QuickBooks
Connect, Oct 20-22, 2014, was Intuit's premiere conference to celebrate their foray
into the subscription business of QuickBooks Online. The conference was a
chance to meet people, see the cloud technology, and get the advice needed to
start, run and grow a business. It was a unique experience and an opportunity
to make valuable connections.
The over 4000 attendees
included a veritable who's who of industry movers and shakers. Vendors I work with such as Expensify, and Zen Payroll had sponsorship booths. I got the Zen
t-shirt to prove it.
Accountants, such as myself, attended
to become "Advanced Online Certified", a new certification Intuit
rolled out at the conference. That test is extremely hard to pass, so the day-long
training will be invaluable too.
Headline presenters
included entrepreneurs Magic Johnson, Martha Stewart, Kevin Clearly, Cliff Bar
& Co. CEO. Marc Andreessen (Netscape fame) got up from his sick bed to be
interviewed by Scott Cook, Founder, Intuit Inc. Mr Andreessen is a VC now, so perhaps
he wanted first dibs on the next FaceBook developer who might have been in the
crowd? The level of creativity required to create a business such as FB was
what I found most exciting about the conference too.
During the
conference, I gravitated towards Sarah Clansky to answer my Intuit information
booth questions. By the third question, she shared with me that she doesn't actually
work for Intuit Corp. Rather; she's the project manager for doubledutch.me—the business
that developed and managed the QB Connect conference app. She has 3 more
conferences to roll out this month alone. Two years ago that business didn't
exist, or if it did, just as idea, a vision, or maybe a dream?
It's a joy and a blessing to be around attendees, and my clients, who all have such a high
level of business creativity.
