New CPAs

CPA = Cool People Apply

That was the headline chosen by the Daily Record in their article about MACPA's efforts to "fill the pipeline" of new CPAs. I was reminded of this when I found a similar headline on fellow accounting blogger Rita Keller's blog, "This Year Accountants Became Sexy".

How cool is it to be in or entering a Profession deemed cool, sexy and one of the hottest in the USA?

Rita writes about the Business Week article on The Best Places to Launch a Career dated September 13, 2007. The subtitle says it all, "The surprise in BusinessWeek's second annual ranking:Accounting firms have raced to the head of the pack."  Leading the pack is the number 1 employer, Deloitte & Touche followed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young in third place - that is right they captured the Top 3 places to work displacing giants like Disney (last year's number 1), Google and Microsoft. In case you are wondering, KPMG made it to number 11. It is amazing to me to think that the CPA Profession has risen to that level of publicity. My hat is off to those firms and to our Profession in general.

This is also the same buzz we have seen at a local level here in Maryland. Just last Friday we hosted a  town hall meeting at Salisbury University on Maryland's eastern shore. The meeting featured a panel of Salisbury students - all seniors in Salisbury's accounting program. The picture at right shows Salisbury students (and panelists) Andrew Kehl (president of Beta Alpha Psi) and Vincent Grey checking in MACPA members. Missing from the photo is the third panelist, Ashley Stern.

When asked what do their friends say when they find out they are accounting majors - they laughed. Words like taxes, number-crunchers, and it is a hard major came up. But their response really summed it all up for me. They said that accounting is a major where you know you will have a job when you graduate and it allows you to go anywhere in business. They advised taking your major in accounting and adding a minor in any discipline that interests you - finance, information technology, marketing, or economics. With that breadth & depth you will be guaranteed a good paying job at graduation and have flexibility to pursue your passion as well.

So what do you think?

Send this to all of your friends in college - Accounting is the number 1 major & career choice!!!

Resources & Links about careers in accounting:

Free student membership at www.tomorrowscpa.org

MACPA's New/Young Professionals Network

Daily Record Article: Download coolpeopleapply_article.pdf

Baltimore Business Journal article : YouTube's Marketing Reach Tapped by rapping CPAs

Our blog post about CNN Money's article listing Public Accounting as fourth in their hottest jobs for upwardly mobile professionals

Check out this website by AICPA www.startheregoplaces.com

MACPA's video on YouTube - Defining America's CPAs - Maryland

What do young professionals want? NYPN, Tomorrow's CPAs speak out

I am reminded of a movie in which Jack Nicholson says, "You can't handle the truth!" So before you read this, make sure you can handle the truth, and if you are a young professional, weigh in with your comments and let's get a conversation started ...

What do young professionals want?

They want career growth enabled by technology. They want to be listened to and understood. They are willing to work hard and want life balance. They don't want to be judged by how long they are in the office. Technology is woven into their lives -- every day. They manage pretty sizable networks of friends and associates using technology like AIM, mobile phone texting, social networks like MySpace and Facebook. They value time with their families and friends. They often are teaching "adults" about technology -- from helping us set and run VCRs to assisting teachers with their Web use. I thought they were amazing and refreshing and brutally honest on this panel!

Two of MACPA's young member groups were represented on a panel at the Association Digital Now Conference, held at Walt Disney World's Yacht & Beach Club in Orlando, Fla., last week. The panel was titled, "Reality 2.0: Attracting and Engaging the Next Generation Member." The moderator, Stephen Abram, vice president of Innovation for Sirsidynix, has been studying this generation (a.k.a. Millenials, Net Generation, Generation Y, etc.) for the past few years and added these points to the panel:

1. They are the largest generation in history, much bigger than the previous largest group, the Baby Boomers.
2. They are the smartest generation in history, with IQs about 20 points higher than the Boomers.
3. They are the first generation of digital natives to have lived their entire lives on the Internet.
4. They are the least violent of all prior generations.

The panel included representatives from three groups of the "next generation" -- four students in high school (ages 15-18), college students (freshmen to graduate students) and "young professionals" (late 20s to late 30s). Byron Patrick, chair of the MACPA's New/Young Professionals Network, and Thomas Hood, a Tomorrow's CPA high school member, were featured on a panel of "next generation professionals." More than 300 associations listened intently to the thoughts of these young panelists.

Later in the conference, Patrick and Hood offered demos of the MACPA's venture into the 3-D Web using Second Life. They drew crowds of us "older" association executives who were eager to learn about the possibilities of building community and engaging young people using Second Life. The MACPA is the first CPA association to establish a presence on the virtual world application. It is in the process of building "CPA Island" as a place for people to gather in the metaverse.

What do we hope to accomplish? According to the Second Life Guide for CPAs:

We expect to use this as a tool to have the career roadmap and information about a career as a CPA. We also are showing a first cut of our movie about CPAs on the third floor of our SLACPA headquarters (a.k.a. "the chillin' grounds"). We are interested in collaborating with CPA firms, the AICPA, educators and other state CPA societies to build a community of CPAs on Second Life. We are in the process of establishing "CPA Island," which can house many firms and organizations. Second, we would love it if you encouraged students and young professionals to join Second Life (it is free) and join SLACPA. We expect to host events, roundtables and general "social networking" for this important segment of our membership.

What do you want as a young professional?

Useful links:

• You can view the entire Reality 2.0 video by clicking here.
• You can view notes from the Reality 2.0 session here .
• Read an article about the first CPA Firm on Second Life here.
• The Guide for CPAs in Second Life can be found here: Download cpas_on_second_life_guide.doc.
• Visit Rocky Maddaloni's blog  here.
• Read The Daily Record's article titled "Cool People Apply" here.

'CPA Island' under construction in Second Life

Rocky Maddaloni, founder of the Second Life Association of CPAs, visits "CPA Island," which has recently been created in Second Life. Come back soon for developments as we launch this exciting new tool for communicating, networking and exchanging ideas for CPAs and students interested in a career in accounting.

Posted by Rocky Maddaloni on CPA_Island using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

SLACPA debuts CPA road show video in Second Life

At a meeting on March 9, 2007, members of the AICPA, the MACPA and the SLACPA (Second Life Association of CPAs) gathered to explore the possibilities of Second Life.

Posted by Rocky Maddaloni on Innocence using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

Second Life Association of CPAs: Chillin' Grounds

This is the headquarters for the SLACPA -- the Second Life Assocaition of CPAs. Join us here for the first meeting of CPAs in Second Life on March 9, 2007.

Standing in front of the building is SLACPA founder Rocky Maddaloni.

The agenda will involve showing the first viewing of the CPA road show video produced jointly with the American Institute of CPAs and the Maryland Association of CPAs.

Posted by Rocky Maddaloni on Innocence using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

First meeting of SLACPA

Rocky Maddaloni, founder of the Second Life Association of CPAs, makes final preparations for our first meeting at SLACPA headquarters on March 9, 2007.

Posted by Rocky Maddaloni on Innocence using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

SLACPA: Relaxin' by the fire

SLACPA: Relaxin by the fire!

Here is the inside of the Second Life Association of CPAs' Chillin' Grounds. Featured is the second floor and SLACPA founder Rocky Maddaloni.

First CPA Firm in SL!

Second Life Association of CPAs founder Rocky Maddaloni drops in on the first CPA firm in SL -- none other than KAWG&F from Maryland.

It was New / Young Professionals Network member Byron Patrick who inspired us to start the SLACPA on Second Life. I am convinced the potential to reach people through this exciting new medium is huge!

Join us today by creating your character in Second Life, then use the search feature to find us and join the SLACPA. (It's free.) You will be able to locate our house, where there is a Reuters news machine and computer terminal linking to our Web site. Can you tell it is Super Bowl Sunday? I had to go buy my Super Bowl jersey to get ready for the big game tonight.

Hope to see you in SL soon!

Posted by Rocky Maddaloni on Kali using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

MACPA forms Second Life Association of CPAs

Second Life Association of CPAs founder Rocky Maddaloni stands outside the new SLACPA Chillin' Grounds. It is a ultra-cool house complete with a Reuters news terminal, CPA Web browser, a third-floor video room, fireplaces and bar.

We plan to have meetings here and connect RL (real-life) events to SL (Second Life) events. Check out Second Life today. Then create your avatar and join us in SL.

Posted by Rocky Maddaloni on Innocence using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]