I’m in Nashville this week attending my 12th straight ACT/Sage conference. I’ve don’t this ever since I’ve become an ACT consultant mainly because I believe in learning and that learning new things is key to staying competitive in today’s market. I also go because it gives me a chance to hang out with people who do what I do, and finally it gives me a chance to spend time away from the business to thank about and work on the business.
Learning new things about ACT! – ACT! 2013 is just around the corner. new features include improved smart tasks, integration with social media and more. We are attending specialized, hands on advanced sessions on implementing, training and supporting this new version.
Business Processes and Practices – Chris, Timothy Chou, Ed Kless and more. A lot of what we do is to help business with their business. It is very rare that we just sell or just install software. People usually use a consulting or hosting company because we can help them take software and use that software as a tool to grow their business and have a better quality of life. Some of the sessions here provide tools for my business that allows us to increase capacity, customer service and customer impact without significantly increasing resources. Doing more with less! What a concept.
Hanging out with other Small business owners and consultants - most of the year, we work in our business. I make the decisions, provide the direction. Like many small businesses, I wear many hats. Attending our annual conference gives me a chance to share war stories with others with a similar business model and to commiserate and share ideas.
Working on the business – Over the years, I’ve attended a lot of conferences. Some specific to a particular product, others have dealt with personal things like spiritual growth and life planning. A lot of times I take great notes and make grandiose plans. Inevitably, as soon as I get home those notes get filed away as they are forgotten in the business of everyday life. Traveling give me a chance to dig these notes and refocus.
More notes as the week goes on. It’s good to be here again.
