accept the award. We're all honored to be recognized, and are happy to continue to share our knowledge and experience with the MSP and IT communities.