Society Offers Resources for Professional Development, Member Needs

By Kim Patterson, Industry Member Relations Coordinator

This past spring I attended the organizational meetings of various New York State Society of CPAs chapters. As the Society’s industry member relations coordinator, the purpose of my visit was to reaffirm and reenergize the chapter leaderships’ commitment to planning and providing educational and social activities for the 10,000 NYSSCPA industry members across the state.

In general, the majority of the chapters have reported that industry members are not active in chapter events and do not voice their opinions and interest in the development of educational programming and social occasions.

To encourage greater participation and input, chapter leaders are using their resources to plan future events. Several chapters, including Buffalo, Rochester, Southern Tier, Westchester, Mid-Hudson, Northeast and Rockland, have industry committees. The Members in Industry and Commerce committees of the Buffalo and Rochester chapters held their 3rd Annual Western Regional Members in Industry and Commerce Conference this past May in Rochester, in which 60 people attended.

A few chapters including Rockland, Queens and Westchester have taken the initiative and begun contacting members via e-mail and surveys to see if there is a demand for starting an industry committee. Additionally, the Westchester Chapter regrouped and renamed its industry committee the CFO and Senior Financial Officers Committee, which will address the needs of the large number of senior financial officers in the Westchester Chapter.

To assist the chapters in planning events that their industry members would find beneficial (i.e., breakfast meetings with guest speakers, CPE sessions, social hours, golf outings), the Society staff, during the organizational meetings, handed out a best practices guide, with individual chapter demographic information, for coordinating successful, well-attended functions.

Currently, there are 16 industry committees on the state level for industry members. This past June, the state CFO Committee, as it does every year, held its industry conference in New York City.

However, if you are a member in industry and you feel your membership needs are not being met, please contact the Society or your chapter officers with your thoughts and suggestions. We encourage you to get involved with your chapter and help make a difference. Becoming an active member of a chapter committee will provide you with the opportunity to enhance your level of professional expertise, network with business acquaintances, and address the professional issues that are important to you and your colleagues working in industry.

For more information on industry committees or to learn about industry activities on the chapter level, go to the Find Chapters link on www.nysscpa.org or contact me at (212) 719-8363 or kpatterson@nysscpa.org.