Kudos to the Aweb team

For organising the Expo

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I found the two days insightful, stimulating and generally fun. A range of software, apps, services. Themes of automation, integration and progressive thinking. Good range of talks, stalls and topics. Was expecting the sessions by HMRC personnel to be filled with a mob baying for blood - which never came to pass. I don't drink, but Rishi Brewnak did result in chuckles. Wife's eyes popped out at the range and quality of freebies I brought back for her and the kids - her medical conferences just give out pens and the odd flash drive. The rickshaws and old-school london bus were a surprise. Mak's potato salad and cookies were thoroughly satisfying. Have worn a mix-and-match of Modulr & Starling socks to the office today!

Overall a thumbs up from me.

Replies (4)

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John Toon
By John Toon
03rd Dec 2021 12:04

For me it's the opposite (yes it's well organised etc) but there's a law of diminishing returns with the various accountech conferences.

Typically you see the same speakers, same topics and same vendors and nothing much has changed over the last few years. I'm not trying to denigrate anyone involved as I know and respect many of the people who gave up their time to talk and there's clearly an engaged audience wanting more. It's also nice to see some of the apps I've helped come to market get their chance to show themselves to a wider audience.

So, I still attend for the opportunity to network and to talk to vendors, speakers and others about the real insights and gossip that never make it onto the various stages. Next year I'll probably be more picky about which events are really worth the time away from the family and office and get more of my team out and about.

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Replying to johnt27:
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By alialdabawi
03rd Dec 2021 16:05

My first time attending such an event for this sector

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Replying to alialdabawi:
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By Hugo Fair
03rd Dec 2021 16:23

Ah, that might explain the enthusiasm for "the range and quality of freebies"!
And that's not to be as patronising as it might sound ... I hope you (and the family) get plenty of fun from the items, but I can assure you that ennui sets in after your return from the nth show laden down with more 'goodies' that are shortly to litter your house like an adult's playroom ... ready to trip you up (which is a good analogy for many of the products being shoved at you by the kind donors of gifts).

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
06th Dec 2021 09:32

It was great to meet you at the Expo, Ali, and on behalf of the whole AccountingWEB team thanks for your kind words. It takes an unbelieveable amount of work to pull all those exhibition stands and speaking programmes together - especially if you haven't done it before - so we're very gratified to hear from happy attendees.

When formulating the Expo we tried to replicate the on-site AccountingWEB community vibe in a live setting - so as Johnt27 suggests, talking to other accountants and sharing advice and suggestions between delegates was as important as what happened on the stands and stages.

I, too, have been to loads of tech exhibitions and know many of the same familiar faces. But rather than becoming cynical about tech suppliers and freebies, I find it really, really useful to meet the vendors, see their products and ask them face to face about features and criteria that really matter. You can learn so much more than way than from a web listing or online video and some of their apps actually solve important problems for many accountants.

We devoted a lot of attention to designing the content sessions around the issues that matter most to AccountingWEB members and were pleased with the response - even though we lost several speakers to self-isolation in the days before the event. We're already working to make year's event even more responsive to attendees needs.

I'm looking forward to seeing you and other Aweb regulars there next year.

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