In-Person Networking, Expo Returns to Payroll Congress

The Congress Expo returned bigger and better than ever to the 40th Annual Payroll Congress at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

The Grand Opening on Tuesday, May 10 kicked things off this week, with more than 80 booths giving attendees a chance to network with companies from the United States and Ireland. Vendors include Accu-Time Systems, Workday, and everything in between are glad to be back in a live expo to showcase their latest solutions, provide demos, and answer questions for inquiring attendees to bring back home.

“I think everyone is super excited to be back in person for sure,” said Loren Barrows, Senior Director, Special Event for ADP. “There is a nice energy to the show. Our booth has been really busy so far and a lot of people are asking questions and looking for solutions.”

Scott Wilson, Director of Strategic Initiatives at APA and GPMI, said he is happy to be back in person, and able to introduce American colleagues to global vendors.

“Coming here and getting face-to-face with our constituents, our members, our subscribers, and our payroll community in general is essential,” Wilson said. “It is what we are here for, to support them and provide education for payroll professionals. Having a single place to go to find information on Spain, South Africa, or Ecuador and what’s going on in payroll there. But its also knowing people there and getting to know people who are paying in those countries to talk about the woes and highs of doing payroll in languages and cultures that are not your own.”

Ginnette Clark, CPP, a consultant from Crossville, Alabama, said she is excited about attending the live expo again for the networking opportunities and on spot education it provides.

“I like to be able to have offerings and options for my clients to be able to go back to,” Clark said. “A rapid! paycard versus a Wisely paycard may be no big deal to us, but I am going to give that to my clients, so they have options to make choices for them that make sense. I make sure I stay educated.”

For some Congress attendees, such as Wendy Blake, CPP, Payroll Manager at ATI Forged Products, this is their first-time experiencing Payroll Congress and seeing the expo in full swing like before the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. For Blake, it was an exhilarating and exciting experience.

“It’s so much,” Blake said. “It’s my first time and I want to go to all the classes but you can’t be at all of them.”

Blake said the expo provides her an opportunity to learn about new innovations in the payroll industry that are not commonplace yet and gives her an advantage.

“In my situation, when I first heard about same day pay I was like ‘no, we are not doing that.’ But then I thought I’d better be knowledgeable about it, that way I can go back to my boss’s boss and go ‘that was talked about at Congress and I’ve got the literature.’ What if in 10 years everyone is on same day pay and we never got around to it? Being here is really about learning about the products that are out there, company names, and just being up-to-date on the technology and things offered right now.”