Hey, Murph! Hi again from QuickBooks Connect Toronto! I feel as if I’m a kid at summer camp writing home 😊.
Day Two was filled with inspiration.
At the morning Main Stage event, Dominic Allon, Intuit SVP & GM International, walked us through Intuit’s Prosperity Hub concept. We saw that Intuit has already launched its first Canadian Hub in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, employing 45 customer support people for QuickBooks and TurboTax.
Melika Hope, who leads Intuit Canada’s Small Business and Self-Employed management team, took us through the recent and upcoming enhancements to QBO and its mobile app.
Then we got to hear from Celebrity chef and author Matt Basile, founder of Fidel Gastro’s and star of Rebel Without a Kitchen. He told us about his shift from copywriter to chef, and how he changed his food service business plan in the face of certain realities. His message was: “Figure it out!”
The man is an absolute scream; I want to invite him over to my house, and not even to cook. Just talk. I’d be laughing too hard to eat anyway. And I scored a signed copy of his cookbook, Brunch Life.
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We had some great breakout sessions today, including Juliet Aurora’s “8 Essential Steps to Hiring a New Cloud Bookkeeper.” That was followed up by Juliet and her husband Steve Loates, co-founders of AIS Solutions, Intuit’s Firm of the Future winner from 2017. Together, they presented “Are You Ready to Hire?”
Then I presented “Discovering Business Insights Using QuickBooks Online,” so I couldn’t go to any of the other great sessions that were offered at the same time. There is that cloning problem again!
At the afternoon Main Stage event, we were floored by Rockstar concert pianist Jade Simmons, as she told us stories about her life and evolution as a musician, woven in between beautiful piano performances.
Jade taught us that “Purpose is not the thing you do. It’s the thing that happens to others when you do what you do.” She also said “Set arbitrary deadlines. Pick a date. Commit to finding the solutions.” And lastly, “Connect with other mavericks.” She even showed us what it’s like to manage a team by bringing two unsuspecting people up from the audience, Tanis Young (who plays piano) and Brad Celmainis (who does not), to collaborate with her on an impromptu song at the keyboard.
Finally, the inspiration level reached a crescendo (like that Jade?) when Astronaut Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space, took the stage. Did you know he’d been named the Top Test Pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy? He’s well known for playing his guitar in space.
He told us some amazing stories and shared some equally jaw-dropping pictures from space.
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He then took out his guitar and performed “Space Oddity” (“Ground control to Major Tom...”) for us and then showed us where Chris Hadfield Inc. is located in Toronto on an aerial map. He also showed a picture of his accountant who manages the finances of the company. Get this: his name is Murph!
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Connectfest took place tonight, and the joint was jumping. Each hour, the band played songs from a different decade, starting with the groovy ‘60’s. Brian Clare, Heather Satterley, Laurie O’Neil, Lynda Artesani and I piled into a van/photo-booth and took the pic below:
That definitely has the "Murph stamp of 'cool' approval!"
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Of course, there were the requisite selfies. Matthew Fulton, Laurie O’Neil and Marnie Stretch can be seen in the pix below with me:
This is where the term 'back in my (Murph's) day' would have come to mind... "too cool for school!" Yes we had schools, they just had 'dirt floors' back then...that's how long it's been since Murph was in school.
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Well, it’s late now, Murph. I still have a full day tomorrow; I’m going to be spending the morning in Kellie Parks’ session and the afternoon in Misty Megia’s. Sheesh…I’d better kill the lights and get to bed.
Still wish you were here, Murph!
Oh.....you all are having way too much fun for me... (Murph)