1176

8 place,” Quale says. “I think the biggest takeaway was the im- portance of mentoring recent hires, but also allowing them to explore their interests.” Keynote speakers included Fred Prozzillo, director of pres- ervation at Taliesin West, who gave his presentation on “Frank Lloyd Wright, the Arizona Biltmore, and Wright’s legacy at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.” Wright was a consulting architect on the Biltmore. Ted Rubin, social marketing strategist and acting CMO at Brand Innovators, was also a keynote speaker. With more than 700,000 followers on Twitter, he is a leading expert on branding. He talked about the power of relationships in marketing your firm, and the ways in which your cus- HOT F IRM BREAKOUTS This year’s event, as in previous years, featured a full slate of breakout sessions with dynamic speakers. Here’s what they had to say about the 2016 conference. “As our industry heats up, good people are becoming harder HOT FIRM, from page 7

tomer interactions and social media can help or hurt your brand image. His mantra is, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Chad Clinehens, Zweig Group’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, says the goal of the Hot Firm confer- ence is to “wow” its attendees. But when firm leaders return to their home offices, he hopes the conference, and what was learned there, will continue to resonate. “We work hard to make this conference stand out in the in- dustry,” he says. “We want to dazzle everyone with a high level of production and choreography combined with a great venue and amazing food. We want the experience to be a real treat for all the attendees. While being fun and ed- ucational, we hope attendees go back to their firms and in- spire even greater success.” “The M&A panel was a rare opportunity to hear from an incredible group of industry experts. I was interested in the aspects of deal structuring that all four panelists agreed on, as well as some of the areas in which their philosophies differed. There was so much to learn and I think that panel could have kept going for hours!” —Jamie Claire Kiser, director of M&A services, Zweig Group “The focused interest in growth through M&A by firms of all sizes, locations, and sectors, underscored the bullish outlook the Hot Firms have in their people, practices, and the future. The questions and topics were at a very high level.” —George Christodoulo, attorney-partner, Lawson & Weitzen “I presented on the business benefits that come from being able to forecast people and dollars more effectively and plan further into the future. Hot Firm is a great opportunity to hear firsthand from industry leaders about their business challenges and needs. Very often, another participant or attendee has a similar experience and has a solution to share.” —Tom Vandervort, founder, Planifi “The Zweig conference manages to get the right mix of networking, learning and fun. The keynote speakers are always interesting. Thank you for another great learning experience. The conference always provides practical, real-life material and procedures that can have an immediate and positive effect on our firms.” —Calvin Ladner, president, LJA Engineering “I presented on cost reduction through your technology infrastructure. We had a great discussion on automation, cloud-based services, migration processes, and what to expect from a procedural and cost basis, should you decide to make the move. I presented Zweig Group as our first case study, saving roughly $300,000 a year without adding any additional staff.” —Jay Thornton, director of IT & e-commerce, Zweig Group

to find. M&As are one of the best ways to bring in top talent and leaders who will help you grow to the next level.” —Paul Greenhagen, president and CEO, Westwood Professional Services “From a strategic perspective, our Hot Firms are entering the fourth quarter with plans to fuel the fires of 2017. To predict the future, they’re using backlog of work, pipeline of new work, and predictive cash flows – without those tools in place, Hot Firms are running into 2017 blind.” —Ted Maziejka, Zweig Group financial and management consultant “We had an open discussion on the concept of work-life balance and how the perception of this concept is shifting as millennials come into leadership roles.” —Christina Zweig, director of marketing, Zweig Group “By presenting at the conference, we got the chance to share the ideas that work for us while also having the value of those ideas confirmed by our industry colleagues.” —Dan Williams, president and CEO, Garver Engineers “My partner Mike Woeber and I presented on the Federal Research Tax Credit for A/E firms. We were enthused by the exceptional interest and intelligent conversations, but also by the genuine desire from the attendees to further their exploration of this area of strategic federal taxation. The investment in Zweig, and specifically sponsoring the Hot Firm conference, has already paid back in spades.” —Dawson Fercho, partner-founder, Corporate Tax Advisors “In 2016, social media, marketing, and recruiting go hand- in-hand. The design firm that doesn’t figure that out does so at their own peril.” —Randy Wilburn, director of executive search, Zweig Group

HOT F IRM SPONSORS

THE ZWEIG LETTER November 14, 2016, ISSUE 1176

Made with FlippingBook Annual report