Great to Know You

By Jenny Bolsky, CPA

CalCPA’s fiscal year ends April 30. As expected, the year flew by and it is time to say good bye and thank you. Serving the chapter and its members has been an honor, and I learned a great deal from this experience.

One thing that quickly became clear is the dedication of our staff. We all know they are professional and efficient. A glimpse behind the scenes illustrates the enormous amount of time, energy and hard work these individuals invest in our organization. On top of it all, our program director and associates must handle all kinds of requests, demands, complaints and concerns. They manage even the most difficult interactions with remarkable diplomacy. Keeping our chapter running smoothly is not a 9-to-5 job. Our chapter personnel are at work in the early hours attending morning meetings and events, and they stay well into the night to administer our networking mixers or represent our profession at local schools. It takes great skill to oversee all the activities of our 10,000-member chapter. Sandy, Delia, Maria (and Gary before her) are the faces of our chapter, and they do an extraordinary job. Thank you all for making my job easy!

I had the good fortune to work with a fabulous board of directors. The 2009–10 officers and directors were tops. I couldn’t have asked for a better board that was engaged, enthusiastic and opinionated—in a positive way. There was never a dull moment at our meetings. Individually and collectively, these members have so many good ideas and such impressive dedication to the organization and to serving our members. I am grateful to have had the chance to work with them and to know them. Thank you all for your commitment, time and hard work. Special thanks to last year’s Nominating Committee, too, for a stellar job of selecting individuals who have so much to contribute and were willing to share their valuable time and energy.

There is no doubt in my mind that the most valuable benefit of CalCPA membership is the opportunity to connect with our peers. A diverse network of contacts is important in any business, but the relationships that develop also enrich our lives and our profession. The greatest reward to serving as your chapter president was the pleasure of meeting and getting to know so many members. It’s true that the people make the profession, and the people make the organization. Our people are amazing. The depth and breadth of talent and the incredible dedication to CalCPA and the accounting profession among our members are a great inspiration. In a world where resources are precious, these people are willing to share their time and knowledge with others. It has been a great year. Thank you for the privilege of serving you.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 9:47 am and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.