In this episode of Accountants Law Pod, hosts Lynda Artesani, Sarah Prevost, and Steven Libhart discuss Sarah’s unexpected role as a keynote speaker at the KUDO Digital Accounting Conference in Kosovo. Sarah recounts the surprise of being elevated from a small session to a keynote, the challenges of presenting on a large semi‑circular screen and navigating clicker issues, and the seamless live translation provided via headsets. The conversation highlights cultural differences observed in the audience—such as eye‑contact norms, minimal phone usage, and attentive listening—contrasted with U.S. expectations. They note the presence of high‑level local officials (head of commerce, finance), the strong partnership with local organizer Melita, and the overall professionalism of the event, which attracted about 300 attendees and was held at a Marriott hotel with notable amenities (coffee, gym). Travel logistics were discussed, emphasizing Kosovo’s limited flight options and the remote nature of the venue. The hosts express enthusiasm for the conference’s impact on digital accounting practices in the region and agree to attend future editions.
Chapters
Welcome to Accountants Law Pod, where accounting professionals and law firms converge. Hosted by Lynda Artesani, Sarah Prevost, and Steven Libhart.
Welcome back. I'm back.
You're back.
Woohoo!
Have we met?
Yeah.
I've been hiding. I've been—
I know. It seems like you've been gone forever.
I know. It feels like forever. I was over doing a little thing over there in Kosovo for the proper trust.
Just a little thing.
Just a little thing. It was definitely fun. It was definitely a surprise to me. Initially it was Lynda and I going, and then Lynda had to change her plans due to circumstances around the second half of her plans. And so I arrive and I'm thinking I'm doing part of the conference that's being put on by some dear friends of ours. I thought I was going to be in a session speaking To a small group of people, and I was like, "Huh." I get there, and they're like, "Oh no, you're a keynote." What?
Oh boy!
Yes, surprise number one. Surprise number two: the screen is so big. It's like a half circle behind you. Behind me. Wonderful presentation done very well. However, my presentation was. tailored towards not that style. So we had a couple things we had to do on the fly. Thankfully, a co-presenter, a key host presenter, had a clicker that I was able to use. So that was very helpful.
Oh, they didn't even have a clicker?
No, there was a manual click that was happening on one screen. And then what was behind me was me clicking, or no, they were clicking and I was clicking. It— I can't remember.
Could you see it?
Did I see what?
Did you see the screens changing like you knew where they were, or were you in front of them and they were— was that behind you? Could you see in front of you?
It was a new— it was a new way of presenting, Linda. What was behind me and what was on my screen was slightly different. Oh, so, okay. Yeah, so sometimes I turned around and was like, look!
I'll tell you what though, Sarah, you had a pretty Cool set of shoes on you. Thank you. I'm like, look at those shoes she's wearing.
Yeah, they're a very nice brand and they're very comfortable and I do love them and I, I only wear them at certain times so they're not worn out.
They were awesome.
Thank you.
Thank you.
It was great. It was very honestly the, some really key individuals were at this conference, the head of commerce was there for their country. Wow. That was pretty amazing. A, I think it was the head of their financial as well. The titles are different than what we would have here in the States. They had a lot of conversations centered around banking.
Interesting.
And the way banking is and the digital forward-thinking models and how it works in the States versus how it works within their country and what are the things that they could do. Obviously, they have to work within the business is done so differently there. They have to work within some structures that are unique to us. But in the end, the— I will have to give a lot of accolades to Melita, who is our partner in Kosovo.
She's—
she speaks so well. She is very anchored in her community. She's well-versed in a lot of things and She and her husband and her son and the family that— and the team. This event was really done very well. It was a lot in a day, but it was done exceptionally well with a lot of master-level classes.
And did you feel like you had to meet the team in person, which is really awesome?
That's awesome. Yeah.
Did you feel there's a lot of cultural differences? Because obviously every country is different. Did you feel there's a lot of cultural differences between the US and Kosovo?
Yeah, naturally, of course. Yeah, right. Because they're in that region and there's a lot of influence of all kinds, right? European, all kinds of influences. Definitely just simple things, Linda. Simple things of what we consider an acknowledgement of being complete in the work and the way they think about it. It's just very subtle things. The, the way of life there is very, to me, very European style. You have your lunch breaks, you have certain things. So You just reminded me of something that I was a little surprised. So they had headphones for us. So when I was speaking English, they were getting translated, right? And when they were speaking, I would— but that was a live person doing that.
Oh.
And it was phenomenal. But it was also like, how is this? I kept looking around like, how is this happening? It was crazy. It was done really well. So that was something I— you just reminded me because I'm like, how did they all understand me again? Because Obviously, they all had their headsets on.
And then I noticed in the video, we only got a little teeny video that we got to see of you. When they panned the audience, I'm like, there's a lot of, first of all, beautiful people, but they were also—
A lot of young.
Young. And they were all sitting on the edge of the seat listening to Sarah. They were like so invested in what you had to say, which is really cool too.
It was really cool.
And the topic of how to work with the United States.
What was interesting too, Lynda, and thank God our dear friend Elena Gave me a little precursor.
She spoke there last year. Yeah.
She said, don't expect acknowledgement. You know how in the States we, oh yeah, that's a great idea, and we write it down? Don't expect that. Oh God, was she right. I looked up and I'm like, are you guys following? At one point I said, does this— is this resonating? Does this make sense?
So was it because they were just staring you straight on?
Yeah.
So then afterwards, Is when I got the feedback. But I'm looking for the feedback and I'm looking at Elena and I'm looking at Flutra and I'm looking at a few people.
Going, what's going on?
Is this okay?
Because Steve, we did, we spoke up on the stage at QuickBooks Connect.
At QuickBooks Connect.
And you get your audience and they smile at you because that's US, right? They smile at you. And that was something when I went to France, that was something that our tour group said. They said, people don't smile and make eye contact like they do in the United States. That is not what they do. So don't be insulted by that because that is not what they do.
That's not what they do.
Totally different. You need to know that as you're going in. That's just not what they do. And if you do it, you're gonna be looked upon, who's this weirdo, right?
Yeah, no, that's true. The one thing too, one big noticeable difference, less cell phone usage while you're— it, I, it's not like somebody said to do that.
So phones weren't ringing and people going, oops.
There was very respectful.
Nice.
Did not have— you had certain people on once in a while, but all in all, when I looked up, people were not on their phones.
They were looking at you.
They were looking and absorbing the content.
And you're talking about a youthful, youthful group, which in the US would be on their phone.
I think in general, anybody, we do it. We're guilty of it. We're not exemptions from that.
Hector's conference, or he'll take your phone from you.
Yeah, that's it. That's— but that's respectfully though.
Yeah, this is the point, to pay attention. You paid a lot of money for this conference. You should be paying attention.
Paying to go, attending, being— I mean, being present.
Our—
yeah, we weren't—
I—
that wasn't something I received in reverse. It was the other way. It's just, it's a huge, it's a huge investment, but it was worthy of the time and learning about their culture, learning about just Being open globally, that's what we are, is we are a global world that works.
What was the name of the conference?
It was KUDO Digital Accounting Conference, I think is what the—
And how many people do you think were there?
Oh, there you go, Steve. Thank you very much for that question. So not only was I told about the keynote, then I was told later, a little bit later on, they're oversold, they're sold out. And then more people wanted to go. It was 300 people already.
Wow!
My heart just sank for me.
Let's tell Sarah those things before.
Yeah, you don't tell me those things.
Good.
And we're gonna get up on the stage, and that's fine. She doesn't need to know the details of the numbers ahead of time. That's not a good.
Not just shine bright lights in her eyes, and it doesn't matter.
But it was really honestly, it was really nice to see the embrace of it and how big it was, and it got bigger. So I then I found out I was on their channel. their news station because of the coverage they had. They had news media there.
Wow.
So it was, and it is a big deal there. It is a, not just working worldwide, it's a big deal about how to do accounting and what accounting looks like in their country and how the commerce of accounting is in their country.
Wow.
I like that.
And how was the coffee?
It was good. It was really good. The breakfast was great. The hotel, It's one of their clients and one of the sponsors. And the hotel was, I believe it was a Marriott hotel. It was very nice.
Yeah.
The gym was really nice. My husband and I enjoyed the gym. It was honestly, it was a very, the whole experience was a very well thought out, wonderful experience. So kudos to her for watching.
Kudo to kudo.
Kudo to kudo. Yeah.
So happy for you.
Do you, did you know if that stands for anything or is it just KUDO?
I don't know. I didn't ask actually.
I'm just curious cuz it is all capitalized. I didn't know if it stood for anything.
And is it an annual?
It is an annual. Here's the funny thing. I will say you fly into that airport and you're like, wow, okay.
It's small.
It's different. Yeah.
Yeah. I figured that because there was hardly any flights in or out. You had to go to certain places and that was it. There was nothing like, and I asked the, when I asked the person that was booking our flights and he goes, nobody ever asked to go here. So I can't really, it's not a destination people go, ooh, I'm going to go to.
Actually, what I learned, things that are not discussed publicly, there's a lot that goes on there by Americans.
They like Americans there.
Oh, they do.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very interesting. What a, what a great experience.
Yeah, it was. It really, it truly was. I am very happy to be back in, in so many ways, obviously, but Also just the experience and I don't know, just something different. So it was awesome. Yeah.
And you're ready to do it next year?
Sure. We, you and I, I can't get out of it another year. You're gonna do it. I think it's good.
I might be solo doing it, or maybe I'll phone a friend to be my date. Steve, you wanna be my date?
Yeah, I'll be your hot date for that. How's that sound?
Sounds good to me.
Yeah.
You and I walking around, people probably say, yep, they're together.
They're— yeah, they're together.
Yeah, of course. There you go.
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