Xerocon South is now done and dusted. And what an amazing Xerocon it was. With over 2,300 participants and 90 exhibitors, you can imagine the ‘buzz’ in the room on both days.
Before the start of the conference, I was fortunate to be on a panel discussion as part of the Xero Grow your Practice series with Xero AU Head of Bookkeeping Mel Power. Mel is an amazing inspiration to all bookkeepers out there and what she is doing for the industry is second to none. In this discussion I had the opportunity to talk to a group of about 40 bookkeepers, discussing Cloud CFO’s Why and USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Being a part of that panel meant that I was able to meet a number of first-class bookkeepers/accountants from around the country and NZ. They are achieving big goals in the industry. I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Amanda Hoffmann from Aussie Bloggers Podcast (http://aussiebloggerspodcast.com/). Watch this space.
Over the two days of the conference we were fortunate to have many outstanding presenters.
One of the highlights from Day 1 was the presentation by Dandapandi (@DandapaniLLC) on ‘Conscious Accounting’. Dandapandi shared what he has learnt as a monk – how we need to use our minds to focus and to know who and what is important in our lives. Another highlight was the presentation by Xero CMO/CRO Andy Lark. I always find Andy’s presentations inspirational and insightful. He shared some great insights about the online market place and both cloud accounting and technology. Andy spoke about how Xero has created a connected business platform and how we as bookkeepers & accountants need to leverage this to grow our clients’ businesses. He also spoke about how Xero was rewiring the small business economy to thrive through beautiful cloud software, advice and connections
Day 2 was another fantastic day. It began with an inspirational chat by Rachel Robertson (@Rachael_Rob). Rachel is, I believe, the first female to lead a team of up to 120 staff managing a 9 month expedition in Antarctica. She spoke about both recruitment and leadership. Two key points that really stood out for me in her presentation were
1. Respect is key to business success in a team and
2. “People remember how you make them feel”.
The last Keynote speaker on Day 2 was Rod Drury, CEO & Founder of Xero. One comment I read stated that Rod was the Steve Jobs of Cloud Accounting. His passion and drive to help both accountants & bookkeepers + the small business economy is truly awesome. He is a visionary in the Cloud Accounting landscape. Here is a link to his keynote, if you have an hour of free time it’s worth watching
During the 2 days I also had the opportunity to chat with a number of the add on partners. Xero’s ecosystem of add on partners is growing and developing at a rapid rate. As small business owners we now have so much at our fingertips to assist us in growing our businesses.
As I now reflect on the conference as a whole I feel inspired and confident that I am on the right path offering clients the Xero Connected Platform. This will certainly assist them in growing into the future.