If 2020 was a cake, its recipe would be one-part uncertainty, a dash of fear and frustration, and a hefty pinch of isolation. But wait, it would also be a heaping cup of resilience with a generous amount of resourcefulness.

Personally and professionally, we’ve all been collectively facing this global challenge. If this year had moved forward as planned, we’d be fresh off the heels of our 6^th annual vCon event. We’d be pleasantly recuperating from the excitement of Vegas, the meeting of new faces, and the delight of catching up with our long-time industry partners.

But Serena Wong, Vertican’s SVP of Marketing and architect behind all of our vCon events, realized early on that it would not be this year’s scenario. She also knew that 2020’s monumental shift in circumstances didn’t have to mean polarization across the board.

“While we are unable to hold our annual conference in the traditional form, we have chosen not to allow current circumstances and restrictions to prevent us from delivering the exceptional learning, networking, and growing experience our valued clients have come to expect from Vertican,” shares Serena.

Since late spring, the marketing team has been harvesting the ingredients for a major virtual event recipe in the most subtle of ways. While VT staff is no stranger to a virtual work environment, they built a major interoffice program called vSocial to help minimize isolation and promote connection among the staff needed more now than ever before.

If you follow us on LinkedIn, you know that vSocial is Vertican’s whimsical way of maintaining team communications and interpersonal relationships. From virtual happy hours to friendly competitions to our now latest book, gardening, and movie clubs, vSocial and vSocial Events have been invaluable to the synergy of our team.

The team’s efforts to maintain and strengthen both collaboration and interpersonal relationships through vSocial were just the beginning. What was originally an internal initiative has been, in actuality, laying the foundation for vSquare: Vertican’s first Virtual Town Square Event.

With vSocial as the catalyst, vSquare is technologically and systematically equipped to bring clients the ultimate virtual learning and social experience. But this is not a “virtual version” of vCon.

Serena explains, “As we were developing vSquare, we quickly came to realize this is not just about workshops and updates. What makes vSquare special is opportunity and connection.”

vCon delivers education, vSquare delivers interactive product demonstrations which our attendees can record. vCon provides giveaways; vSquare provides gifts. vCon gathers people together; vSquare caters to small group learning and specialized networking experiences.

While we could never replace the face-to-face, in-person setting, vSquare promises to proactively involve our guests with a hands-on, meaningful experience.

Since we’ve designed the event to include small group huddles with our subject matter experts (SMEs) as well as discussions among industry peers, registration is limited.

Below is a glimpse of what you can expect from vSquare. We hope you decide to join us for one or more of our activities, hands-on workshops, client roundtable discussions, health checks, and social events.

• General Sessions are free and open to everyone (registration is still required)! Topics include Q-LawE Progress Report, two What’s New sessions (Collection-Master and vMedia), and two What’s the Difference? sessions (Comparing Q-LawE and Q-Law and Comparing Q-LawE and Collection-Master). Finally, don’t miss our vSquare kickoff session, Where is Vertican Today?, presented by Isaac Goldman, Vertican CEO.
• Product Workshops have been carefully planned by Vertican’s client services teams and SMEs to answer your questions, help resolve your pain points, and empower you to maximize the robust software tools at your fingertips each day.

Not only that, but we’ve also designed these workshops to be interactive bringing you the highest level of return for the time you will spend with us. For this reason, keep in mind registration is limited, so sign up before virtual seats are full.

There are too many sessions to list here, but Statute of Limitation System in Q-LawE, Error Handling in Collection-Master, and vMedia’s Spectrum Importer are to name just a few – so many sessions, so little time!

• Social Events are not new to the Vertican team. An ideal mix between networking and indulgence, these experiences will fill up fast, so be sure to check them out right away. From Virtual Wine Tasting with a Sommelier to Roll with Us: Vertican’s Virtual Cigar Rolling Event to Meeting of the Minds: A Virtual Cocktail Party, each gem of an event includes a high-end gift to use while enjoying the event.

Learn more about vSquare, important policies and procedures, and how to register at a discounted rate by using the link below. Once again, due to the interactive nature of this event, session sizes are limited to ensure meaningful involvement – be sure to register early!

Visit Our vSquare Website

Chelsea has been with Vertican since 2016. Her key role with the company is working as Business Systems Analyst. We talked with Chelsea about her work at Vertican, learned what she does outside of the office, and what might surprise her co-workers.

What sort of work did you do before joining Vertican?

After high school, I managed my parents’ café for about 4 years. I then worked for a real estate company in their finance department. I also briefly worked as a server at two different restaurants.

What is a typical day at Vertican like for you?

Every day is different. Some days I’m QA-testing tickets for the next Q-LawE update; other days I’m helping Kurt Sund (Vertican’s CTO) build out and document new Q-LawE functionality; and some days I’ll assist Client Services with training or an especially tricky support ticket when needed. I tend to just go where I’m needed.

What do you like most about working for Vertican?

Would it be cheesy to say “everything”? The people, the benefits, the growth opportunities! It genuinely feels like Vertican cares about us as both employees and people.

If you could learn anything new, what would it be?

Piano. I have an electric keyboard and I can play chords on it but very s l o w l y. I’d love to be able to actually play a song at the speed it was meant to be played.

What was your very first job and how old were you?

Starting at eight years old, I would go to my father’s auto body shop every day after school to help however I could. I started making copies or stamping papers and over time I was given more responsibilities. When I got my license, I became one of his drivers and I got to drive all the cool cars he had bought or was selling – easily the most fun job I’ve had!

What is something about you that may surprise your colleagues?

I love to sing. One of the perks of working from home is that I can sing all day while I work – when I’m not in meetings, of course.

What (else) do you like to do outside of work?

I’m a homebody so outside of work you can generally find me on my couch with my dog. I love to do puzzles or work on whatever random craft project I’ve found. I also love to learn new things. Most recently, I’ve been learning the programming language, Python. I don’t know what I’m going to do with that knowledge, it just seemed like a fun thing to learn.

Share something exciting you did in the last 12 months.

Moved my family down to North Carolina! At the end of 2017, my parents moved right outside of Wilmington, NC, and I followed a month later. Two months ago, we moved my grandmother, older sister, and 8-year-old nephew down. It’s been so great having them all close by again!

Do you have a favorite movie, artist and/or book?

Movie: Crazy, Stupid Love

TV: How I Met Your Mother

Music: Ron Pope

Dave has been as a Project Manager with Vertican since 2019 . We caught up with him to talk about his work at Vertican, what he does outside of the office, and how he ended up on top of that large rock.

What sort of work did you do before joining Vertican?

Before joining Vertican, I was a Project Manager for a toll collection company; prior to that I managed projects that revolved around SharePoint implementation.

What is a typical day at Vertican like for you?

On a typical day, I will be working on either the Chase onboarding project or transitioning Machol & Johannes onto Q-LawE. So, most of my day is spent making sure these projects stay on track and communicating with the client to make sure we are meeting their requirements.

What do you like most about working for Vertican?

The team members I get to work with daily. Many projects can run long and have their ups and downs, so it’s good to have a team that can help keep things moving even when times are at their toughest.

If you could learn anything new, what would it be?

A new language, Spanish would be the first language I would focus on.

What was your very first job and how old were you?

I was a camp counselor and lifeguard during the summer seasons through high school.

Word on the street is you like to fish? Tell us about it and how that began.

Yes, I like to fish, although I am not that good at it. It started the summer after college ended. I would go fishing almost every week with one of my friends. We didn’t always catch a lot, but it was fun none the less. Now I go with my brother whenever we go up to the Poconos.

What is something about you that may surprise your colleagues?

I train Jiu Jitsu in my off time; I am fairly new to it but hope to keep training and improving.

What (else) do you like to do outside of work?

Watch sports now that they are back, play video games, and spend weekends at my family’s house in the Poconos whenever I can. I also used to like to play pickup basketball pre-pandemic.

Share something exciting you did in the last 12 months.

I would say with all the outdoor activities that have become popular since the Pandemic started, that hiking the Delaware Water Gap or Mount Tammany with a few friends and our dogs was a highlight. I hope to do more out of states hikes next summer.

Do you have a favorite movie, artist and/or book?

Movie: The Dark Knight

TV: Haunting of Hill House

Music: Linkin Park, Green Day, and Maroon 5, to name a few

Please share a favorite quote.

“To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift” – Steve Prefontaine