Posted by Jennifer Donner Smith, Director of Corporate and Field Events, NetSuite

SuiteWorld, the annual gathering of NetSuite customers, partners, industry press and analysts is putting its emphasis on the first group in that list like never before.

With 6,000 attendees expected to attend the annual event at the San Jose Convention Center (SJCC) May 12-15, NetSuite’s customers are front and center. That starts with the opening reception Monday night, where the SJCC will be serving up wine from our customer Northwest Cellars Winery, which has made high-quality wines for over 1,600 corporate clients, nonprofits, restaurants, hotels, private clubs, special occasions, and personal gifts.

NetSuite customers also line the shelves in the first ever NetSuite store. Located at the main concourse level, the pop-up store is the perfect place for customers to get their NetSuite-branded gear and peruse the stylish and innovative products of some of NetSuite’s customers, such as Urban Market Bags, reusable nylon bags sold in convenient packages of three or six that can go anywhere. Plus, all transactions are processed in NetSuite (naturally). What’s more, a new Loyalty Program will make veteran attendees’ SuiteWorld experience even suiter with a special gift, loyalty buttons, a loyalty lounge and discounts. Eligible attendees will be contacted prior to SuiteWorld.

After attendees are done shopping, they can swing by the SuiteLife booth for their SuiteStuff. All full conference attendees can choose one gift, supplied by our customers, including: a sleeve of Titleist golf balls from All Star Pro Golf; an OYO mini figure from Major League Baseball teams the A’s, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox or Yankees from OYO Sportstoys, Inc.; super soft organic cotton socks from PACT; customized and chic notebooks from Poppin; a power pivot strip for organizing your devices from Quirky; an iPhone 5/5s case from Speck; or a Williams-Sonoma spatula or wine stopper.

Then attendees can take a break at the SuiteLounge and relax on the comfortable seating provided by NetSuite customer Lovesac, creator of the patented and revolutionary Sactionals platform as well as the traditional Sac.

Customers aren’t just dishing out goodies at SuiteWorld, they’re providing actionable insight and best practices. This year’s call for speakers saw an overwhelming response and many customers will be sharing their advice, best practices and tips and tricks for getting the most out of NetSuite. Check out the track and session listing to find the right session for your business, either by product or industry.

Once again, NetSuite is recognizing the efforts of its star customers. Customers and partners who have used NetSuite to transform their business and achieve breakthrough savings and productivity gains will receive Transformer Awards at the annual awards ceremony on Thursday across five categories: Business Transformed; Commerce Transformed; Finance Transformed; Operations Transformed; and Technology Transformed.

Finally, NetSuite customers, partners and employees will also come together for some positive hacking on Monday. From 9 a.m to 8 p.m., participants will join in the inaugural Hackathon 4Good to benefit nonprofit organizations Kiva, a microlending organization dedicated to alleviating poverty, and the Positive Coaching Alliance, an organization dedicated to providing young athletes positive, character-building sports experiences. Participants will meet to develop innovative solutions to help these NetSuite.org grantees address their challenges. All skill levels welcome, just sign up here and bring a laptop.