Happy Holidays!!
Akron Chapter IMA
Board Members

The IMA's 90th Annual Conference & Exposition is set for June 6-10, 2009 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Denver CO. Registration will open in early January at IMA's conference website, imaconference. Among the improvements coming to the 2009 conference are the following: (1) the event will be held in early June (one week earlier than last year, to avoid conflict with Father's Day), (2) it will conclude 1/2 day earlier (to make the conference more convenient for attendees), and (3) IMA and all exhibitors will showcase full exhibit booths as part of planned improvements to the Solutions Showcase exhibit hall. Attendees will be able to choose from nearly 40 sessions and earn up to 20 CPE credits. Sessions will cover costing methodologies, Enterprise Risk Management, performance management, CMA certification, and on-the-job tips & tools. In addition to a bevy of keynote speakers (including David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General), the speaker slate will include some local Akron favorites - Bill Jelen (MrExcel.com) and Norbert "Nobby" Lewandowski. Please SAVE THE DATE now and include the conference in your 2009 vacation plans. There is an early bird registration discount through February 13.

All Regular Monthly meetings for the 2008/2009 year will be held at Tangiers Restaurant on the following dates:
1/13/09 - Joint Luncheon Meeting with ASWA at Bober Markey office - 3421 Ridgewood Road, Suite 300, Akron, OH
1/21/09
2/18/09
3/18/09
4/22/09
5/20/09

Dinner cost is $25 (or $23 using the Pay Pal option) and $10 per Pre-Tech Session

22 attendees were at Wednesday's PD seminar at the Rosemont Country Club. The seminar was extremely informative and the facilities and food were excellent. The speakers included:
Stephen Nelder, Director of CBIZ Accounting, speaking on "Workplace Fraud: How to Spot It and How to Stop It".
Michele Morris, an attorney in solo practice, speaking on "Updates to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act".
Patricia Nichols, customer service manager with RiskControl360, speaking on "Workplace Safety - Are You Doing All You Can?"
Gregory Kelley, co-founder and CTO of Vestige Digital Investigations, speaking on "IT Fraud and Prevention".
-- Stephen, Patricia and Gregory were replacements for the originally scheduled speakers and did a remarkable job on very short notice. .

Please contact Roy Howarter if you have a job available or are looking for an employment opportunity.

Roy Howarter - Akron IMA Employment Director, 1- 800-321-5583

Please join us in welcoming Deborah Giannaris, finance manager with Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, who transferred in from Member-at-Large status and Nathan Reed a student at Kent State University.

Arnold Shiflett died at home on December 3 at age 64. Arnold sent me an e-mail in late October that he was just home after 26 days in the hospital with congestive heart failure and that he was hopeful that he would get stronger. Arnold joined IMA on October 1, 1970 and was president of the Cuyahoga Valley chapter for the 1980-81 IMA year. Arnie graduated from Kent State University, was a CPA, and had worked for Steere Enterprises, Venture Lighting, and Smithers-Oasis. He attended every Ravenna High School football game for over 40 years, was an avid Ohio State University Buckeye fan, and had a great sense of humor. Arnie was a frequent attendee at Akron chapter tech session meetings, particularly Past Presidents Night (we last saw Arnie at the November 2006 chapter meeting). He is survived by his wife of 27 years, Jeannie, and three children. Thanks for many great years of service to IMA; we'll miss you, Arnie.
Ken Bechtol

Given the current economic downturn, your accounting and finance staff probably have a lot of questions. Many may feel anxious and unsettled. That's why, as a manager, it's especially important now for you to do all you can to help your employees stay positive, focused and productive. Following are tactics you can use to motivate your team today:

Keep the lines of communication open. Providing clear, candid and timely information is one of the most effective things you can do for your team during uncertain times. Hold a staff meeting to provide a big-picture overview of your organization's situation. Explain what if any changes are expected and how your team will be impacted. Encourage questions and comments, and let your accounting and finance professionals know that you will continue to keep them in the loop. It's when workers feel completely blindsided by news of mergers, salary freezes or layoffs that motivation and trust plummet.

Be liberal with praise and encouragement. In terms of keeping morale high, there's nothing quite as beneficial as the day-to-day acknowledgement of your employees' efforts. Rare instances of gratitude sprinkled over months of thankless work will likely leave your staff feeling resentful, not emboldened. While you don't need to throw a parade every time an objective is met, people do thrive when management pays attention to their successes. Regardless of how busy you are, make a point to frequently offer sincere and specific recognition - whether it's in the form of public praise in a meeting or a simple "thank you" delivered personally.

Keep close tabs on workload levels. If your employees are under constant pressure, there is even more of a chance that their performance and outlook will sink. Continually check in with your staff to monitor workload levels so that you can take swift action if your team seems demoralized, less efficient or more prone to making errors and missing deadlines. Be willing to pitch in and assist if the team is short- handed. If your team is falling behind despite diligently working long hours, you might consider bringing in temporary employees. Project professionals can relieve much of the burden by tackling everyday duties so that your core staff can focus on the most pressing and high-priority assignments.

Accountemps is the world's first and largest temporary staffing service specializing in the placement of accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. The company has more than 360 offices worldwide, and offers online job search services at www.accountemps.com.

email: floyd@sssnet.com

web: http://akron.imanet.org