Whether it’s your very first time attending, or you’re a seasoned pro like many of those from Team Spotlight, our guide to Xerocon will ensure you get the most out of this spectacular event.

If you’re lucky enough to be going to Xerocon Brisbane 2019, you’ll be in the company of 4,000 other accounting and bookkeeping professionals hailing from different corners of the globe. To get the most out of it, you ought to be prepared! We've pulled everything you need to know in one handy article. 

Things to do before you leave

• Setting goals with your team will help you understand what you want to get out of Xerocon, both during and after. If you’re the only attendee, ask your colleagues and leaders if there are any specific sessions they’d like you to attend or app partners they’d like you to meet up with. If you’re going as a team, divide and conquer! Prioritise the essentials first and create a back-up list in case you find yourself with spare time.
• How are you going to ensure you get ROI on your time and money? Read this article before you go.
• Set your out of office and ensure you do a handover so you’re not working or scrambling to hit deadlines at Xerocon. 
• Work items to pack: chargers, pens, a notebook, and your laptop or tablet, if you’re taking that too.
• Do your research: If you're new to Xerocon and the cloud journey, be clear on what solutions you’re looking for. There are multiple apps that all do similar things (e.g. there are many different tools: there are 3 Reporting and Forecasting apps. There are 3 or 4 Time management apps, and 3 or 4 Data Processing apps). So do some research before you come along, but the pro tip is to start by looking at the #1 by popularity in each category; it’s top dog for a reason!
• Check out the Xero Marketplace to see peer reviews for each app as well. You can see Spotlight Reporting reviews here. Ask us for our customer case studies and advocate information, so you can hear from users and partners of ours.

At Xerocon!

1. Get familiar with the floorplanand the location of the app partners you want to visit. Lock in time early to meet your priorities as it shouldn’t be left to the last minute rush. Spotlight Reporting is at stand 24 near the breakout area called ‘The Sweet Spot’, so be sure to come say hi!
2. Fill your notebook when you head to keynote talks and breakout sessions. Take as many photos of slides from your phone as a back up too. You’ll want to share your notes with your team members and also create a list of action points to follow up on when you get back.
3. Keep an eye out for our friendly Spotlight team!
   
   

   Richard Francis CEO and Founder	David New Chief Sales Officer	Kylie Wing Global Marketing Lead	Emily Mason, Customer Success Specialist (AU)	Alex Bailey Customer Success Specialist (AU)
   Naomi De Kock Customer Success Specialist (NZ)	Steve Kafritsas Senior Account Mgr  (VIC and TAS)	James Hoare  Business Dev. Mgr (NSW)	Yolande Couderc Business Dev. Mgr (WA/SA/NT)	Oscar Salimnejad Sales Development Team Lead (AU)

• Save these sessions in your calendar:
  
  Improving Small Business Cashflow
  Wed 4 Sep, 4:30pm – 5:15pm (Breakout stage #4 - Green)
  
  Our CEO, Richard Francis, will be part of the Cashflow Advisory panel – he’ll be sharing his take on the cashflow challenge from his 20+ years in the industry, what he’s seeing and hearing via Xero partners/businesses, and how their solutions are helping to improve cashflow for businesses.
  
  Spotlight Reporting Product Demo
  Thu 5 Sep, 12:30pm – 12:55pm (Mini Stage 1 in the Expo Hall)
  
  Head along to see Steve Kafritsas, our Senior Account Manager for Victoria and Tasmania, do a live product demo. See for yourself why Spotlight is the #1 reporting and forecasting app in the Xero ecosystem and how we create better business outcomes for our customers so they can add value to clients.

Get your social sorted

• First things first! Make sure you follow the feeds – follow Spotlight Reporting on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. We’ll be posting lots of helpful updates at the event. Make sure you follow Xero on those channels too.
• You’ll be making lots of new connections, so make sure you look like a pro. Clean up your business and personal pages on social. We’re talking LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter accounts if they’re not up to date.
• Know the hashtags so you can easily search for content and updates at the event. A few to start you off: #Xerocon, #Xerocon2019, #SpotlightXerocon and #Spotlight

Comfort tips that you’ll thank us for later…

• Comfy shoes are a must. Some people do 20,000+ steps at Xerocon (ladies, note: this is not the place to wear high heels!).
• Take a water bottle and stay hydrated – there are five water stations this year.
• Pack a nice outfit for the networking events! There are plenty of parties and sideline events that pop up each year.
• There’s also lots of coffee, so take your own keep cup to help cut down on the amount of waste each day.
• Take a jacket as members of our team who went last year said the event hall can get quite chilly.

After Xerocon

• Getting home and back to work – the struggle is real! You leave Xerocon all inspired, with great ideas and improvements, and then you get back to work and back to the daily grind. That motivation disappears really quickly, so on your first day back at work, spend AT LEAST half a day summarising your time and high priority ideas/tasks. 
• Allocate the time, block out your calendar, and leave your out of office on if needed. 
• Delegate as much as you can to colleagues and other team members (e.g. allocate a Spotlight Champion who can follow-up on the emails and learn more and implement etc).
  

More handy shortcuts: links from Xero

• The official Xerocon Brisbane event schedule
• Xero’s list of keynote speakers at the event
• Read this article from a first-timer – helpful for Xerocon newbies
• Sustainability at Xerocon
• All the parties, events and Xercon app sessions are listed here

Phew! There's a lot to take in but it will be well worth it to be prepared. We hope to see you there!