Memorable Moments from the NPI 2023 Conference

Memorable moments in the mountains

Team Avanti is celebrating a memorable week at the 2023 National Payroll Institute (NPI) annual conference in Whistler, British Columbia. The breathtaking natural beauty of the mountains provided the perfect backdrop to learn about new industry trends and connect with the Canadian payroll community. We’re always ready to recognize and celebrate amazing Canadian payroll professionals, and the level of expertise and passion among delegates was inspiring.

Check out some of our favourite memories from the NPI 2023 Conference.

1. Early Risers Club

Early mornings, Avanti, and bears, oh my! We kicked off the first day of the conference in true mountain style with a bear sighting during the Early Risers Club morning walk through the Whistler village. We love sponsoring Early Risers Club – it’s a great way to start each morning with a bit of fresh air and some light physical activity before the conference day starts. Thanks to the beauty of Whistler, we didn’t have to walk very far to find beautiful trails.

2. Choir, Choir, Choir!

What an energizing way to start the conference! We loved experiencing singing and comedy duo Choir, Choir, Choir in the opening ceremonies. Who thought we’d be belting out “Don’t Stop Believing” with 700 fellow payroll professionals?

3. Avanti Product Demo Theatre

Michelle, one of our intrepid Product Managers at Avanti, gave a fantastic first look at Avanti’s newly designed onboarding portal. She showcased how Avanti helps take organizations from complexity to clarity by automating manual and tedious tasks, auto-populating the employee profile with payroll data, and ensuring employees are ready for payday from day one. Learn more about our remote onboarding here.

4. Client Dinner + Happy Hour

Next up, we treated our clients to a unique dining experience to show our sincere appreciation. The Whistler Tasting Tour progressive dinner included stops at four local restaurants with delicious food and drink pairings. Meanwhile, our Sales team hosted a group of prospects at the Longhorn Saloon patio. Great conversations were had as the sun set over the mountains in Whistler.

5. Camp Avanti

The NPI Conference had a new look and feel in 2023 with the traditional trade show replaced by vendor activations, speed networking rooms, technology round tables, and a treasure hunt.

We loved meeting everyone who stopped by our speed networking room. We had a custom mountain backdrop for photos, draw prizes, and swag. The entire Avanti team was ready to answer questions about our software, the future of payroll, and how we save organizations time and money.

We hope you enjoyed relaxing at Camp Avanti!

6. Thought Dots

Our speed networking room was an interactive experience and our ‘thought dots’ were a great conversation starter. We asked a series of trending questions and encouraged delegates to provide their thoughts by adding a dot to each board, covering topics like ePayroll, reporting structures, and AI. Check out the results below.

7. Whistler Postcards

There’s nothing better than receiving something special in the mail! We created custom Whistler postcards for delegates to send a message home to friends and family, added a postage stamp, and popped them in the mail. There were notes sent to colleagues, bosses, family, and even pets!

8. Technology Round Tables

The Avanti team enjoyed chatting with everyone at their respective Technology Round Tables over the lunch hour. One of our most popular topics was the future of AI and the payroll profession. Other topics included reporting, organizational readiness for HCM implementations, year-end, client experience, and wellness in the workplace.

9. Payroll Treasure Hunt and Jon Montgomery!

The Payroll treasure hunt was an Amazing-Race-style treasure hunt where groups raced between checkpoints and completed tasks to receive clues for the next checkpoint. Delegates that stopped by Avanti’s checkpoint had their choice of reciting a payroll-themed tongue twister five times or eating a surprise delicacy from a mystery bag. The mystery bag contained delicacies such as dried seaweed, extremely sour candy and…dried bugs! High five to the brave souls who took one for their team and ate the dried bugs. There were lots of laughs, and the more bugs that were consumed, the louder we cheered.

It was such a pleasure to meet Jon Montgomery, Olympic Champion and the host of the Amazing Race Canada. The winning teams received their medals from Jon himself, and he even brought his Olympic medals to show everyone!

10. Product demo in a gondola…that has to be a first!

Karman, Senior Account Executive at Avanti, actually conducted a product demo for a prospective client in the gondola on the way up the mountain for Fun Night. The best part? Everyone received champagne and canapés in the gondola car halfway up the mountain!

11. Sunset mountain views during Fun Night

The beloved Fun Night was hosted on the top of Whistler Mountain and everyone travelled to the top on a gondola. The views at sunset were stunning, the food and drinks were delicious, and everyone was ready to dance.

12. Karman and Elisha’s education session

We finished off the conference with an education session presented by Karman and Elisha, our VP of Client Experience, on Organizational Readiness for HCM Implementations. Attendees took an interactive quiz during the presentation to see how ready their organization is to take on a new HCM implementation.

If you attended the conference this year, we want to know! What were your favourite moments? Is there anything we missed?

We’re looking forward to the 2024 NPI Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia next year! Save the date for June 19-21, 2024. Avanti will see you there!