Hello IMA Members:
Day 2 in Denver. What a wonderful day!
First, IMA's Board of Directors earlier today approved our budget and rolling 4-year strategic plan. The plan is both inspirational and aspirational, and you will be hearing more about it soon. Included are investments in the CMA exam, international, a new website, new educational offers, and a new member database. This will enable all stakeholders in the IMA community to grow membership and CMAs, whether it be IMA staff at the "global" level or our network of passionate chapters and councils. A word about our Board: they are a wonderful group of volunteers who think strategically and are not afraid to "tell it like it is" to create a better future for IMA and our great profession. We are all focused on an unwavering commitment to improving member value and service.
Second, coincident with the IMA Board Meeting, volunteer chapter and council leaders from around the world engaged in a full day workshop to share best practices, experiences and ideas to create the best possible member experience at the local chapter level. I joined the group for about 45 minutes, just when they were engaged in some great interactive discussion on attracting and engaging young professionals. Good luck Stephen Shepard, great job in stepping up Dena Botbyl, and thank you so much chapter and council leaders for your inspired service to IMA.
Finally, there were pre-conference workshops throughout the day. Topics included use of technology to improve productivity, communicating effectively, lean accounting, balanced scorecard, and ways to improve influence. Isn't that interesting - a mix of hard technical skills and "soft" leadership and influencing skills. Isn't that what makes our profession so exciting - we REALLY can make a difference in driving business performance inside our organizations!
Thanks, talk soon.
Jeff