Highlights from Advantage Users Group 2025 in New Orleans, LA

The 2025 Advantage Users Group Conference was held in New Orleans, Louisiana from Tuesday 2/18 – Thursday 2/20. Let’s recap what happened!

Tuesday

After a welcome and introductions by AUG Steering Committee Chair Katie Zamonsky, AdvantageCS’s Director of European Operations Philippe van Mastrigt kicked off the conference with his annual Publishing Trends presentation. He noted that so far in 2025, the publishing industry landscape continues to reflect the challenges and disruptions that started in 2023 and developed throughout 2024. Digital subscription growth continues to slow, print media is still declining, AI is still transforming the industry, and the industry’s future is still uncertain.

Then, AdvantageCS’s VP and Chief Product Manager Dan Heffernan gave attendees an update on AdvantageCS’s news, strategy, and direction. He highlighted the company’s recent efforts in AI, Cider Plus, and market expansion as some of the most notable developments made during the past year.

We took a short break, then resumed the day’s activities with Table Topics: groups of clients gathered to share tips and best practices on Advantage and related subjects. This session focused on critical Advantage topics such as workflow rules, scripts, tax handling, and invoice document creation.

After a vendor presentation from FlexPay VP of Client Success Nick DeGuise, we wrapped up Tuesday’s activities with a meet-and-greet reception. Staff and clients relaxed and networked over drinks and refreshments.

Wednesday

AdvantageCS staff and clients gathered early on Wednesday to start the day with more Table Topics, this time focusing on credit card management, security-related topics, package bundling, and finance. Then, Dave Demsky from Agora delivered his keynote presentation Operational Excellence & the Four Disciplines of Execution, discussing the leadership principles which foster his team’s success at Agora. 

Next up was Chief Solutions Architect John Sheehy – although John was unable to make it to AUG, he kindly prerecorded his Cider Plus demo so AUG attendees wouldn’t miss a beat! 

After John’s presentation, we took a break for lunch before resuming in the afternoon with Stephen Pirozzi from Agora’s presentation on data availability. Stephen shared Agora’s iterative process to make Advantage’s data available in other applications. AdvantageCS’s VP of Engineering Matt Varblow was up next with his technology update, informing clients of the newest technologies we are working with and contemplating for the future. This year’s technology update focused on improvements for digital payments, quantum upgrades, authentication upgrades, and the company’s plans to further implement AI into the Advantage application.

We concluded the day’s events with an Ask ACS session – AdvantageCS representatives answered questions submitted by clients on a variety of Advantage topics. 

(And while a steamboat dinner was scheduled, it was unfortunately cancelled due to inclement weather.)

Thursday

The final day of AUG 2025 was quick, but productive. We started early in the morning with John Sheehy’s new presentation New Features: Coming Soon to Your Instance of Advantage. We took a short break, and Agora’s Suzanne Earley gave the final presentation of the conference with a Note Activity demonstration. Katie Zamonsky wrapped up the conference with some final words, and with that, we said our goodbyes and concluded AUG 2025. AdvantageCS thanks everyone who attended this year’s Advantage Users Group conference, and we can’t wait to see you again next year!