And the bare concrete floor was the theme at the former Intacct Advantage conference—Sage sought to save money. Companies might want to look at this show to see just how many of things that were missing they actually need. There was no loud multimedia event to kick off the keynote (contrast that with NetSuite hiring a string orchestra for a less than two-minute splash), no outside motivational speaker (How badly do we really need those anyway?), no rotating displays showing the conference schedule. Many exec interviews were on small tables spread about the bare concrete floor in one of the halls. The big party was on site, in comparison with other ERP shows that tend to go off site. There was a barebones press room, just a room with tables and outlets, no refreshments, no lounge with sofas and cushioned chairs. They didn’t skimp on the meals which were pretty much Modern Conference Standard. Sage did have swag bags, but I didn’t grab one. “Oh, great another bag.” On the exhibitor side, only one booth had a container full of bite size candy bars. “You’re the only one taking them,” one person told me. Maybe people are worried about COVID, although with all the precautions, I noted that at the shows I have attended, everyone ends up handling the tongs for the food at the buffet. The biggest trends was the number of exhibitors handing out multi-colored socks. I took away a lot.