After inspiring and educating accountants and bookkeepers in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, Get Connected will be coming to South Africa for the first time with one-day events in Cape Town and Johannesburg on Tuesday, the 5th and Thursday, the 7th of February 2019. Hosted by the world’s leading online accounting software, QuickBooks, this unique experience has been designed to inspire growth, educate for success and connect attendees to those that can help them thrive.
Highlights of the events being held at the Vineyard in Cape Town and The Campus in Johannesburg will include scintillating talks from tech leader Mushambi Mutuma; Dominic Allon, Senior Vice President of International at Intuit QuickBooks and DigitLab CEO, Mike Saunders, amongst other industry experts.
Mutuma, who has over 12 years of experience building brands and businesses across Africa and the US, will be delivering the keynote address on the topic of Accountants as entrepreneurs, preparing your firm for the future. He says: “Today, more than ever, leaders in business and entrepreneurship need to invest in new ways of thinking and must prepare their businesses for rapid moving digital change. For growth, even just survival, accountants in particular need to become students of technology and human needs. In other words, they need to become tech adjacent. Being tech adjacent is not about keeping up with tech or jumping on board every single change and adjustment on the market. Instead, it’s about understanding the pace and principles of tech, hearing the direction of its footsteps, knowing how disruption and innovation work tangibly and, most importantly, using existing tools and systems to leverage for strategic future planning. Ultimately, it is about leveraging technology for growth and change for your practice. Those willing to jump on this wave will be well positioned against disruption and rapid innovation. They will also be kick-started down a path to future-proof success.” In his talk, he will be unpacking trends and the process of innovation, sharing steps to identify and endure disruption, as well as providing a how-to guide for predicting where technology and audiences are going next with great accuracy.
Focused on helping businesses, accountants and developers get the most out of the internet, Allon will be educating the audience on Growing your business with QuickBooks. The former Group Head at The Economist and Managing Director of Google Hong Kong will be elaborating on how the practices represented at the event can become firms of the future. He will be examining trends to consider and adopt; the shift from compliance to consulting; innovations in client service such as real time collaboration, mobile and paperless; in addition to innovations in profitability like value pricing. “We’re here to help each step of the way with great products, partnerships and support that can help your practice become a firm of the future.”
Having built DigitLab into one of South Africa’s premier digital marketing companies, Saunders is perfectly positioned to provide insights on Marketing Your Firm. In this breakaway session, he will be discussing the importance of online personal branding for getting noticed and building more influence in your career and personal life. He will also be revealing how to own a personal platform via blogging, podcasting and vlogging; explaining how to market your platform through search engine optimization, email databases, social networks and more; as well as sharing which apps make this easier. Saunders says: “The Internet has become a powerful platform that allows us to build brands much quicker and stronger than we could before. This presentation will help you build an online presence that projects your personal brand in a way that is authentic and that returns the investment you’re looking for.”
Apart from this and the three other breakaway sessions offered, delegates can look forward to a panel discussion on the topic of New Year- New Ways of Working, which will befacilitated by Morning Live anchor, Leanne Manas. Points to be discussed include acquiring clients; shifting clients to software; cloud security and bank connections.
Over and above these opportunities for gaining valuable insights, guests will get to meet and engage with likeminded accountants and bookkeepers at the networking cocktail party being held after the day’s talks.
Tickets to the event are available at a discounted rate of R500 per person and can be purchased from the event website. Delegates who are already certified with QuickBooks Online will be eligible for a free ticket. To register, and be kept up-to-date on future events, please visit: https://quickbooksgetconnected.co.za.