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WELCOME

Lansing / Jackson Institute of Management Accountants

President's Message

Welcome to a new IMA year….

First and for most, before any other topics are addressed, I need to send out a heartfelt plea to all of the chapter members. I have created a 16 point survey which will be sent out to all of you as a means to ascertain exactly what it is that you want, need and expect from the IMA. Here comes my plea! You will receive the e-mail from Key Survey. Please take 2 minutes to fill out this survey so that we can better determine if our chapter serves a useful purpose within our members’ professional lives!

Once again the board met throughout the summer to help figure out what we could do that would be in the best interests of the members of the Lansing/Jackson chapter of the IMA. One behalf of our membership, what we have decided to do is to go back to having regular monthly meetings. We had tried the practice of having fewer meetings in hopes that more people would attend. This was not the case. What ultimately ended up happening was a general sense of confusion and disorganization. For this reason, regular meetings will be held on the 3^rd Thursday of each month.

Another challenge that still plagues us with regards to our meetings is trying to get quality speakers to address our membership when we can only count on 10-12 members actually showing up. This is especially true when the majority of those are board members. You can see how this is an ongoing issue because without quality speakers, no one wants to attend the meetings.

In an attempt at changing this pattern, we have decided to continue with the great incentives to encourage attendance. 1) We will be raffling off a free dinner at the next meeting 2) New members will continue to get their first meeting and meal paid for by the chapter 3) There will be a drawing at the end of the year for all members who attend at least four meetings. This drawing will be for a paid registration to the IMA National Conference with additional chances to win if you bring guests. We are hoping that these incentives will all help to drive attendance.

As it was last year, location was also a topic offered up for discussion. It has been decided that Mikes Firehouse Grill, with its’ easily accessible Mason location, will continue to play host to our monthly meetings as it offers convenience for both Lansing and Jackson members. Hopefully we will continue to have the same excellent food and service that has been provided to us in the past. In addition, it is quite a spacious place that offers the comfortable seating needed to hold approximately 40 people plus a speaker.

The last issue that we faced as a board was that of communication. The decision to continue with the paper newsletters and monthly reminder cards was firmly upheld due in large part to the incomplete and ever changing e-mail address lists. Still, this is an additional expense but one that we feel is necessary in order to better reach everyone including those with little or no access to e-mail. I think your board is once again off to a great start in trying to provide value for your membership and attendance as well as a respect for your limited free time. We hope you will make the extra effort to attend. Besides the CPE and educational aspects of the IMA, let us not minimize the networking opportunities as well as the chance to talk to others who do what you do.

I look forward to seeing more of you at our meetings. Feel free to e-mail me at

lmarguli@rehmann.com or call 1-517-316-2447 with any suggestions or comments.

Your input is valuable.

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Sincerely,

Lynn Margulies