Promotional products business and sales software provider commonsku (PPAI 522077) hosted its fifth annual skucon conference this week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Targeted at “innovators, explorers and dreamers,” skucon doubled the size of its attendance over last year and featured a record number of speakers.

Held at “The Venue,” located on Fremont Street in historic downtown Las Vegas, skucon featured startup expert April Dunford, author of the forthcoming book Obviously Awesome – How to Stand Out in Noisy Crowded Markets, and the former vice president of marketing for global companies including IBM and Nortel. Her session shared how context can be a critical factor in getting your company noticed.

skucon’s speaker lineup also included Scott Alterman with The Icebox; Jake Director and Riley Goodman with Strideline; Stephanie Leader with Leaderpromos; Anita Emoff with Boost Technologies; Janie Gaunce with Grapevine Designs; Lee Strom, CAS, with SanMar; Brandon Mackay with SnugzUSA; Kathy Cheng with Redwood Classics Apparel; Chris Ferriter with SoBe Promos; Renya Nelson with Brand+Aid; Jake Malishkevich with Promodealer, and several others. The one-day event offered attendees six credits toward their CAS or MAS designation.

“We were blown away by the energy of the community and the fresh, imaginative messages each speaker had to share,” says Co-Founder and Chief Platform Officer Mark Graham. “Each year, the event grows larger, and I think that speaks to the hunger of the entrepreneurial spirit in this community. We’re proud that we could host an assembly of mavericks and free-thinkers who are passionate about the profession. It was a fantastic way to kick off the new year.”

Catherine Graham, commonsku’s CEO, adds, “From lifestyle branding to building an agency model, ecommerce, uvp [unique value proposition] and how to kick ass in business development, we were proud to present over 20 topics related to building a better business. We’re thankful for everyone—our sponsors, our team and especially the community of customers and friends—who joined us for an exciting day of learning and inspiration. We’re looking forward to 2018!”