Held from June 4th to 6th at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, the New Jersey Society of CPAs hosted its 9th annual convention this year. As a first timer to the annual conference, I was unsure of what to expect from the two and half day event and what value I would get from it as a student and young professional. Even as the youngest member in attendance at 21 years of age, I found immense value from my attendance just after the first session. Later that first day, attendees heard commentary from a 90-year-old practitioner who still finds value in attending the annual convention. Clearly, the Convention brings value to young practitioners, seasoned veterans, and all those in-between!
I found that the Society does an excellent job creating a balanced, well-rounded curriculum for the Convention. Session topics ranged from technical accounting issues, technology usage, and personal/professional development. On the technical accounting front, John Fleming, CPA, M.B.A. of Loscalzo Associates provided a great recap of the FASB’s accounting standard updates (ASUs) released within the last year and projects currently under review by the Emerging Issues Task Force. Other sessions offering tax and audit practice updates completed the technical accounting curriculum.
Attendees learned about industry-best technology practices in a cyber-security session hosted by Paul Rosenzweig of Red Branch Consulting. Data encryption, effective password creation, emerging online security threats, and client information protection are just some of the various topics addressed in his presentation. Other speakers shared their social media knowledge for professional use in business.
Finally, attendees had the opportunity to learn how to grow personally and professionally from notable speakers. One of the most enjoyable sessions featured David Rendall of Rendall & Associates, who took a comical approach to embracing our weaknesses and flaunting them to create uniqueness. Other popular sessions included a presentation from gerontologist Kelly Ferrin. Kelly informed of the rapid increase in life expectancies and the demographic shift occurring in the United States. As CPAs, this is an important consideration to keep in mind when planning for our retirement and that of our clients.
Me and fellow NJSCPA member Megan Cicchetti, CPA, getting ready to attend the Night Under the Lights event at the Convention.
After long days in the Convention sessions, there were nightly cocktail hours and entertainment compliments of the convention sponsors (a big thank you to Capital One, Chase, and PNC!). The convention culminated with the inauguration of the Society’s new leadership team, including Brad E. Muniz, our new President. Following the inauguration, everyone changed into their country attire to celebrate at the closing dinner with a country theme; featuring a full band from Nashville, southern food favorites, cowboy hats, line dancing, yard games and much more (who knew CPAs could be so fun?!). These events provided a great opportunity to network with fellow practitioners as well as the sponsors and exhibitors at the Convention that offered valuable products and services to the accounting profession.
If you are thinking about attending the Convention next year, do it! Not only do you have the opportunity to earn valuable CPE credits, but you will remain current on industry topics, grow personally, meet other professionals, and have some fun too. If you still are not sold, take a look at the Twitter feed from the conference this year to see attendee’s thoughts and pictures. Use the hashtag “#NJSCPA14” to search on Twitter. Hope to see you in Atlantic City next year!