So today is the actual start of Scaling New Heights 2014; according to Wendy Rohrssen, Director of Training at Scaling New Heights, approximately 70 percent of the 1100+ participating ProAdvisors have already picked-up their registration packets, badges and swag bags. According to Sharon Coker, Scaling New Heights staffer who was responsible for 'stuffing the swag', the bags include among other goodies a T-shirt from Skyline (QuickBooks hosting by UniData), a black mask (“could it be for a masquerade ball???”) from Tsheets (a Timekeeping App that syncs with QuickBooks for job tracking and payroll purposes), and Bill.com's (an Accounts Payable/Receivable management company) two pin motif that allows the wearer to show either their current or interested participation in the company's programs.
Of course two of the most sought after items at this year's conference are not in the bag, they can only be found at the Intuitive Accountant booth; our "I'm an Intuitive Accountant" NaNu (like the ones shown in this headline) and the "Data Detective in Training" badge which I will personally be handing out to those who come by just to say 'hi' are in demand. Everyone loves my NaNu character, and so his first appearance (at this conference) is a high mark among those attending.
Exhibitors have now finished setting up shop in the exhibit hall and foyer of convention central here at the beautiful JW Marriott Hill Country Resort just Northeast of San Antonio. I made a swing by the 'pool area' yesterday and conservatively estimated 1500 people enjoying themselves in what seems more like a water park than your typical resort pool; so for anyone thinking about registering late bring your entire family this is a great place to recreate.
For some attending there have already been a couple days of pre-conference events including comprehensive training by LexisNexis as well as National Advisor Network Chapter Leader training updates.
The conference breakouts began this afternoon with 25 training sessions being offered covering QuickBooks certification preparation courses, a variety of workshops on 3rd party products that sync with QuickBooks, practice development topics and "how to" classes dealing with every aspect of using QuickBooks for Small to Medium Businesses.
Later this evening conference participants will be treated to a Social hosted at the Alamo in Downtown San Antonio. It should be a gala 'ho down', we can only guess how many cowboys and cowgirls will learn to line-dance for the first time? You really don't know what you will be missing if you are still at home and not at Scaling New Heights "Texas Style."
For those not attending you can still hookup with some of the major take away points from this conference by logging in to the live professional video feed from the various keynote addresses that will be presented Monday thru Wednesday featuring such personalities as Frank Abagnale (portrayed in the movie 'Catch Me if You Can'), Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit, Luis Sanchez Head of Intuit's ProAdvisor Program, Joe Woodard of Scaling New Heights and Woodard Consulting, and a multitude of others leading the way in the future of accounting technology. You can sign-up for the Streaming Video here.