By The Protech Team
As a 25-year community theater veteran, Heather Hughes has been involved with plenty of epic productions. Fortunately for Protech, Heather’s experience came in handy when she served as a driving force behind one of Protech’s biggest productions ever: our first-ever virtual Fusion Customer Conference.
When the COVID-19 pandemic brought in-person events to a halt in early 2020, the Protech marketing team joined so many others in the association community in scrambling to shift gears. As Protech’s event guru, Marketing Communications Specialist Heather Hughes’ event planning skills were put to the test – and she delivered.
With more than 450 registrations, the 2020 Fusion Customer Conference was the best-attended Protech conference ever, and much of that hard work can be directly attributed to Heather’s determination and attention to detail. When asked what her greatest achievement has been since starting at Protech in February 2019, Heather was quick to point to Fusion 2020.
“It was already set to be the biggest and best Fusion yet when we had to take it virtual,” Heather said. “Within five weeks, we were able to switch formats and still provide our customers with a fantastic educational experience. I can’t wait until we can do this event in person!”
But Fusion wasn’t Heather’s first successful event at Protech. Since joining the Protech team, Heather has helped Protech elevate its branding at tradeshows and conferences like the ASAE Annual Meeting, Association TRENDS’ AMS Fest, ASAE’s Technology Exploration Conference and many more. At each of these events, Protech counts on Heather to handle the logistics – making sure the booth is booked, travel arrangements are made, and branded items are shipped and ready to give away to potential customers.
It turns out, all that community theater experience was invaluable in making Heather Protech’s go-to events and tradeshow expert.
“Whether it is our booth at ASAE Annual, a demo at AMS Fest or the Fusion Customer Conference, I consider the overall experience of the attendees and how they interact, not only with the Protech staff, but also with the Protech brand as a whole,” Heather said. “Plays and musicals have many moving parts, and the skills I developed as a choreographer and director has helped me handle the logistics of both our tradeshow appearances and Fusion.”
When Heather’s not planning events at Protech, she enjoys gardening and spending time with her family. Heather also planned an event of her own in the fall of 2019 – her own wedding! After marrying her partner and best friend, Patrick, Heather’s family of two became a family of six, with Heather and her daughter joining Patrick and his three children in their western Maryland home.