Accountancy and a tale of one city...
Here is a tale of one city ... and two conferences.
The city is London, the globe's leading financial centre and home to some of the world's most quarrelsome (NB polite word) politicians. Well, this week it played host to two accountancy conferences.
The words accountancy and conference describe both events adequately. After that things get a bit more tricky.
Enjoyable and educational
The two gigs were equally enjoyable and educational - but they couldn't be more different.
The first was Xerocon, a colossal two-day celebration of accounting and more put on in three sprawling hangars at ExCeL by one of the world's leading software group's Xero. I reckon about 3,000 folk from the Xero community and elsewhere in the accounting world let their hair down.
The second was the Institute of Chartered Accountants England Wales Connecting in a Digital World conference. A quieter and perhaps more cerebral affair not far from the institute's historic HQ in Moorgate. I reckon about a couple of hundred or so were there.
Scale, ambition and inspiration
I loved both. Xerocon for its scale, ambition, and inspiration. Xero's chief Steve Vamos drives home a message of 'we help small business the world over thrive and prosper' with concise convicition.
He and his team pulled-off a jaw-dropping extravaganza, complete with zip wires, DJs, rockbands and a keynote stage as wide as a football pitch is long. Not to mention accountancy. And they succeeded in keeping all this razzmatazz on the right side of taste... no mean feat.
History and professionalism
And I loved the ICAEW event because of its history, its commitment to professionalism, its intellect and its endeavour.
For me, the whole ethos of the institute was encapsulated in a practical accounting update by Vivek Mehen of the ICAEW.
My hat goes off to the guy who studied chemical engineering at Cambridge for his wit, passion and forthrightness in delivering a one-hour plus lecture on the nitty-gritty of non-tangible assests. And making it interesting. To a non-accountant! Amazing!
I'll be writing more on both these events next week. But that's all for now. Have a great weekend!
