Dear fellow members,
This month is student night for the University of Akron and Brown Mackie College. We expect a large turnout of students. I hope you can make it and meet some potential new employees or colleagues.
John Pollara, IMA National Chair was extremely pleased with his trip to the Akron area last month, visiting University of Akron (Dr. Il-Woon Kim sponsor), Kent State University (Wendy Tietz sponsor), Davey Tree Expert Co (Nick Sucic sponsor), and FirstEnergy Corp (Steve Law sponsor). John spoke to well over 100 people about the benefit of the CMA and dual certification. That evening, he spoke to the Chapter about how IMA has changed over the years. It was an honor to have someone from National come to the area.
The Meonske conference will be Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25. See further info in the newsletter. The Friday session is always a sellout, so make plans to attend. The Thursday session is again offering 3 hours of Ethics.
The Annual Golf Outing is scheduled for Saturday, May 3. This fundraiser supports the student chapters. The weather will be starting to get better so sign up your friends and have an enjoyable day for a worthy cause. We are looking for hole sponsors and door prizes items. If you or your company would like to donate, please contact Dean Hull. More information is located further in the newsletter.
It's that time of year again. If you are interested in a board position, please contact Dean Hull or myself. It's a great way to gain leadership skills and boost your resume.
See you on Wednesday, February 20th at the Martin Center.

Doreen Kuster
President
Akron Chapter IMA

Jeffrey S. Buckshaw, CPA, MSA
General Services Supervisor, Bruner-Cox LLP

Jeff joined Bruner-Cox in 2001. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Mount Union College and a Master's Degree in Accountancy from the University of Akron.

Jeff has more than six years experience providing accounting, auditing, corporate and individual tax services to clients in the manufacturing and construction/real estate industries. He is a member of his firm's Accounting & Auditing Committee and the Manufacturing Wholesale-Distribution Services Group, which concentrates on internal and external education related to industry trends.

He is a member of The Ohio Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs.

Bernard F. Zaucha, CPA, CIA
Director, Summit County Internal Audit Department

Bernie's entrepreneurial spirit has driven him to grow organizations and hire teams with the vision and enthusiasm to make them successful. He gained experience while working at Myers Industries as General Manager of Accounting and continued his mission of training leaders while teaching accounting and business courses at the University of Akron. As is his personality, while conducting classes at the University, he established an accounting practice with two partners. Drexler, Markowski, Zaucha & Associates grew and he left the University to devote his time to acting as administrator of the firm as well as performing client service duties. The firm merged with Bruner-Cox in 1997 and he continued as a practice development consultant, working with such high profile clients as David Copperfield.

In 2000, Jim McCarthy, Summit County Executive, tapped Bernie to act as a member of the newly formed Audit Committee of Summit County because of Bernie's reputation and expertise. Bernie accepted and served on the Committee from 2001-2002 when he was approached to form the Internal Audit Department for Summit County. He is a pioneer in this field, charged with bringing government in line with business by monitoring, assessing and analyzing organizational risk and controls.

Bernie is a CPA and CIA (Certified Internal Auditor). He graduated from the College of Business with an accounting degree and obtained his MBA from the University of Akron.

2/20/2008 ** University of Akron Martin University Center
3/19/2008 *** Tangier Restaurant
4/16/2008 *** Tangier Restaurant
5/21/2008 *** Tangier Restaurant

The Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation provides corporate management and individual Members with an objective measure of knowledge and competence in the field of management accounting.The CMA is an invaluable credential for professional advancement and for broadening professional skills and perspective.

For further information contact: E-mail Steve Law (at Home)

or E-mail Steve Law (at Work) or phone (330) 666-8395.

Please join in welcoming Gregory Mastroianni a student at Kent State University who joined the chapter in December.

ASWA Northeast Regional Conference
June 6 & 7, 2008
Hosted by the Akron/Canton Chapter #139
Located at: 3180 W. Market Street
Akron , OH 44333 , (330) 867-5000

Your registration fee to the Northeast Regional Conference for the American Society of Women Accountants will include CPE, 5 meals, a ticket for the FUN Night event on Friday June 6, 2008 (a $75 value), admission to the vendor displays and the opportunity to speak with ASWA members and others from all over the country and participate in several great networking opportunities. Included in the 14 hours will be 3 hours of CPE for ETHICS, which will fulfill your requirements for reporting. And this event will be not only the celebration of the Akron/Canton Chapter's 25th Anniversary; it will also be the event for the installation of the 2008-2009 National Board of Directors for ASWA. We sincerely hope you will consider joining us for what is shaping up to be the best conference for our region in many years. If you have any questions or would like more information, please send them to aswa139@yahoo.com or see Becky Price or Susan Tripepi.

I am currently seeking talent for the following direct hire roles:

Senior Accountant to grow with organization and become first Controller, must have CPA and QuickBooks, broad range of experience to handle all day to day accounting, prepare financial reporting, work with outside CPA firm on tax filings, must be a self starter, manufacturing facility in Twinsburg, salary up to $65K

IT Auditor, newly created position for industry leader in Geauga County, prefer CISA, must have experience with SOX, ideal candidate will have both public and industry background, will report to Compliance Manager, work very closely with internal audit team and CIO, minimal travel, salary up to $80K

Accounting Manager in Akron, degreed CPA with "big 4" background, solid GAAP, ability to interpret and apply complex accounting standards, will lead staff of two in monthly closings, financial reporting, and special projects, salary up to $90K

Audit Senior to Supervisor, regional Akron public accounting firm, must have recent public accounting experience, CPA or CPA candidate, local travel only, healthcare is a plus, salary based on experience

Business Analyst, looking for solid analytical skills, able to develop financial models, must have MBA along with business acumen, solid IT skills to maneuver in multiple systems, will support business leaders with timely and accurate information/recommendations, corporate office in Akron, salary up to $75K

Finance Manager, degreed CPA with both public and industry experience, heavy focus in financial reporting and consolidation, must have expert experience in Excel along with overall solid system skills, international exposure a plus, manufacturing is preferred, salary up to $75K

Plant Controller, degreed accountant with solid progression in a manufacturing environment, activity based costing, will have responsibility for two facilities and support Operations Controller in strategic initiatives, solid analytical skills, ability to interact with all levels, facility in Summit County, salary up to $90K

Tamra Emmett, Executive Recruiter
tamra.emmett@brunercox.com
Ph: (330) 237-0101

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

34th Annual Meonske Professional Development Conference
Kent State University
Ohio Council of the Institute of Management Accountants
Friday, April 25, 2008, Professional Development Conference
Morning - Latest Developments in Financial Reporting
Financial Reporting Panel--"Beresford Is Back! Don't miss it!"

• Dennis R. Beresford, E&Y Executive Professor of Accounting,
• Susan Goetz Markel, Chief Accountant, SEC Division of Enforcement
• Lawrence W. Smith, FASB Board Member

Lunch - "Taking the Financial Press into Account"

• Chuck Springston, news editor at the Washington Business Journal

Afternoon - A Reformed and Inspiring White-Collar Criminal

• Chilling Straight-Talk from Crazy Eddie's CFO: "Our prices are INSANE!¨ and so were the financial statements. You have seen him on CNBC and Court TV.
• Sam E. Antar, President and former CFO of Crazy Eddie, Inc.

Thursday, April 24, 2008, Our Preconference Workshop Morning - How Accountants can Protect the Company

• "Thwarting External Business Attacks and Other External Risks" Panel
• William Henterly, Special Agent, U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
• George Farragher, Ernst & Young Executive Director, Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services
• Brian Shura (Web Security Applications), Progressive Insurance Company
• Adam Williams (Antivirus Protection), Progressive Insurance Company

Afternoon - Select One of Two Concurrent Tracks
TRACK 1

• XBRL, "extensible business reporting language"- a boom for consultancies and regulators and a pain for practitioners (1 hour)
• Dan O'Brien, RR Donnelley

• Forecasting and Budgeting-Myths and Misconceptions (2 hours)
• Peter Constantino, Ciuni & Panichi, Inc.

TRACK 2

• Ohio Professional Standards and Ethics (Accountancy Board-Approved Ethics, 3 hours)
• Dr. Norman R. Meonske, Kent State University

Please Join Us April 24 and 25
Save Both Dates!!!

You're in the middle of an important brainstorming session when your BlackBerry goes off. Is it OK to check your messages and respond or should you wait until the meeting is over? The verdict is still out, according to a recent Robert Half International survey. Eighty-six percent of senior executives said it is common for professionals to read and write e-mail messages in meetings. However, 31 percent of that group said they disapprove of the practice. Thirty- seven percent of those polled said it is acceptable to respond to e-mail only when the message is urgent, while 23 percent said it is OK if individuals excuse themselves and step outside before pecking away on their mobile device.

While the least disruptive option is to avoid using electronic gadgets during meetings, this is not always possible in today's fast-paced business environment. Therefore, consider the following tech-etiquette tips:

• Remember that silence is golden. Be discreet. Before walking into a meeting, make sure that all of your technology devices are set to vibrate mode. There's no better way to disturb fellow attendees than to make them listen to annoying beeping and pinging noises.
• Consider your audience. Be mindful of who is in attendance. While departmental colleagues might appreciate your need to immediately respond to pressing e-mails, clients or senior management who expect your full attention might be less forgiving of distractions.
• Break the habit. If you tend to behave like Pavlov's dog when your handheld gadget goes off, remind yourself that not every message warrants an immediate response.
• And when you receive a truly urgent message that requires you to type more than a short sentence, excuse yourself and quietly head for an exit.
• Know when not to attend. If you're in the midst of a critical project requiring constant communication, consider opting out of non-mandatory gatherings altogether.

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 350 offices throughout North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and offers online job search services at www.accountemps.com.

For a complete record of CPE earned at Akron chapter pre-tech, tech session and PD seminar meetings (from September 2000 through May 2007), go to the chapter website, akron.imanet.org, click on "Events", and then click on "CPE History" (bottom of page). The link shows date of meeting, name of speaker, title of presentation, CPE categorization, and number of hours of CPE credit earned.

Where: Kent State University Golf Course Route 59, Kent Ohio

Start Time: 7:00 AM Checking and Breakfast

Tee Time: 7:45 AM Sharp - Shot Gun Start

All proceeds for the event are used to sponsor student chapter actives.

Additional Information will be available later on the chapter's web page (akron.imanet.org)

email: floyd@sssnet.com

web: http://akron.imanet.org