August Circle Update
August has been an exciting month for the Boomer Technology Circles! Our summer cycle of meetings kicked off when Circle #1 convened on Monday August 14, 2006. This was the first of two “1-2-1” meetings that featured two Circles meeting over a span of three days.
BTC #1 met alone on Monday August 14th, and then was joined by BTC #2 members on Tuesday August 15th for a joint meeting. On Wednesday August 16th BTC #2 met alone for the second day of their session.
During the joint session we conducted a “Peer Group Interaction” session which consisted of three questions focused on the topics of Planning, People, and Processes. After each member had answered the questions on a form provided, we broke the group up in a randomly mixed fashion so people had a chance to meet members from both Circles. Afterwards they spent about an hour comparing notes on the three questions. Initial feedback indicates that this session was particularly well received. Other features of the joint meeting day included a Strategy and Vision session, Mad Lab, and Partner and Technical Breakouts. On the day when each Circle met alone, members followed the agenda they had planned at the previous session, and completed Accountability Reviews and Game Plans.
On August 28 - 30, BTC #5 and #7 followed a similar agenda.
In addition to these combined meetings BTC #3 and BTC #8 met in the more traditional fashion, with only their own Circle members present.
Topics addressed in each of these meetings emphasized privacy and security. Eric McMillen, of The McMillen Group, and Jim Boomer of Boomer Consulting, Inc. gave presentations on the risks to client data in a mobile environment, strategies to follow to protect that data, and an action plan to adopt. These presentations were followed by extensive informal discussions throughout the rest of the meetings.
The Circles were also attended by a variety of industry guests. Intuit Inc. conducted fact finding sessions with a Focus Group chartered for that purpose. These sessions gave Circle members valuable access to top level consultant (and former Intuit executive) Steve Blundell, who will serve as the “voice” of accounting firm concerns with access to the highest levels of decisions makers within Intuit. Other industry guests included representatives from Interwoven who were present to learn about the concerns faced by Circle members. SurePrep LLC sponsored the Social Hour for each meeting and presented updates on their products and services during supplemental sessions in the afternoons.
All in all it has been a busy month for the Circles, and lots of good information exchanged among members. The new Boomer Consulting, Inc. website will help these members keep in touch until their final sessions of the year in November and December. If your firm has not yet joined this elite group of good firms helping each other get better, contact Eric Hunt at 888-266-6375 or erich@boomer.com. He can help you get started on the path to Exponential Growth!
