Professional Development Events

Garrett Wasny offers an acclaimed suite of professional development events that will boost your web efficiency and transform how you use the Internet.  

Leading sessions:

Advanced Internet Research Techniques for Accountants (Full Day)

Are you a Google zombie? When you search the Internet, do you type a word or two into Google.com and hope for the best? If so, you don’t know what you’re missing! Actually, you’re missing 99 per cent of online information and tapping only a tiny fraction of Google’s search power.

Practical, concise and fun, this seminar can exponentially improve your online search skills, immediately increase your web productivity, and instantly transform how you use the web in your business and personal life. Even if you think you’re web savvy, you are guaranteed to learn new search strategies, techniques and tools that will take you to the next level of online intelligence gathering.

Topics Include:
  • Quiz:  Are You a Google Zombie?
  • Why Study Web Search? (hint: your entire professional and personal life depends on it).
  • Google is Great But It’s Not Perfect: The Hidden Biases, Inaccuracies, Blind Spots and Costs of the Big G.
  • How to Optimize and Personalize Google.
  • Google Power Search Tools.(Instant, Sidebar, Google+, Country Engines, Search Across Languages, Alerts, Reader, Currents, Insights for Search).
  • Google Mobile (Google Play, Voice Search, Voice Actions, Goggles, Latitude, Heads-Up Display, Shopper, QR Codes, Mobile Apps).
  • Google Hidden Treasures (Google Playground, Politics, Image Search, Maps, Places, Flights, Maps, Earth, News, Product Search, Book/Magazine, Blog, Scholar, Finance, Advisor and many more).
  • YouTube and Video Search.
  • Google Hacking (Google Tagging, Filtering, Tinkering, "Black Hat" Hacking, "Super" Alerts).
  • What's Ahead for Google (Google X, Self-Driving Cars, Green Projects, Moon Exploration, Africa Initiative, Singularity Project).
  • Google is Not Enough: Other Online Discovery Resources.
    • General Search Tools.
    • Accounting Search.
    • Social Media Search.
    • Invisible Web.
    • Verticals.
    • e-Marketplaces.
    • Market Research.
    • People Search.
    • Wikis.
    • Information Moshpits
    • Question and Answer.
    • Events.
    • Online Classifieds.
    • Subscription Services.
  • Search Psychology:  How Different Genders and Generations Discover Information (and What We Can Learn from Each Other).
  • Recap and Key Takeaways
 
Cloud Computing and Google Productivity Tools for Accountants (Half Day)

Google is a renowned search tool.  But did you know Google has a whole other applications that’s often overlooked and underrated? This half-day session reveals that part of Google you never knew --  the huge and free suite of online productivity tools that can be used in your organization every single day to accelerate workflow, improve collaboration, transform communications and even generate revenue.

Topics Include:
  • What is Cloud Computing?
  • Cloud Computing Case Studies.
  • Introduction to Google Apps -- a Classic Example of Cloud Computing. 
  • How to "Googleize" Your Computer for a Faster, Better and Safer Online Experience.
  • Gmail.
  • Google Calendar.
  • Google Docs.
  • Google Sites.
  • Google Web Publishing (Google Groups, Blogger, Analytics, Fusion Tables, Web Elements, Shared Spaces, Picasa Web Albums). 
  • Google Location Awareness (Google Mobile, Maps, Earth, Map Maker, Latitude, Sketchup).
  • Google Promotion (Google Profiles, Places, Adwords, Accelerate, Consumer Surveys, Offers, Merchant Center).
  • Google Revenue (Adsense, Onepass, Checkout, Wallet, YouTube Rentals).
  • Google Communications (Moderator, Chromebook, Nexus, Android, Voice, Talk, TV).
  • Google Search Engine Optimization (Webmaster Central, SEO Starter Guide, Web Toolkit, Help).
  • What's Ahead for Google.
  • Other Cloud-Based Productivity Tools.
  • The 10 Must-Have, Mission-Critical Google Productivity Apps
 
Social Media for Accountants (Half day)

You’ve seen Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social media in the headlines. But what’s in it for accountants? Does social media really offer anything of value to CPAs. CAs and other financial professionals in their day-to-day operations? Absolutely!

Practical and illuminating, this half-day session cuts through all the hype and explains the basics of social media and how it can be used to boost your accounting career and organization. This seminar provides participants with the knowledge and skills they need to use a range of social media applications and be more comfortable, confident and productive online.

Topics include:
  • What is Social Media -- Why It's Your Foe and Friend.
  • How to Ensure a Safe, Fast and Productive Social Media Experience.
  • Google+.
  • LinkedIn.
  • Twitter.
  • Facebook.
  • YouTube.
  • Social Media Dashboards.
  • Geolocation and Proximity Services.
  • Niche Social Networks.
  • Blogs.
  • Social Commerce.
  • Social Accountancy and Finance.
  • Wikis.
  • Document Sharing.
  • Flickr and Image Sharing.
  • Crowding Sourcing.
  • User-Generated Review Sites.
  • Social Bookmarking.
  • Podcasting.
  • Social Education.
  • Social Manufacturing.
  • Augmented Reality.
  • Social Gaming.
  • Social Mashups.
  • How to Become a "Next Generation" Accountant.
    • Social Media Strategies
    • Cloud Computing Resources
    • New Practice Areas

Mobile Tools and Apps for Accountants (Half Day)
 
From smartphones to tablets and wireless networks to apps, the mobile world is exploding.  In 2011, smartphone shipments eclipsed personal computer shipments for the first time.  Every day, nearly 70 million mobile apps are downloaded and two million mobile devices are activated.  By 2014, mobile Internet usage is forecast to overtake desktop Internet usage.  These numbers are beyond staggering.  They signal a whole new mobile era that is fundamentally shifting the Internet’s center of gravity – and possibly the entire business world -- towards portable devices.  
 
What does all this mean for accountants?  The session explores how accountants and financial professionals can prepare and position themselves to take full advantage of this mobile revolution.  You’ll learn how to leverage smartphones and tablets for maximum productivity in your professional and personal life.  You’ll discover how to use your wireless gadgets not just as portable communication tools but as your default, go-to devices for all your work and computing.  This information is especially timely and relevant for accountants who are increasingly expected to be plugged in at all times and work on the fly.
 
Topics include: 
  • Key mobile facts and trends.
  • Case studies of how mobile technologies are transforming the entertainment, hospitality, customer service, retail, construction, legal, medical industries and more.
  • Mobile pros and cons.
  • An overview of leading mobile operating systems, devices and apps.
  • Leading mobile apps developed by accountants and how to build your own mobile apps.
  • Leading mobile apps for accountants in the areas of finance, taxation, personal productivity and more.
  • Mobile productivity strategies and case studies.
  • Mobile shopping tips and applications.
  • Mobile security tips.
  • What’s ahead in mobile computing and how to profit from coming trends in portable technology and networking.
 

Data Visualization and Mapping Tools for Accountants (Half Day)
 
Do you want to make your accounting reports more concise, popular and easier to understand?  

Now you can using data visualization and mapping tools!  

In recent years, a host of new image creation applications have emerged on the web that make creating graphics a snap.  Accountants can now compose their own custom illustrations from scratch.  With a few simple clicks, you can create amazing graphics and absolutely no artistic or design talent is required!  The presentation shows you how to create a diverse range of financial visuals from maps to timelines to charts in mere seconds.  In a world when people are suffering from information overload and a glut of text, you’ll learn how to make your accounting reports more memorable, visually appealing and easier to digest.  You'll stand out from your competition and add a whole new visual punch and creative flair to your accounting skill set.  

Topics include:         
  • What is data visualization?
  • Why data visualization is a powerful way to present financial and accounting information.
  • Visualization case studies and best practices from across the Internet.
  • Leading categories of visualization tools including ...
    • Photo albums and image sharing.
    • Word clouds.
    • Mind maps.
    • Geographic maps.
    • News displays.
    • Timelines.
    • Charts.
    • Diagrams.
    • Infographics.
    • Data dashboards.
    • Online presentations.
    • Powerpoint plug-ins and alternatives.

In Development for 2013:

Big Data for Accountants (Half day).  Big data refers to the exploding flood of digital data from the Internet, social networks, video, email, biological and industrial sensors and other sources.  The session will highlight how executives and accountants can leverage big data for more and better predictive insights for management and financial analysis.  You'll learn skills and tools that will allow you to tell the CEO what's going to happen next, not just what happened last week or last month. 

Forecasting Using Internet Data for Accountants (Half day).  In recent years, a host of web-analytics tools have emerged that reveal and quantify the interests of consumers, buyers and investors around the world.  The session will explore how executives and accountants can use these applications -- most of which are free and simple to use -- to better predict demand, buying intentions and price movements of virtually any product or service by country, state, province and even specific cities.  You'll take your forecasting skills to a whole new level and never look at the future the same way again.

Want more details?  Contact Garrett Wasny at gw@garrettwasny.com.


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