“We hired two service providers that Marcus Evans introduced us to. The Summit exposed us to people we normally wouldn’t meet” said Stuart Vogt, VP Corporate Tax, Transocean Ltd, a delegate at the Marcus Evans Tax Officers Summit.
It is a nice event, because we get to meet many service providers specialized in areas that we normally wouldn’t connect to and we get exposed to people who actually provide services we need. Did you hire any of the service providers?
Yes, we ended up hiring two firms and we’re evaluating a third. We have spent a significant amount on one of the firms. The one in the pipeline will be more like a joint venture.
No.
Probably not. There are so many solicitations that come through email and random phone calls, we just don’t respond to anyone. When we get solicitations, we feel that people are just shooting in the dark. If you actually meet them in person, it just provides so much more credibility. The Summit is pretty much the only way to do this.
No, there is no way we would have. We hadn’t actively started searching for those services. We met, interviewed them along with a few others, and thought they were the best. They shot up as the leader pretty quickly. They were also very eager to work with us, which is not the response we get from the big four firms.
Yes, we have a have a big network of people we already know, so it’s not easy for a new service provider to get in front of us.
There really isn’t anything else like this. The other events are organized by service providers themselves. This is very unique. It brings in specialists, which we normally wouldn’t interact with. I was very impressed. The networking opportunities were very valuable.
Find out more about the upcoming Tax Officers Summit.