Jump into Fall

By Michael A. Thompson

Summer is ending, school is starting and we have a lot upcoming this fall. In September, we will celebrate CalCPA’s 100-year anniversary, scholarship applications are due in October and we are now using social networking to reach out to our membership.

Centennial Event: Our chapter is holding its celebration of CalCPA’s 100th year Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton. At this event we will honor our past chapter presidents and our 40-year members. Our special guest is CalCPA Chair Andrea G. Cope, a partner with Burr Pilger & Mayer LLP (www.bpmllp.com), our Event Sponsor. Keynote speaker is Mary E. Barth, professor of accounting at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Barth is a former member of the International Accounting Standards Board and will talk about the globalization of financial reporting. Download the registration flier now—seating is limited!

Scholarship Applications: Students, please submit applications (available online) by Oct. 1. Our chapter anticipates awarding $10,000! Students are an integral part of CalCPA, and it’s rewarding for CPAs to meet those who are on the path to becoming CPAs. Plan to attend our annual Student Night Oct. 29 when awards are presented and there will be a panel of speakers to talk about the job search. Download a flier now.

Social Networking: We have all heard about the social networking sites LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. What does social networking really mean to CalCPA members? Simply put, it is a new way to reach out to other CPAs. I recently attended the CalCPA Technology Committee meeting in Sacramento, where the primary topic was how to use technology to provide information to our membership. The committee raised more questions than it had answers. However, two YEP members who use these social networking sites, provided some of the best input at the meeting. The involvement of YEP members is shaping our future. I want to know what our chapter’s YEP members think about using social media to enhance membership. How can CalCPA use technology to assist you professionally?

The monthly chapter newsletter used to be sent to our membership through the mail. Today it’s available electronically on our chapter web page. As a result, we reach our membership better, faster and less expensively. Technically, the chapter newsletter is a blog, so please feel free to post comments on how CalCPA can better reach out to you, our members. Let us know what you need. We are listening!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 12:56 pm 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.