“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens; Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens; Brown paper packages tied up with strings; These are a few of my favorite things”1
I usually reserve those lyrics for my annual ‘Favorites Newbies’ article about what I like best regarding the newest releases of QuickBooks each fall, but I also thought it most appropriate for this feature on some of my favorite classes to be offered at Scaling New Heights over the next few days. Now I have already told you about what I am teaching so I won’t include those in this article, after all I shouldn’t favor my own classes (NOT). I will also be having to select only a single class for each session, just as you must do.
June 21 – 12 Noon: Intuit: How We Innovate
So if I were not attending ‘my own class’, then I would definitely consider attending the session titled “Intuit: How We Innovate” which is a miniature version of Intuit’s ‘Design for Delight’ training. If you haven’t had the opportunity to participate in ‘Design for Delight’ this is a must of a class. I have been through two different ‘Design for Delight’ trainings and ALWAYS find it a worthwhile exercise in problem identification, outlining potential solutions, quick-n-dirty testing of those solutions, and evaluating the outcome. Who knows you are just as apt to design a new flavor of ice cream as configure a new feature for QBO, but either way, this hands-on class in using the Intuit Innovation process is definitely worth your time.
June 21 – 2 PM: Train the Trainer to Train: A Sampler
Taught by one of the most wonderful people on the planet, Carol Oliver, of the Woodard group, this course is intended for anyone who is even thinking about becoming an instructor, who needs to enhance or hone their teaching skills, or who would benefit from working with a skilled professional in curriculum, presentation and delivery aspects of training the next generation of QuickBooks users, students and even professionals like other QuickBooks ProAdvisors. Learn how you can really teach an old dog new tricks, or even a new dog for that matter. Don’t be surprised if you find ‘this old dog’ in Carol’s class, because learning ‘never’ stops.
ALTERNATE: OK – I said I would only make one choice, but I am cheating. If I were not going to Train the Trainer I would be in Damien Greathead’s class titled Building the Modern Firm – Catching the Winds of Change. I can’t think of a better name for Damien than his last name “Great Head”, this guy has one of the greatest heads on anyone’s shoulders; he is smart (beyond belief), funny, charming, and most of all fabulous to listen too. You won’t go wrong absorbing some of what this ‘Greathead’ has to offer. (I really need a clone so I can be in 2 classes at the same time.)
June 22 – 8AM: 100 Minutes with Intuit: QuickBooks Online and QBO-Accountant
This is one of the ‘real opportunity’ classes to get to hear, know, speak-up, speak-out and otherwise just find out everything behind the scenes with respect to these two Intuit products. These Product Managers will not only ‘clue you in’ on what is in store for QBO and QBO-A, but will actually take the time to listen to your wants, wishes and suggestions. Kevin Kirn has a keen since of understanding his target audience and envisioning product suggestions from an implementation standpoint. (Believe me, I have seen he and his team take an idea and have a working prototype within 24 hours.) If you ever wanted to let Intuit know what you really think about these two products this is a great place to put it to voice.
June 22 – 12:10PM: Creating Work/Life Harmony
Stacy Kildal is known for ‘telling it like it is’, many of her articles in Intuitive Accountant are among the most read, and certainly most ‘commented on’ articles of the last two years we have been publishing. In this session ‘Stacy K’ as she is known and loved, will deal with the issues of balancing roles and responsibilities in your daily lives. Due to the class interaction, this class is limited to only 40 participants, if you haven’t signed-up by now, you may be too late.
ALTERNATE: Because of the limited attendance in the above class, I will once again ‘cheat’ and offer a potential alternative for this time period. “What Every ProAdvisor Should Know about QuickBooks POS powered by Revel” – just as QuickBooks Online is the future of QuickBooks, the new iPad based QBPOS product powered by Revel is the future of QuickBooks POS. Another great ‘listener’ and ‘doer’ from Intuit will be participating in this class, none other than Jacint Tumacder (in my way of thinking he is one of the drives that drives Intuit). Having been around from almost day one at Intuit, Jacint is a ‘make it work’ kind of guy. You have an opportunity to not only hear the ins and outs of this new joint-venture product, but where it is going, and voice your suggestions as to what you want to see in the future of POS.
June 22 – 4:20PM: 100 Minutes with Intuit Desktop
If you are a QuickBooks Desktop lover, then this is where you want to be. This is your opportunity to hear from, and ‘speak to’ Intuit’s Desktop Product Team about what is in store for the future of QuickBooks ‘as we have known it’ since that very first release way back when. Don’t be left out of the discussion about where you want your desktop products to go for your clients and yourself. One of the big reasons to attend Scaling New Heights is to have this kind of direct access to the people who are driving the Intuit products we all love so much. (PS – if you didn’t read my note above regarding POS-Revel, just be aware that ‘Mr. Make it Happen, Jacint Tumacder, will also be in this class.)
Well those are my Sunday and Monday picks, you will just have to check back for part 2 of this article to get my Tuesday and Wednesday ‘favorite things (classes).’
Murph
1- "My Favorite Things; Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music (1959).Composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein