Scaling New Heights is My Super Bowl

It’s that time of year again. My version of the Oscars. Scaling New Heights. Every year, I count the days until I pack my suitcase for the blistering Florida sun and freezing indoor air conditioning, gas up my car and fire up the GPS to walk through those conference center doors again. I have attended every Scaling New Heights except one. I will never miss another.

You can feel the energy the second you arrive. New ideas. New technology. New conversations. People showing up hoping this is the year something finally clicks for their firm. It feels like awards season for accountants. Everyone wants to see what is new and who is thinking differently.

I love every minute of it. Old friends reconnect. New friendships start. Everyone shows up excited, curious, hopeful and a little sleep deprived from catching up at the bar until midnight. I see old friends I have not seen since last year. It feels like no time has passed. I get to make new ones, learn about their lives and firms and listen to their ideas about where this profession is heading.

This year’s theme is Strange New World, and they nailed it. AI is disrupting this profession faster than anything I have seen in my career. This is not a small software update or another app promising to save us three clicks. This feels like the moment someone discovered the wheel and suddenly the way humans moved through the world changed forever. That is how significant this moment is for accounting.

We are entering one of the biggest shifts our profession has ever seen. AI is taking over the repetitive work that once filled our days. Bank reconciliations, data entry and basic reporting are becoming automated faster than most firms expected. Some people see that change and panic. I see a chance to become more valuable, not less.

The future of accounting is not less human. It is more human.

As technology handles more of the mechanical work, the value shifts to judgment, communication, creativity and trust. The firms that grow will be the firms with the strongest relationships.

That is why conferences like Scaling New Heights matter so much right now.

The real value of a conference is not just the sessions, certifications or slides. It is the hallway conversation before, during and after each mainstage and breakout session. It is the person you meet over coffee who changes how you think about your business. It is the vendor conversation that solves a problem you wrestled with for six months. It is realizing the people around you are fighting many of the same battles you are.

In a world where AI can summarize a webinar in thirty seconds, human connection becomes more valuable, not less.

We cannot keep hiding behind our spreadsheets. We have to learn how to communicate, connect and build community instead of only talking through reports. Some accountants still act like eye contact is an IRS audit.

The people who thrive in the next version of this profession will not be the ones hiding behind keyboard shortcuts. They will be the ones willing to show up, ask better questions and build relationships people remember.

Five ways to create real connection at a conference

1. Start conversations before you feel ready

Most people overthink networking. They wait for the perfect introduction or opening line. Meanwhile everyone stands there clutching coffee like it is emotional support caffeine while pretending to check email.

Keep it simple.

Ask questions like:

• “What brought you here this year?”
• “What’s been the best session so far?”
• “What problem are you trying to solve in your firm right now?”

Most people are nervous too. When you make the first move, the conversation gets easier for both of you.

2. Sit with someone new

Do not spend the entire conference beside the same people you work with every day.

Sit somewhere different. Introduce yourself to the person next to you. Small decisions create big opportunities.

Some of the best opportunities happen because you accidentally sat in the wrong chair.

As AI handles more technical tasks, our value comes from understanding nuance, people, and context. That skill starts by learning how to connect with the human sitting right beside you.

3. Go to one event you normally skip

Go to the happy hour. Go to the meetup. Go to the breakfast session. I know the sheets at the Marriott are so cozy. Get up and go anyway.

The best moments at conferences rarely happen in the formal sessions. They happen in the informal conversations where people stop performing and start being honest.

It is also where partnerships, friendships and ideas start.

Take a shot. Introduce yourself to the speaker you admire. Ask the vendor a question. Walk into the room. Feel awkward. It’s ok.

If you never swing, you never hit anything.

4. Ask better questions

Most conference conversations stay painfully surface level.

• “What do you do?”
• “How long have you been in accounting?”
• “How’s business?”

Fine. Safe. Forgettable.

Instead ask:

• “What’s been the hardest part of this year?”
• “What’s working surprisingly well in your firm?”
• “What are you trying to figure out next?”

Better questions create better conversations.

This also happens to be the exact skill clients need from us. Clients rarely need another report. They need someone willing to ask the question underneath the question.

5. Follow up fast

Connection is reinforced afterward. Send a quick message within forty-eight hours and mention something specific you discussed.

“Loved meeting you. I keep thinking about your idea on pricing restaurant clients.”

That detail proves you listened.

The real ROI of conferences

AI can summarize information. It cannot replace relationships.

That is the shift happening in accounting right now.

The firms that win will combine technology with stronger human connection. They will know how to communicate ideas, build trust and stop sounding like interchangeable accounting firms.

The real return from conferences is not just knowledge. It is people.

It is the colleague you text when you hit a wall with a client, the peer who shares what worked in their firm and the friend who reminds you this profession does not have to feel isolating.

You do not need to become the loudest person in the room or have a perfect elevator pitch. You simply need to become a little more willing, a little more often.

Reach out. Ask the question. Sit at the table. Take the shot.

Accounting may start with numbers, but the firms that thrive will build something bigger than reports. They will build trust, relationships and community.

I want to thank Joe Woodard and his entire team for creating this experience year after year. Conferences do not magically happen. Someone has to build the vision, organize the chaos and somehow keep thousands of accountants moving in the same direction.

I look forward to this conference every single year. I treasure the people, the conversations, the ideas and the feeling that our profession is becoming something bigger and more human right in front of us.

The future sounds a lot more interesting with us working, learning and realizing dreams together.