Reporting Back From Scaling New Heights 2018
It is Wednesday, June 20, 2018, the last day of last day of Scaling New Heights here in Atlanta, Ga., and I wanted to take a quick break to share a little bit about the experience I’ve had since arriving.
For those not familiar with this popular four-day event, Scaling New Heights was founded 10 years ago by Joe Woodard, a big name in the world of QuickBooks consulting; and his company, the Woodard Group.
This year’s phenomenal event granted attendees an opportunity to learn from some of the nation’s leading voices as well as tech companies operating in the small business advisory sector. In fact, this year’s event was so good that more than a few of the 1,000 attendees (all of whom work regularly with QuickBooks in some way) regarded it as “one of the best ones yet.” I am inclined to agree.
Perhaps the primary reason I’m feeling so great about my experience, is because the lessons learned here align so well with my personal philosophy as well as the culture at Rea & Associates.
Embracing Change Is The Focal Point Of Success
My true passion is for educating “small business” owners and their staff on how to get more from their accounting practices, particularly through the use of QuickBooks. (Side Note: I absolutely hate the term “small business” because it minimalizes the extent of what we do. Those of us who own a “small business” know that there is absolutely nothing small about the work we do every day. But I digress …) And at Rea, I have the opportunity to fully embrace this passion.
The Rea Way encourages us to “never stop learning” and to “embrace change.” This week, while at the conference, the gravity of these statements was not lost on me. Take, for instance, Artificial Intelligence (AI), which was addressed at great lengths, particularly with regard to how it will effectively change the accounting profession as we know it. After hearing a lot of what was said, I didn’t leave the sessions afraid and worried about my future job prospects; I left excited and inspired to embrace the changes that are coming.
At this year’s conference, I had a chance to meet IBM’s Watson. Then I got to hear what American publishing executive Steve Forbes thought about the new technology coming up over the horizon. Long story short, I am beyond energized to learn of the possibilities ahead of us and I can’t wait to share this information with you in the coming months through blog posts, one-on-one discussions and speaking engagements.
But if I were to leave you with my single, most important takeaway of my last week, this is it: To be at the forefront of true change, we can’t just be complacent to sit on the handle, we must situate ourselves on the cutting edge of the blade. In the past, this was a hard concept for me to truly grasp, which is never why I never truly tried to step out of my comfort zone. But no more.
I am excited for what the future holds. For data entry, managing timesheets, and combing through expense reports to be a thing of the past and for the infinite potential of affordable technology and the impact it will have on the lives of business owners everywhere. I am excited to see better business practices and greater innovations, all because technology will have made it possible for us to have more time to work on the business, instead of in the trenches of our businesses.
To the future!
By Matt Long (Wooster office)