Connections

GENERAL INFORMATION

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

VENDORS & SPONSORS

EVENT SCHEDULE & FAQS

OUR MISSION

CONNECTING CULTURE WITH RESULTS

Connections is our annual Fall event helping professionals strengthen their business relationships through gifts and sincere gratitude. We connect you with expert culture training, hands-on gift ideas, and takeaways that inspire you to express appreciation for customers and employees in meaningful, impactful ways.

We will walk you through the best employee engagement and retention ideas and products for this year and next year. Then you’ll get a sit down lunch and learn about the best ways right now you can "Say Thanks/Give Gratitude" to your employees.

connection

Get out of the office!

Relieve the stress for a couple hours by networking or catching up face-to-face with colleagues, peers, other industry professionals, our vendors and the illustrious SOLV Staff.

You're not going to want to miss out!

EDUCATION

Get out of the usual routine and shake things up! Pick up new ideas from our luncheon speaker and talk to our hand-picked vendors.

Find out what's new and what's working well in promotions, employee engagement/retention, and what's attracting employees across multiple industries.

Gift-ification

Get a nice gift bag full of stuff from us and our vendors that we know you'll love!

They're designed to spark ideas to attract new employees, show appreciation to your customers and/or employees.

Plus a free lunch and other opportunities for prizes throughout our trade show.

DONATION

SOLV's Mission Statement is, "Helping through Excellence, Opportunity, and Service." We try to live out the service part of our mission statement every year at Connections and are currently looking for non-profit suggestions for 2023.

If you would like to suggest a non-profit for us to work with, send us an email at marketing@thesolvgroup.com.

#CONNECTIONS23 VENUE

Connections will be hosted at the Galaxy Event Center in Meridian, ID from 10am - 2pm. The tradeshow portion will be held in the South Star Banquet Halls and our Keynote Luncheon will be held in the Aurora Rooms.

Get Directions to the Galaxy Event Center!

KEYNOTE SPEAKER 2023

KATE MEWES

HEAD OF PEOPLE | SAALT, AN IDAHO BEST PLACES TO WORK 2023 HONOREE

TOPIC: "Utilizing Recognition to Cultivate a High Performance Culture"

SPEAKER BIO:
Kate Mewes is a results-driven leader adept at fostering engaging cultures, facilitating growth, and optimizing operational efficiency. Her experience scaling businesses from startup through growth phase spans several key roles specializing in Team and operational management. As Head of People at Saalt, a women-owned B Corp with a mission to end period poverty, Kate orchestrates a dynamic culture, aligns the Team with company vision, and innovates HR processes from the ground up. Prior to her current role, Kate was an Owner at Adapt, a fellow Boise-based company, where she orchestrated daily operations and managed multimillion-dollar FEMA grants geared towards recruiting and retaining Volunteer Emergency Responders. With a firm belief that people are the secret sauce behind business success, Kate's specialty lies in maximizing team talent through values-aligned recruitment, and leaning into team member strengths while making them feel exceptionally valued and supported. She cannot think of a better place to invest in great people doing good in the world than Boise, and looks forward to continuing to raise her children here.

2023 VENDORS

Who you should expect to see at #Connections23

Explore the Brands

EVENT SCHEDULE

What to expect when you attend #Connections23

9:30am - 10:00am

EARLY BIRD ACCESS

This year's first 50 registrants to #Connections23 will receive 30 minutes early access to our event, getting extra 1-on-1 time with each of our vendors. Our early birds will also receive an extra swag item upon arrival to the show.

10:00am - 1:00PM

GENERAL ADMISSION

This portion of the conference will guide every attendee though the best practices of gratitude through interactive booths.

Each attendee will also get hands-on experience with each of our vendors' products to inspire your end-of-the-year gifts and promotions for clients and employees.

1:00PM - 1:50pm

KEYNOTE LUNCHEON WITH KATE MEWES

Join us as we welcome Kate Mewes, Head of People for Saalt, as she discusses the best gratitude practices in the State of Idaho right now. She will also introduce key insights on how she has helped make Saalt one of the Best Places to Work in Idaho for 2023.

Following Kate's presentation will be a Q&A portion that will be opened to the audience.

1:50pm - 2:00PM

CLOSING REMARKS & RAFFLE GIVEAWAYS

SOLV's CEO, Tressa McLaughlin, will make closing remarks about the 8th Annual #Connections Trade show and conduct our free high valued raffle prize drawings.

OUR FAQs

DO I NEED TO BRING/PRINT MY TICKET?

Nope! You do not need to bring your ticket to our event. Our registration table will have your ticket ready for you to check in once you arrive!

WILL THERE BE RECORDINGS AVAILABLE TO ME AFTER THE EVENT?

Yes! We love to share the opportunity to revisit everything that you took away from our Keynote Luncheon. We'll post the recording on our Blog, and if you're subscribed to our newsletter "The Spark", we will send you an email once it is uploaded.

DO I NEED TO BRING ANYTHING ONCE ENTERING?

Only your business cards and cell phone are necessary. We will provide everything else you're going to need.

CAN I ARRIVE EARLY TO THE EVENT?

As much as we would love to share longer in the experience with you, we do need to allow for enough time for our vendors to set up and get prepared to show the best experience possible!

WILL I BE ALLOWED ENTRY IF I DON'T REGISTER PRIOR TO ATTENDING?

We always believe, "The more, the merrier".

However, we still do require registration prior to event entry. Our team is equipped to help you register in only 3 minutes, plus it helps us make sure we have an accurate headcount for our Keynote Luncheon meals.

WE'RE "SAYING THANKS" THIS YEAR