ADS gathers its full staff and partner network across Africa at Barnyard Theatre, Emperors Palace, for a day of strategic alignment, industry insight, and achievement recognition ahead of FY2027
Altron Document Solutions (ADS) hosted its annual Year Start Conference at the Barnyard Theatre, Emperors Palace, on 30 April 2026. The event brought together ADS staff, South African partners, and African partners for a day of strategic alignment, achievement recognition, and connection - marking the company's formal launch into the new financial year.
A platform for strategic alignment and partner engagement
In the day-to-day rhythm of the industry - emails, calls, targets, delivery schedules - the pace rarely lets up. The Year Start Conference is one of the few occasions in the calendar year where ADS staff, its South African channel partners, and its broader African partner network convene under a single roof. For a company whose distribution reach extends across the continent, the event holds significance well beyond a standard corporate gathering.
The relationships held with African and South African partners are at the very heart of what ADS does. Sales and distribution is, at its core, a people business, built on trust accumulated over time through shared goals, honest conversations, and a genuine commitment to doing right by one another. Bringing those people together, even for a single day, is an investment that pays dividends far beyond what any spreadsheet can capture.
"The relationships we hold with our partners are central to everything ADS does. This conference gives us the opportunity to come together and recommit to the year ahead - with shared purpose, and with a genuine appreciation for what we have built together. FY2027 presents real opportunities for this network, and days like this remind me that we have exactly the right people to go and get them." - Yolanden Moodley, Managing Director, Altron Document Solutions
Keynote addresses from industry voices
The conference programme featured keynote addresses from two prominent figures in the global print and document solutions industry. Nathalie Schooling and Ray Stasieczko each took to the stage with the kind of presence that comes from real experience - people who have lived the journey, learned the hard lessons, and come out the other side with wisdom worth sharing.
Nathalie schooling delivered an opening session drawing on her extensive background in customer experience and business leadership, offering delegates a candid and practically grounded perspective on building lasting client relationships in a fast-changing market.
"What struck me about this group was the genuine hunger in the room — not just to hit targets, but to do business better. The conversations I had throughout the day confirmed that ads and its partners are asking the right questions. That's always the starting point for something great." - Nathalie Schooling, customer experience specialist and keynote speaker
Ray Stasieczko followed with a session focused on the evolving landscape facing resellers and channel partners, grounded in the realities of market disruption and the need for proactive business reinvention. His direct, experience-led delivery was widely noted by attendees as one of the standout moments of the day.
"The channel partners I met at this conference understand that the industry is changing and more importantly, they're not waiting for someone else to tell them how to respond. That mindset is everything. The companies that will lead the next decade are the ones willing to reimagine their value proposition today, and i left feeling genuinely optimistic about what this network is capable of." - Ray Stasieczko, industry thought leader and keynote speaker
An energised network
Beyond the formal programme, the conference opened up direct, unscripted engagement between ads leadership and its partner network. Hearing from the people closest to ads's markets, what is exciting them, what they are seeing on the ground, where they believe the opportunities lie proved as valuable as any session on the agenda. These conversations do not simply inform strategic thinking; they shape it.
The sense of community on the day was palpable. ADS is not just a company, it is a network of relationships built on shared purpose and mutual respect. The year start conference was a vivid reminder of that, and a celebration of it.
"Events like this remind you that you're part of something bigger than your own patch. We operate in very different markets, but the challenges we face and the ambitions we hold are remarkably similar. Walking away from today, I feel more connected to the broader ads network — and that connection has real commercial value." - Richard Attwell, Compleo - Pretoria
Raising a glass to the best in the network
The closing awards ceremony brought the conference to a close in the most fitting way possible: by putting the spotlight on the people who have truly gone above and beyond.
Recognising achievement matters. It matters to the individuals being honoured - to feel seen, to have hard work acknowledged in front of peers, is something that stays with a person. But it matters to the whole team too. When excellence is celebrated, the bar is raised collectively.
Categories spanned both South African and African partner performance, with winners drawn from across ADS’s full distribution footprint. Every name called was met with enthusiastic applause - the kind that tells you the recognition was well-deserved and well-received.
"Seeing your colleagues and partners recognised in front of the whole network is genuinely motivating. It's not just about the awards themselves; it's about the standard they represent. It raises the bar for all of us, and that's exactly the energy you want going into a new financial year." - Jennifer Naidoo, SDM, Altron Document Solutions