Takeaways from Nurse Next Door’s Annual Conference 2016 #WeAreBoldPink
This past month, we celebrated our 9th Annual Conference with Nurse Next Door Franchise Partners and HeartQuarters members. This three day conference from September 15th to September 17th located in Vancouver, BC — where Nurse Next Door started 15 years ago — has become a highlight of the year for many. Fittingly, the theme this year was #WeAreBoldPink to reflect our disruptive approach to the industry and boldness in what we stand for. From our pink cars to unique approach to Happier Aging, we’ve made it our mission from the very beginning to change the stereotypes on aging — and we’re getting noticed for it. This past week, Nurse Next Door was the winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 in Healthcare Services.
Our Annual Conference has grown from a small-sized event to a grand celebration bringing in Franchise Partners from across North America. Five reasons why this event is so popular among our Franchise Partners are:
1. Connect with the HeartQuarters Team – Support is always available to our Franchise Partners from our HeartQuarters team via phone and e-mail; however, our Annual Conference allows them to connect and ask any questions in-person. It’s an opportunity for our partners to get re-connected with the brand and hear directly from the Leadership Team. In fact, Cathy Thorpe, President & CEO, held an “Ask Anything” session this year where Franchise Partners were encouraged to ask her any questions they had in an open forum.
2. Learn from Peers – We encourage our Franchise Partners to share their learnings with each other and they’re great at doing this. Conference is highly beneficial for our newer Franchise Partners to connect with those who have been around longer to get advice. It’s also beneficial for our senior Franchise Partners to share knowledge with colleagues and get fresh ideas
3. Learn from Experts – Every year, we have subject matter experts lead roundtable discussions on various topics ranging from subjects like “Caring for Clients with Dementia” to “Google AdWords” to “Growing Hospital Sales.” Depending on the business needs of our home care franchise system, topics are decided and designed to help Franchise Partners develop their One Page Plan – a tool we use to plan out the year.
4. Get Rewarded for Hard Work – Our Franchise Partners work hard and we recognize them for their efforts. Our final night of Conference is Gala. The pinnacle of the weekend, Gala, is a well-to-do celebration that features fine dining, enlightening conversations and the eagerly anticipated annual awards show. Ranging from Rookie of the Year to Franchise Partner of the Year, our coveted awards recognize the hard-work and successes of our franchises over the year.
5. Hear from World-Class Speakers – We spend a long time researching and selecting speakers for our Annual Conference that are in alignment with our brand and will speak on topics our Franchise Partners want to learn about. This past conference, we had David Rendall, author of The Freak Factor, and Verne Harnish, Founder and CEO of Gazelles.
Our #WeAreBoldPink Conference saw many successes this year:
- We had over 180 attendees
- Our Conference #WeAreBoldPink hashtag trended
- We introduced “Caregiver of the Year” and “Care Designer of the Year” awards
- We had two world-class speakers, David Rendall and Verne Harnish
- We celebrated Nurse Next Door’s 15 year anniversary and a tribute to Co-founders John DeHart and Ken Sim
