Wow!  When you miss a meeting, you miss a lot.  We had an incredible Student Night for our October meeting.  We had 75 students, members, and guests in attendance.  But the most impressive thing was the almost 40 students in attendance and the presentation by Debra Hopkins.  In my almost 4 years of attending Rockford IMA meetings, this was one of the best presentations I have heard (and also the most energetic).  Debra spoke on “The State of the Profession” and she said there has not been a better time to be in the accounting profession.  Did you know that accounting is the new “sexy” profession?  I have never thought of accountants that way, but Debra said that with all the recent changes it has become that way.  She gave good insight to the students on creating and taking opportunities.  She talked about the importance of the CPA, CMA, CIA, and other certifications.  She also mentioned that people tell her they went into accounting because they like numbers.  She said that with all the changes in the profession, the new answer should be because you like working with and helping people and like change.  I think the students, members, and guests were impressed with all the information she passed along.  Debra’s bio mentioned she was a poor golfer, a mediocre skier, an avid Packer fan, and a world champion snowmobile racer.  I was thinking that accountants were not the type to be world champion snowmobile racers, but after meeting Debra and finding out that we are now “sexy”, I believe we accountants can do anything we want to.

Please plan to join us next month for our annual Tax Update Night on Thursday, November 15^th.  Please note this is a different night than our usual third Tuesday of the month.  We made the change based on last year’s low attendance at our November meeting due to people being busy with or going out of town for Thanksgiving.  We will be having Brad Cripe from Northern Illinois University present on current tax updates.  This meeting is eligible for one CPE credit.

I would like to thank all the students that attended our October meeting and extend an invitation to them to come to future meetings.

I also want to thank all of our Corporate sponsors for making it possible for the students to attend and enjoy the meeting and not worry about the cost.  Our sponsors were divided into 3 categories this year.  Our Bronze sponsors (1 to 4 students) were:  Woodward Governor, Gunite, Sjostrom & Sons, Farrell & Associates, Greenlee Textron, Millikin, Benning, Kleckler & Kobiscka, and Linda Matuszewski.  Our Silver sponsors (5 to 9 students) were:  McGladrey & Pullen, Joseph Behr & Sons, and Lindgren, Callihan, Van Osdol.  Our Gold sponsor (10 or more students) was: Robert Half International.

Hope to see you at the November Tax Update meeting and remember that it will be on Thursday, November 15^th (not the 3^rd Tuesday).

Bill