Passageways Launches Enhanced Client Community and New Initiatives at the 6th Annual PowWOW

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May 12th, 2011 Indianapolis, IN- Passageways, the leading provider of portal based solutions, organized its 6th annual conference on Collaboration– PowWOW 2011. The event was held in downtown Indianapolis, at the beautiful and historic Union Station.

The keynote presentation by the two founders titled “Passageways: Energy”, set the tone for the rest of the conference. This session highlighted the launch of eBoard, an iPad app for Passageways board portal customers, the launch of a new look to Passageways.com website, the unveiling of a Passageways customer community now called “Communitree” and highlighted several new advancements that the Passageways team is planning in the next 12 months.

“New products, new ideas, and meeting of several passionate pathfinders – PowWOW 2011 was such an energizing event and is sure to change every attendee’s perspective on collaboration”, said Christopher Beltran, Co-Founder Passageways.

The conference also saw riveting session by Randy Harrington, Carmen Voilleque and Jackson Hataway from Strategic Arts and Sciences and several presentations by Passageways customers and partners. The annual best practices competition had several presentations by various banks and credit unions sharing their work with peers. For the first time at PowWOW this was judged live by the audience. The awards for the 2011 edition of  PowWOW were won by:

1. Winner 2011: Motorola Employees Credit Union: Using Employee portal for new hire integration
2. First Runner up: Sandia Laboratory Credit Union: Integrated Member feedback system on the portal
3. Honorable Mention: Corner Bank: Implementing an exciting new Employee Portal
4. Honorable Mention: Bank of American Fork: Using Employee portal for management development
5. Honorable Mention: Bank of American Fork: Using Employee portal for product spotlight

Fifteen other session focused on new ways to collaborate and communicate effectively within the enterprise including the nuances of using some of the new social tools. These sessions also allowed customers to learn about various best practices that Passageways customers have evolved over the years.

Christopher Beltran also shared the Passageways road map for next 12-18 months, in a well attended session where several new innovations was shared and some significant new initiatives were announced. The conference also provided an avenue for Passageways customers to get certified in Portal Administration, Workgroup Management, or in becoming proficient in using Employee Portal Suite, creating 18 new Passageways Certified Professionals.

“PowWOW 2011 was a celebration of all the great work done by Pathfinders. We are proud to have 275 portals globally, fueling collaboration and innovation”, said Gail Koehler, President Passageways.

As at every PowWOW the ‘fun’ element was also out in full force. Among the high points of PowWOW 2011 was a hilarious skit done by Passageways business partner Strategic Arts and Sciences, with their CEO Randy Harrington as the lead character. This presentation brought home the need to use a communications framework like Passageways for annual planning and board communications at a credit union, community bank or even a hospital. Tuesday evening May 10th also included a karaoke night which allowed all the participants to connect and celebrate another exciting year for all Passageways clients and partners.

PowWOW 2011 was wrapped up in style by New York comic Johnny Lampert poking fun at the idiosyncrasies of being an employee in the financial industry in today’s world.

About Passageways

Passageways’ is a leading provider of Employee Intranet solutions, Board Portal solutions, Vendor Management solutions, Lobby Management solutions, Learning Management solutions and Community Portal solutions for Credit Unions, Community Banks and Healthcare organizations. Passageways powers over 275 portals in United States, Canada, Caribbean Islands and Russia.  For more information please visit www.passageways.com