News and Updates
7th Annual Fall Conference a Great Success
October 29, 2008—Over 175 conference registrants, speakers, exhibitors, award recipients, and conference team members participated in the 7th Annual IMA Michigan Fall Conference at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at Michigan State University in East Lansing on Wednesday, October 29, 2008. Included were 26 students and faculty from St. Clair College who traveled by bus all the way from Windsor, Ontario in Canada to attend the conference. The 7th annual fall conference was sponsored by the IMA Michigan Council and Robert Half International / Accountemps, with additional support from Cleary University and Comerica Bank.
Chair-Emeritus of the IMA, Mr. John Pollara, CMA, kicked off the conference with an inspirational introduction. First, Mr. Mitchell L. Stapley, CFA, Chief Fixed Income Officer with Fifth Third Asset Management, Inc., presented the latest view of the economy to the audience. Next, Mr. Fred P. Keller, Chairman and CEO Cascade Engineering, addressed the group on the concept of sustainability and how it is the economic engine, drawing upon his wealth of experience to share his views with the attendees. Finally, we wrapped up the morning session with a presentation on the changes in tax laws and accounting standards by experts Mr. Scott Purtill, CPA, Partner, and Mr. Martin Comden, CPA, Tax Associate, from the CPA firm of Plante & Moran, PLLC.
Michigan Council President Bob Maddox, presided over the luncheon awards and recognition ceremony. Banners and awards were presented to representatives from the Ann Arbor Chapter for the 11th place Stephenson Banner, and the Michigan Upper Peninsula Chapter for the 16th place Warner banner, recognizing their excellent performance during the past year. Lynn Margulies was recognized as the immediate past Council president who led the Council to win yet another IMA Council of Excellence Award. Dignitaries from Michigan State University’s accounting faculty were also recognized. The luncheon portion of the meeting concluded with IMA Chair-Emeritus Mr. John Pollara’s presentation on "From Backyard Business to Public Company: The Role the Management Accountant Plays in Driving Business Performance".
The afternoon session was just as interesting as the morning segment with a colorful and musical presentation of ethics for management accounting professionals by Professors Dr. James C. Lampe, CPA, PhD, and Dr. Olen L. Greer, CMA, PhD from Missouri State University. Finally, the conference concluded with an informative presentation by Mr. James B. Thelen, Principal with the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Ston, PLC on keeping financial operations legal by avoiding employees lawsuits and adhering to employment related laws.
This year marked the third year that participants could register and pay for the conference on the Council website, and close to 53% of the registrations were made on-line. The proceeds from the conference are shared between the Michigan Council and Michigan participating chapters, which helps fund chapter and council projects, as well as mitigates the need for assessments to chapters to fund council operations. The conference team of Sue Crane, CPA, Lynn Margulies, Sue Bos, CMA, Teresa DeBaeke, Bob Maddox, Lee Bennett, Chris Mishler, CMA, and Jim Horsch, CMA, CFM worked hard to make this 7th annual conference the best conference yet. Planning is now underway for the 2008 conference, and the date is set for Thursday, October 29, 2009 at the MSU Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
— by
Jim Horsch,
Conference Chair
Michigan Council Well Represented at Student Conference
NOVEMBER 13, 2008 -The Michigan Council was well represented at the Student Conference in Jacksonville, Florida from November 6-8, 2008. Vanessa Frankowski, President of the IMA Student Chapter at Eastern Michigan University, Meiqin Lu, Vice President of the IMA Student Chapter at Eastern Michigan University, and Hyun-Jin Choi, Director of Student Scholarships from the Ann Arbor chapter attended the conference. Click on the photo, below, for larger image view.
“The Conference wasn’t just for students!” Among seven presentations Hyun-Jin attended, she specially liked ‘The Vital Core of Successful Leaders: What these Leaders know and Do!’ and ‘Prominence to Prison: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things’. Hyun-Jin, Vanessa and Meiqin attended presentations with topics from resume workshop to IFRS and Forensic accounting. IMA staff, the conference facility, and the food were excellent and impressed the three first time attendees from Michigan. “The weather in Jacksonville, Florida was a big bonus”, added Hyun-Jin.
—by Sue Bos
Council Offers New Chapter Website Template and Support
NOVEMBER 1, 2008 -The Michigan Council Website has a new look! If you haven’t visited our site lately, you’ll find lots of new features, including a Google Calendar on the Events page, with all the upcoming meetings for chapters and council. Chapters who maintain an up to date website will also have their events listed in the new Google Calendar, or chapters may send their events schedule to the email address, below. The new site design is much more user friendly, easy to navigate and easier to update. Very recently, we’ve added photo slide shows of our recent Fall Conference. The council will publish any chapter or member news. News items should also go to leebennett@imamichigan.org.
Did you know, The Michigan Council provides free web hosting to its chapters? A new chapter web page template is available free to chapters who’d like to use it. Past Council President and current webmaster, Lee Bennett, has offered to convert any chapter site to the new template. He also offers his expertise to assist chapters in keeping their sites current. An attractive and current web site is important to maintaining communications with our members.
Some chapters just do not have the technical expertise in site design and HTML coding to maintain their sites. And, sometimes it’s an issue of not having the time to keep up with a website, when we all have family and earning a living as first priorities. Lee can help chapters with the expertise issue, and will help with maintaining sites on request. Lee can be reached by email at leebennett@imamichigan.org.
—by Lee Bennett
Michigan Council Wins 11th Straight Council of Excellence Award
JUNE 30, 2008 - At IMA's 90th Annual Conference in Tampa, this June, the Michigan
Regional Council of IMA was presented its 11th straight Council of Excellence
Award. Lynn Margulies, Council President in 2007-2008, accepted the plaque
on behalf of the Council and its board of directors. In the photo on the right is Lynn Margulies, with Penny Weller and IMA Chair-Emeritus John Pollara. Click on photo to see larger image.
The Council of Excellence Award is awarded annually, to those councils that go above and beyond expectations. Among it's distinctive accomplishments was the Council's successful 6th Annual Fall Conference in Lansing, which offers 8 hours of CPE; and roadside billboards that promoted IMA in southeastern Michigan. Judged by a committee of volunteer leaders, just 4 of the 24 Regional Councils earn the Council of Excellence Award.
More Congratulations …
Please join us in congratulating the Ann Arbor Chapter on their success in the 2008 IMA Chapter Competition. The Chapter won 11th Place in the Stevenson Division. comprised of large chapters.
Congratulations to the Michigan Upper Peninsula Chapter on their success in the 2008 IMA Chapter Competition. They once again received a banner in the Warner division, capturing 16th place among small chapters.
Michiana Chapter Joins Michigan Council
JUNE 1, 2008 - This spring, the Michiana IMA Chapter, in neighboring northern Indiana, asked if they could transfer to the Michigan Council, since their driving distance to their Lincoln Trails Council meetings is so much farther than driving to Lansing and the Michigan Council. The Lincoln Trails Council approved the transfer. Therefore, Council Past President, Dana Collins made a motion that we accept the transfer of the Michiana Chapter from the Lincoln Trails Council to the Michigan Council effective with the beginning of the new 2008-2009 fiscal year, June 1, 2008. Past Council President, Penny Weller, supported the motion.
In accordance with Council bylaws, an electronic ballot was mailed to Council voting members, and the Michiana Chapter was unanimously accepted into the Michigan Council, effective June 1, 2008. The Michiana Chapter has about 74 regular members, and is in the Warner Division of IMA. They finished 27th of 94 Warner Division chapters in the 2007-2008 National competition, just missing a banner. John Engel is Chapter President.
The Michigan Council welcomes our newest Chapter and looks forward to many years of mutually beneficial association in service to our members. The Michiana representatives are:
John Engel - jengel@nd.edu
Christine Mast - MastC@nibco.com
Brenda Engel - bbengel1@comcast.net
IMA Discontinues but Still Supports its CFM Certification Program
DECEMBER 31, 2007 - While the CFM certification is an excellent program, it has been unable to find a sustained audience.
Therefore, the ICMA® Board of Regents made the decision not to expend further resources on the CFM
but rather to dedicate those resources to supporting the Certified Management Accountant (CMA®)
program. This was a difficult decision but the Board believes that the benefits to be gained by focusing
solely on the enhancement of the CMA program will, in the long run, make the decision worthwhile.
CFM certificate holders in good standing are encouraged to continue to list their CFM
credential after their names and to display their CFM certificates. ICMA will maintain individual CFM exam results and records as well as information about the
program and the requirements for CFM certification. ICMA will also continue to provide CFM verification. The last CFM examination was offered on December 31, 2007.
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