skucon: Celebrating 10 Years of Exploring, Innovating, and Dreaming
It’s not hard to imagine a dark, old-school Vegas nightclub with retro vibes, darkened corners, and a bright blue neon glow. It’s 2015, in downtown Vegas, after all.
Everything in downtown Vegas is grittier than its uptown counterpart.
In downtown LV, the magic hits different. It’s not shiny stars and opulent facades; it’s more fight-club-vibe meets urban street energy, the scene is earthier, saltier.
Which fits, because the crowd that gathered together for that first skucon in 2015 certainly matched the vibe.
The first skucon was held at the now-infamous and aptly named Inspire Theatre, a former 7-Eleven turned nightclub and lounge. The Inspire was a perfectly imperfect environment because the first skucon speakers to storm the stage were emerging acts themselves.
Denise Taschereau of Fairware spoke on “Building a Wildly Successful Niche Business.” Danny Rosin from Brand Fuel popped a bottle of beer before his talk (which spilled gloriously all over the already sticky inspire stage) and shared “The New Cold Call: How to Generate Business through Social Selling.” Bobby Lehew spoke on “The Art of Surprise and Delight,” Catherine Graham shared “Running a Profitable Distributorship.” Jonathan Isaacson kicked off the event with “Interesting Times on the Global Stage: A Path Forward in a Time of Uncertainty.” Small community groups were held in little pockets around the venue on topics ranging from tips on using commonsku to how to tell amazing stories.
That gritty little theatre was host to a new kind of entrepreneur in the business. Those first attendees were after something. They wanted something real, something closer to their own reality they could connect to.
This small gathering of rebellious dreamers attracted more of like-kind. And then they came by the dozens, then hundreds.
In a few years, skucon expanded beyond the small Inspire Theater to more locations: The Venue on Fremont, a stint at The Virgin Hotel in Chicago, and finally landing at the beautiful and spacious Keep Memory Alive Center. Along the way, a pandemic happened, and for a moment (which seemed an eternity) skucon IRL became skucon virtual.
In a whirlwind of a decade, over 150 speakers, most of whom came from within the community, took the skucon stage to share their stories, their struggles, their triumphs, and their vision of what our future industry should look like. And over 1500 people attended from all over the world, from the far reaches of Australia to the United Kingdom and from every state and province in Canada and the US.
Each skucon experience is lovingly crafted by a small team at commonsku. Every detail, from the merch to the registration site to the welcome experience and the community hang-time, is carefully considered with one motive: How can we help make the most out and each and every moment we have together? How can our first minute be just as special as our last?
And mostly, how do we bring others together in a way that makes the audience the star of the show and do so in a way that inspires us all?
If the star of the show is each member of the community, then certainly the best supporting actor award goes to skucon’s now-famous merch, a reflection of the heart and soul of what this industry’s profession can do at its very best. Each and every skucon opens with exceptional merch, including a custom journal with a small letter that greets attendees from moment one.
When those first attendees took a chance on a small little start-up with their divey little magic trip to the Inspire Theatre, they were greeted with the first of many messages, and that first message included this:
“We’ve always wanted to host a conference. As commonsku is all about bringing great people together and giving them the tools to succeed, we felt that 2015 was the year to give it a try.
When we visited downtown Vegas and toured the Inspire Theatre (a former 7-11), we knew we had found our venue. Our goal today is to connect, educate and inspire members of the commonsku community.
This is everyone’s conference - we’ve simply provided the framework.”
Time nor space does not permit us to thank the many sponsors, speakers, and members of the skummunity for joining us in our wildly adventurous little escapade, then dubbed as it forever will be:
skucon, the place for dreamers, explorers, and innovators, a.k.a., “everyone’s conference.”
We welcome you to join us for a very special skuconX in celebration of a decade of togetherness and to kick off 2024 in the only way we know how: by imagining a bolder tomorrow!