All posts in Thriveal

Apple Babies

Does anyone know what happens 9 months after a new Apple device is released?  Ok, me neither but I have a theory.

Last week I had the opportunity to hang with some of the brightest minds in the Advertising, Accounting, Legal, and IT industries.  This was the first “Verasage Fellows and Friends” event since the passing of Steve Jobs, so you can imagine with a group of innovators, Apple was top of mind.  We discussed how Apple creates over $6k per sq ft in each location, compared to Tiffany’s $3k or JC Penney’s $150.  We rattled off some more amazing figures but it wasn’t until we began talking about Apple’s attention to detail that I became emotionally connected.  More specifically, the experience of opening a new Apple product.  I am torn between the beautiful box and that damn cute card that awaits me, reminding me to enjoy.  Enjoy.  Itsmagic delivered on a business card.

That’s deep folks.

I will admit when I open a Apple product, I get the goosies.  The pleasure/comfort part of my brain is firing and it feels good.  And I know I am not alone; I am not alone because Apple activates hundreds of thousands of devices a month and delivers the goosies to all those people.  Now lets take it one step further.  What if I said I believe the pleasure sensation felt from opening a new Apple product had direct correlation to sex.  Could you deny it?  Would you deny it? Just remember the feeling when you opened that iPad.  Yes, one could argue, “Chris, thats like saying a purchase from L.L. Bean could start a baby boom.”  And I would call you a bozo.  The sacred experience begins when you are holding the shrink-wrapped box.  Then comes the unwrapping, followed by the opening.  Finally your product and that damn cute card.
So yes, I believe 9 months after Apple releases a new product we experience an influx of newborns.

Did I mention my wife got a iphone yesterday, enjoy.

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IC Opportunities

I spent the last 48 hour in chilly Chicago with a group of thought leaders who command attention in the accounting arena. Jody Padar organized the first annual (maybe quarterly) IC Opportunities Event which brought together practitioners, vendors, media, marketers, state societies to discuss the direction of the profession. Greg Kyte, our resident comedian, welcomed us with a colorful keynote. Vendors in attendance included representatives from Intuit, Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer, Sharra Chan of Orange Door, Jennifer Warawa of Sage, Kasey Bayne of Freshbooks, Sarah Johnson of Inovautus, Peter Wolf of Azamba Consulting, Kathleen Echeverria of bill.com, Tamera Loerzel of Convergence Coaching and Michael Redisch of Cloudsway. Our media friends were Danielle Lee of Accounting Tomorrow and Rick Telberg of CPA Trendlines. Oh, and how can I forget, Jackie Brown representing the MACPA, only the COOLEST state society in the land.

Jody started the brain dump bright and early with a discuss on “the Gap.” The four areas we focused on were Mobile, Could, Social, and Project Management. In groups, we discussed the external and internal forces that prevent firms from adopting. The discussion moved to suggestions on how the four areas could gain more traction with the traditional firms. In the afternoon Geni Whitehouse, Jason Blumer Kasey, Sharra, and Joe Manzelli moderated deeper round table talks on Social, Cloud, and Project Management.

I was honored to be invited to an event like this. I was so happy to leave the comfort of my office, during tax season, and engage my brain in the future of accounting. My take-aways from the event were; the profession is moving in a direction to offer creative services above and beyond the traditional “tax-man” services. Acceptance of cloud and mobile technology will be a must for these services to flourish.

Jody, when is the next one?

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Thrivecast and Andriod

Self-proclaimed Googleites,

Come one, come all; and feast on the work-around to listen to Greg and Jason‘s Thrivecast on your Andriod device.

Copy the link below and paste it into your RSS feed reader or Google Reader, it will update automatically.

http://www.screencast.com/users/JasonBlumer/folders/THRIVEal%20Podcasts/itunes

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