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MGI North America and CPAAI members had their first North America Kick-Off Meeting in Houston, USA

MGI North America and CPAAI (CPA Associates International Inc) members met on 8-9 January 2020 in Houston, Texas, at the Hotel Alessandra for our inaugural Kick-Off Meeting!

Joe Tarasco, North America Regional Director, facilitated the meeting and our host Firm was Frierson Sola Simonton & Kutac represented by Ray Frierson and Vanessa Sola.

Presentations were given by Clive Viegas Bennett, CEO, Roger Isaacs, Co-Chair, Michael Parness, COO, Jim Holmes, Co-Chair, and Nancy Damato, North America Marketing Director. In attendance were approximately 40 member firms from throughout North America, and several International guests, including Jonathan Farrow with MGI Midgley Snelling in the United Kingdom and Imran Assan with MGI Alliance PAC in Singapore. 

Agenda topics included the combined organizations' strategic goals and objectives in North America for 2020 and beyond; North America and Worldwide conference and meeting schedules; and member collaboration and committees. Each member firm presented an overview of their practice, including service offerings, niche and industry expertise, target audience, and geographic coverage. In addition, member ‘Best Practices’ and break-out sessions provided opportunities for members to share their insights, describe their experiences, and discuss ideas related to a variety of topics, including:

• Growth, Marketing and Lead Generation
• Attracting, Developing, and Retaining Professional Staff
• Succession Planning
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Niche Development, and New and Innovative Services
• Technology in Client Service and Operations

Clive Bennett commented, “This North America 'kick-off' meeting was very successful, with over a third of members coming from CPAAI firms. It was great to see members getting together, exchanging ideas and, most important of all, making friendships.”

Evening social activities included a wonderful dinner at Osso & Kristalla and a real genuine Texas experience at The Rustic, featuring a live band and authentic Texas cuisine, in an outdoor ‘backyard’ setting. A great time was had by all and we are excited about continuing our conversations, enhancing our relationships, and getting together in Texas again at our Annual Conference to be held 21-22 May 2020, in Austin, Texas.

For more information contact Nancy Damato, Marketing Director for MGI North America, at  (nancy.damato@mgiworld.com).

MGI North America is part of MGI Worldwide with CPAAI, a top 20 ranked global accounting network and association of over 10,000 independent auditors, accountants and tax experts in some 460 locations in almost 100 countries around the world.

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