On December 20th,2022 Heather and Liz were joined by Heather Sperduto from ADP for this month’s Campfire Chat Series. Heather has been with ADP for 2 decades! She really enjoyed our intimate moments at camp when the thought leaders and attendees could share their opinions and discuss the next steps for the field and the level of connection. Heather was not able to attend Quickbooks Connect but her team was there and Heather and Liz got to see them and some of their games. Did you see the giant gummy bear while you were there?
Heather stated that the relationships that were formed at camp have really grown into lasting relationships and partnerships. There were personal connections made, inspirations, and innovatation.
We asked Heather “What big takeaway did Adp take from camp? How did it impact your direction?” She stated that she and Rhonda, who is the head developer on accountant connect, had the opportunity to share technology and get feedback that they have already acted on! They were able to meet people and learn more about some apps that they knew about but not enough. For example, Heather stated that she has spent time with Jirav and said she always thought she what they do, but after talking with Mike from Jirav she really got to understand even more what they do and how Adp can fit in with their forecasting.
Heather asked, “What is your perfect way of communicating with your technology partners?” This is where the magic happens, these connections! The purpose of Appy Camp was to slow down and make these connections! The busyness gets in the way of human connection. The ladies shared that at a lot of conferences people can walk away and only retain so much information because there was so much going on. At camp, everyone was able to sit back, relax and take it all in, and retain so much more.
The focus groups at camp gave them opportunities to dig deeper, and share with each other what are you doing, and how are you using it to solve problems that alone we don’t always think of.
Heather stated that with life so busy these days it’s hard to decide when you should or shouldn’t go to a conference or an event. Her recommendation was to slow down and go. She stated that you never know what you are going to find and that a new partnership could be waiting on the lawn in West Virginia.
Learning labs were helpful for the people who use accountant connect but maybe for only 1 or 2 of the benefits and didn’t know about all of the other benefits!
Heather and Liz reminded us of their format for 2023 to bring on firms and allow firms to present their tech stack so we can all be learning from each other what works. Heather shared with them that ADP has been doing a series of CPE webinars of accountant roundtable advisory boards where accountants are sharing their “cheater form” showing what they are using for different things in their firm. There have been similarities and differences and you can see how they line up against each other.
To check out this series you can find it on the ADP website.
If you’re interested in learning more about ADP, be sure to check out their website, or you can watch the episode by visiting our website or on YouTube!