From last year’s Computer Explorers ConferenceLast year’s Computer Explorers Franchisee Conference

Franchisees will lead sessions, hands-on participation expected

The Computer Explorers corporate team and our franchisees meet at our headquarters outside of Houston, Texas, once a year to celebrate our successes, work on our challenges and plan for our future.

This year will be different. Sure, we are still having a conference, which starts Thursday, March 3, but we aren’t focusing on big-name speakers or planning inspirational yet shallow pep talks. We are going to work. All of us.

Computer Explorers is calling on its top producers to share what works for them. Franchisees themselves will moderate sessions designed to allow everyone to compare their challenges and work toward conquering them and setting the stage for growth. This conference, unlike any of our previous 26 annual events, will require active participation and we won’t let a few simply sit back and observe.

How to get our message out will be a major theme, and franchisees will meet and hear from the professionals who help spread the word about Computer Explorers. Michael St. Jacques of St. Jacques Media, which remade our website, will talk about marketing. Thomas Scott of Brand Journalists, which has been handling our national PR as well as local PR for seven franchisees, will talk about social media platforms. AK Stout, owner of Saying it Social, will walk us through using Google Places. And Kate Groom and Peter Knight of Smart Franchise will be our keynote speakers Friday night via Skype from their offices in Sydney, Australia.

New times demand new approaches. As much as this weekend is a “conference,” it also is a big brainstorming strategic planning event. We’ll work to help franchisees build their business lines, market their services, implement social media tools, become authorities on selling and figure out what’s next. Thursday night we’ll honor our award winners and as the conference ends we’ll review what we’ve learned and what we can do next.

Communication is important to us and good communication makes the Computer Explorers system stronger. We think we’re pretty good at it and many of our franchisees agree. The Franchise Business Review has ranked Computer Explorers in the Top 50 Franchise companies and awarded the technology education franchise its coveted award for its high marks in franchisee satisfaction.

The Franchise Business Review, based in Portsmouth, N.H., is an independent market research firm that surveys franchise owners each year on their system’s training, support, communication, franchisor/franchisee relations, financial opportunity, business lifestyle and overall satisfaction. Computer Explorers ranked high in several survey categories, notably franchisee communication, team culture, and core values, including trust.

Our annual conference is a wonderful opportunity to build on this foundation. We’d like to see some more new faces at next year’s conference, so give us a call or fill out the contact form. New voices and points of view help a great system become even better.