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SessionBoard Reference - ACES

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT | Recorded: 2025-10-29 | Verify against current system state

Abstract

Vendor reference call where AANP evaluates SessionBoard by speaking with ACES (American Copy Editors Society). ACES shares their positive experience including excellent customer service with custom support videos, successful hard cutover implementation, speaker communication hub functionality, file collection, blind session selection, and feedback responsiveness. ACES manages ~100 speakers for two conferences (650 in-person, 1200 virtual).

Key Procedures

  • Conduct vendor reference call for RFP evaluation
  • Evaluate implementation experience and onboarding support
  • Assess speaker communication and file management features
  • Review integration options with registration and mobile apps
  • Understand blind session selection capabilities
  • Evaluate vendor responsiveness to user feedback

Notable Statements

  • 0:04:04 "Session board for me was literally life-changing because I came from a system where they had just had a Google Docs"
  • 0:06:14 "Honestly, it was just easy to choose session board"
  • 0:07:52 "If I can ask someone where it's best to swim, then why don't I do that and make my life easy"
  • 0:08:52 "I have to tell you... they keep improving their product"
  • 0:08:56 "She won't just type out an answer. She will say, please see this attached video"
  • 0:09:04 "She will video herself going through whatever my question was within the software"
  • 0:09:28 "They're custom videos to my event"
  • 0:09:58 "Their customer service is absolutely the best that I've experienced"
  • 0:10:43 "They've implemented 100% of what I recommended"
  • 0:13:08 "I do call for sessions. I manage the sessions. I communicate, accepted, need more, denied"
  • 0:13:27 "I email them and communicate only through session board"
  • 0:17:55 "I could instantly tell who was missing what, who was accepted... which bits they still owed me"
  • 0:21:16 "We did a blind session selection and session board let us do it blind"
  • 0:24:22 "We did a hard and fast cut. Yep. No mercy"
  • 0:24:35 "The portal. It's so easy"
  • 0:26:55 "There was really no... everybody was kind of happy about it"

Systems & Configurations

Systems Mentioned

  • SessionBoard (speaker management)
  • Huva (conference platform for virtual/in-person)
  • Google Docs (previous system replaced)
  • Slack (internal committee communication)

Specific Configurations

Item Value/Setting Timestamp Notes
ACES in-person conference 650 attendees 0:04:45 San Diego, rotating sites
ACES virtual conference 1200 attendees 0:04:48 Fall event
Total speakers managed ~100 0:27:14 Including panel members
AANP national conference 5,500 attendees 0:01:01 500+ sessions
AANP fall conference 700-1,000 0:01:35 Specialty event
AANP health policy ~300 0:01:39 Smaller event

Credentials/Access Mentioned

  • SessionBoard portal access via link and login

Vendor Contacts Mentioned

  • Jasmine (SessionBoard customer service)
  • Andrew (SessionBoard sales)
  • Kristen (ACES reference contact)

Errors & Troubleshooting

No errors - this is a positive vendor reference call.

Transcript Gaps & Quality Notes

  • Reference call recording (28 minutes)
  • AANP team: Tamara (BA, RFP lead), Jeff, Pat (Accreditation Director), Christina (Conference), Teresa (VP)
  • ACES is small 3-person team comparison
  • Huva integration via Excel import (not direct API)
  • Blind session selection feature highlighted
  • DEI committee review done outside SessionBoard via export