Attorney-CPA, The: Thriving on a Challenge

As our organization completes its fourth decade of service to attorney-CPAs, I am proud to serve as your 40th President.

The year ahead will be a time of challenge. In the coming months we will announce a new Executive Director and a relocation of our offices. Ron DeVore has served us ably as our Executive Director for two-thirds of our existence. His will be a hard act to follow.

However, for two years, a Transition Committee, chaired by Buz Eizen who will succeed me as President, has worked diligently to ensure success. While difficult, our transition will be orchestrated, deliberate and smooth. In the early months, our new Executive Director will focus on increasing both membership and local chapter activity. You can help us in these tasks and others.

Membership. If you are both an attorney and certified public accountant, this is your organization. Like many of you, I belong to the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and my state associations and societies. However, it is with our fellow members of the AAA-CPA that we share a common bond, whether we practice law or accounting, whether we are a dual practitioner or whether our pursuit is financial planning, academia or another path. Help our organization by encouraging all attorney-CPA's that you know to join our ranks. We need particularly to enhance our membership among the rising generation of members - those under age 40. Remember that, if each of us could bring but a single member in the door, our membership rolls would double.

Publicity. Our organization has achieved recognition and respect at the highest levels of Government. We have been quoted in trade publications and in the mass media such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Help our organization by mentioning your membership in the AAA-CPA when you are introduced as a speaker, when you are quoted by the press and at all other opportunities. In the near future, we will be selling a new line of AAA-CPA shirts and jackets. Buy several and wear them proudly.

Chapters. An organization builds and strengthens from the grass roots level up. Support your local AAA-CPA chapter by attending meetings and encouraging others to do the same. Volunteer to recruit high-level and talented speakers who you know for the education program. If you live in an area with ten or more members and no functioning Chapter, volunteer to organize a Chapter. Contact the National Headquarters or give me a call at (301) 838-3204.

National Meetings. Our November 2003 meeting at the beautiful Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was our best attended conference in recent memory. We will celebrate Independence Day 2004 at the Ritz Hotel in Boston where we will tour the historical sites that led us to July 4, 1776. In November 2004 we will get together at the Four Seasons hotel in San Diego. If you have never attended a national meeting, please plan on joining us for one or more of these conferences. You will enjoy 16 to 20 hours of high-level continuing professional education, tours, social events and networking opportunities. We will have planned events for spouses and children as well. Once you have attended your first meeting, you will be back again and again.

Referrals. When I need to refer to another professional, my starting point is the AAA-CPA Membership Directory. Look to your fellow members as the best sources to refer your clients. Take out a block advertisement in the 2004 directory to show your credentials to those who may refer to you.

I look forward to working with our new Executive Director, and with you, to grow and strengthen our organization as we prepare to enter our fifth decade. Respectful of our past and of our surviving founders who still grace our membership with their infinite wisdom today, I will do my part to ensure that the AAA-CPA will continue to serve three generations of members with the best of leadership during the transition and beyond. Thank you for your continuing support.