Dear fellow members,
This month is our last meeting before we break for the summer. Our pre-tech speakers' will be Diane Evans and Marcus May from DelMio.com. They will be speaking on "Partnering for Growth." After dinner, Judith Santora from Akron General Lifestyles Health & Wellness Center will speak on "Lifestyle and How It Impacts Activity Levels." It is guest night, so please feel free to bring as many quests as you wish.

During the meeting, we will be voting on the board for the 2008-2009 year. The slate is listed below in the newsletter. Over the summer, these people will be busy working on programs and plans for the coming year. If you want to suggest a topic or speaker, please let Jeff Falter or myself know.

On May 3rd, the chapter held its 4th Annual Charity Golf Outing, which supports the student chapters. Despite the rainy weather, everyone had a good time. See the article from Dean Hull later in the newsletter.

Last month, the Meonske Conference was held and set record attendance. I could not attend but I heard it was a great conference, as usual. See the article later in the newsletter from Ken Bechtol on how it went.

I want to thank the board members this past year for all the work they did for the chapter. They include: Becky Price, Doug Rinearson, Dean Hull, Steve Law, Jeff Falter, Ken Bechtol, Sue Arnold, Kim Williams, Diane Saulino, Shirley Calvin, Gary Floyd, Chris Reed, Roy Howarter, Alan Larris, Mike Savage, Tamra Emmett, Jack Brillhart, Angela Walker, Il-Woon Kim, and Wendy Tietz.

Lastly, I want to thank you for allowing me to lead the chapter this past year. I know your President for next year, Becky Price, will go a great job. I hope to see you on May 21st.

Doreen Kuster
President
Akron Chapter IMA

Diane Evans
President of DelMio.com
and
Marcus N. May
COO of DelMio.com and President/CEO of Mindgrab Media

DelMio was formed in 2006 as a new media company that is a "merger" of the old-line newspaper business with the new multi-media capabilities of the Internet. Its web portal provides avid readers with a place to join like-minded people on "book explorations" that go beyond the written pages. Diane Evans is President of DelMio.com and oversees the business and creative development. She spent 32 years with the former Knight Ridder Newspapers, including 11 years as a columnist. She wrote a "Living Well" column that was distributed weekly to nearly 500 newspapers by Knight Ridder Tribune syndicate. During her last two years at Knight Ridder, Diane launched a venture with the support of senior management that ultimately became the concept she now calls "DelMio.com". Diane is a graduate of the University of Akron.

Marcus May serves as COO of DelMio, responsible for all day-to-day business operations. He is President/CEO and founder of the new media company, Mindgrab Media, a partner company in DelMio.com. Prior to forming Mindgrab, Mr. May was Senior Vice President of Varsity Group Inc., responsible for sales, marketing and operations of this publicly held education solutions company. Prior to that, he was VP and General Manager of the Digital Content Division of WH Ventures LLC, an education company where he profitably grew the company 1,100% over a 4-year period. In his 23-year professional career, Marcus has held numerous senior management positions for companies, including Progressive Insurance, Century Business Services, SchoolOne, and Hillenbrand Industries. He has extensive experience in technology and new business development, including numerous new venture start-ups. He co-created and launched over 10 new businesses, many with Fortune 500 environments. His innovations have resulted in four consumer product-related patents in his name. He holds an MBA from Case Western University and a BS in Business Economics from Miami University, Oxford, OH.

Judith Santora
Manager, Group Exercise
Akron General Lifestyles Health and Wellness Center

Judy Santora is currently the Manager, Group Exercise, at the Akron General Lifestyles Health & Wellness Center North in Stow, Ohio. Judy has been in this position since the facility opened in June, 2007. Prior to coming into the position at Stow, Judy was a group exercise instructor and personal trainer for the Health & Wellness Center West in Fairlawn. She currently holds nationally recognized certifications from the American Council on Exercise as a Personal Trainer, a Group Exercise Instructor and a Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant. In addition to her national certifications, Judy has a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies. She also teaches group exercise for NASA's Glenn Research Center in Brookpark, Ohio. Prior to moving to Ohio in 2004, Judy was the Operations Manager for Shapes Family Fitness in Seminole, Florida.

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.

Please join in welcoming Lisa Morgan of Robert Half Accountemps and Sandra White of the University of Akron e Read Ohio Center.

There have been a number of changes recently in the CMA program:

1. Transition Program: Effective 4-18-08, those candidates enrolled in the previous CMA program (which ended on 12-31-07) will now have the opportunity to pass Part 2 (Management Accounting & Reporting) and Part 4 (Business Applications) of the Revised program. This offer is open to only those active IMA members who had only one part remaining of the prior exam. The time limit to pass the final two parts will be four years from the date you passed your first part in the previous CMA program or April 30, 2009, whichever comes later.
2. New calculator policy: Beginning 5-1-08, candidates can continue to bring the simple 6-function calculator that had been standard for the exam, or they can bring either the Texas Instruments BA II Plus or the Hewlett-Packard 10B11, both of which perform net present value calculations.
3. Higher and uniform exam fees: Effective 7- 1-08, fees for taking each exam part will be $190.
4. Waiver Fee Increase to $190 per exam part effective 7-1-08.
5. New Spreadsheet Program: ICMA is targeting 4- 1-09 as the date when candidates taking any exam part will have access during the test to an Excel-like spreadsheet program, which will make it easier to perform calculations, including net present value.
6. Elimination of 50%: Effective 7-1-08, the 50% credit that is now offered to candidates who decide not to take the exam after they have registered will be eliminated.
7. Entrance Fee Changes: Effective 7-1-08, the one-time entrance fee to take the CMA exam will increase from $125 to $200. For this fee, you get four electronic books (in pdf format) of sample questions and newly retired questions, as well as the CMA Assessment Tool to help candidates determine which areas require further study. In addition, this entrance fee will expire in four years (if candidate has not completed the exam by that time, the entrance fee must be paid again).
8. New $75 Student Fee: Beginning 7-1-08, students will pay $75 when they enroll in the CMA program. Students will continue to receive a discount on their IMA membership fee and can take the CMA exam for half price.
9. New Testing Time Window and Schedule: Effective 1-1-09, the exam will be offered according to the following schedule -

January and February - Parts 1, 2, and 3
March - no exam parts offered
April - Part 4 only
May and June - Parts 1, 2, and 3
July - no exam parts offered
August - Part 4 only
September and October - Parts 1, 2, and 3
November - no exam parts offered
December - Part 4 only

This new windows format encourages the formation of live review courses. Also, it gives candidates a month to study and prepare for Part 4 once they have completed Parts 1, 2 and 3. Candidates will also receive their Part 4 results six weeks prior to the next Part 4 window.

For additional information about any of these CMA policy changes, please see the CMA Candidate Handbook (see IMA website at www.imanet.org/pdf/handbook.pdf). Questions can also be addressed to Dennis Whitney, CMA, CFM, Vice President, IMA, at dwhitney@imanet.org.
Ken Bechtol

Looking for a great way to combine management accounting and fun this summer? Start planning (and saving) and arranging your vacation time now to attend the IMA's 89th Annual Conference & Exposition at the Tampa (FL) Convention Center and adjacent Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel from June 14-18. You can earn more than 30 CPE credits (plus five pre- conference sessions) and fulfill your annual ethics requirement. Here are some of the particulars:

Member rate for the full Conference package is $1,090 (includes all Conference sessions Sunday through Wednesday, access to the Solution Showcase exhibit hall and networking reception, 3 Conference breakfasts, 4 lunches (including a Brown Bag interactive discussion group with 70 to 80 possible topics), 3 end-of-day receptions, and the Annual Dinner and After Party). Educator price is $810 and students can attend for $200. If your non-accountant spouse/friend would like to accompany you but enjoy Tampa on their own during the day, their only IMA cost is $95 for an Annual Reception & Dinner guest ticket.

Daily CPE sessions end by 5:15 PM, giving you plenty of time to enjoy the Florida nightlife.

Attire for the Conference sessions is business casual (slacks, polo shirts, sweaters, blazers, blouses, and comfortable shoes). The IMA Annual Dinner on Wednesday evening is formal attire optional.

To ensure proper CPE credit, attendees will scan in and out of each (approx. 50) educational session, covering twelve keynote sessions, over 25 concurrent sessions, eight general sessions, five concurrent tracks, and four learning track panel discussions to facilitate dialogue between attendees and experts. Featured speakers include SEC Chief Accountant Conrad Hewitt, Excel guru Bill Jelen, Marshall & Stevens VP Al King (IMA ethics), Cummins CEO Tim Solso (Six Sigma), IFAC President Fermin del Valle (Supply Chain), Harvard activity-based accounting guru Robert Kaplan, and past Akron chapter president KeyBank VP Ron Riebe (Revenue Management).

Lodging at the Marriott is at a special conference rate of $159/night. The Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel (adjacent to the Tampa Convention Center) presents a striking silhouette along the Channel Riverwalk and offers dining at 3 restaurants, a pool and luxury spa.

Register soon for a fabulous time in June. For more information, visit the Conference website at www.imaconference.org or contact Barbara Parker at BParker@imanet.org.

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

The 34th Annual Meonske Professional Development Conference was an over-the-top success on the last Thursday and Friday of April at KSU, with both the April 24 Workshop (on Thwarting External Attacks on Business, XBRL, Forecasting/Budgeting, and Ethics) and the April 25 Conference (with Denny Beresford and regulators Susan Markel & Larry Smith, Chuck Springston, and superstar Sam Antar) drawing boffo crowds. The Workshop drew 222 registrants (including 23 students & faculty) and the Conference, 428.

From a chapter support perspective, Akron chapter led the way with 35 attendees (20 on Thursday and 32 on Friday). Other Ohio chapter support included 18 from Canton (8 on Thursday and 18 on Friday), 15 from Cleveland (8 on Thursday and 14 on Friday), 13 from Cleveland East (5 on Thursday and 12 on Friday), 4 from Dayton (4 on Thursday and 3 on Friday), 2 from Toledo (2 on Thursday and 2 on Friday), 2 from Columbus (1 on Thursday and 2 on Friday), 2 from Lima (2 on Thursday and 2 on Friday), 1 from Cincinnati North (1 on Thursday and 1 on Friday), 1 from Ohio Mid-Eastern chapter (0 on Thursday and 1 on Friday), and 5 from Member-at-Large status (4 on Thursday and 4 on Friday).

Some of the registrant comments about the Thursday Workshop were "really enjoyed the IT security presentation, but Progressive guys would have been more effective if they wore suits. FBI speaker was interesting. Budgeting session was excellent. Ethics training was great! The XBRL presentation was awesome! (this was the third presentation I've attended on XBRL and I learned more than the first two combined). Morning panel was excellent. The 'Playboy' example (included in Shura/Williams presentation) was not right!".

Registrant comments about the Friday Conference said "we should stick with the accounting FASB/SEC updates on Friday morning, but should include differences and concerns between IFRS and US GAAP, and present more details about the cases the SEC deals with. They thought journalists should attend ethics classes, too. More fraud topics and more crooks. They said all new auditors should hear Sam Antar's Crazy Eddie's story of fraud. Really appreciated Sam's honesty and straight-forward comments - he's real out there in our world today. Antar's presentation was classic, best speaker I have heard in a long time. Excellent choice of afternoon speaker in view that our blood sugar lowers and we tend to lose attention - Sam kept us at rapt attention. Q&A time between Antar and Susan Markel would have been nice".

So, the registrants really enjoyed the last two days in April at KSU. One of the 50/50 raffle winners (Ron Redding) donated his $213 winnings to the Meonske scholarship fund. The scholarship fund also picked up additional contributions by spirited bidding on a $2,500 Becker CPA review course scholarship and a $1,000-value free tuition to the Annual IMA Conference & Exposition (in Tampa in June). We even played music during the stretch breaks to energize us for the next speaker. Keep April 24, 2009 open for next year's 35th Conference.

Ken Bechtol
General Auditor
The Davey Tree Expert Company
1500 N. Mantua Street
P.O. Box 5193
Kent, OH 44240-5193
Phone: (330) 673-9511, x 272
Fax: (330) 673-7089
E-mail: Ken.Bechtol@davey.com

To successfully assemble and manage high- performing accounting and finance teams you not only need strong coordination skills, but also a keen understanding of how to inspire groups of various sizes and composition. Whether you're bringing together your entire staff, a group within your department or a team composed of both employees and temporary project professionals, the following tactics will help you maximize performance:

Build a shared vision. As baseball great Casey Stengel once said: "Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story." From the moment your group first gathers at the launch meeting, it's critical for you to help them develop a shared sense of purpose. Emphasize the importance of working as a unified whole and generate buy-in by explaining why the team was assembled, the mission, and how the mission connects to the organization's overall objectives.

Clarify roles. It's wise to match individuals to roles that harmoniously align with their unique skills and areas of expertise. Moreover, spell out in writing the responsibilities of each team member. The better people understand the parameters of their assignments at the outset, the less risk there is for conflict and productivity-affecting misunderstandings later on.

Establish communication protocols. Because many geographically dispersed teams rely heavily on e-mail and teleconferencing to stay in touch, clear communication protocols are needed. These include the preferred means of contact for each person, rules for distributing and sharing e-mail messages, guidelines for sending status updates, processes for scheduling phone or video conferences, and an explanation of how master documents will be stored, accessed and amended.

Be liberal with praise. Recognition is key to motivation - especially when a group is under pressure. Remember that acknowledging the team's collective efforts will help keep morale high. Consider establishing interim benchmarks and then celebrating those initial achievements. In short, doling out praise can fortify the team's commitment and encourage greater individual accountability.

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.

Robin Marshall and Jason Lisowski have passed the CMA exam- Congratulations

The chapter is co-sponsoring an event at Northfield Race Track with Cleveland East on August 18th. The dinner/meeting cost is $25 and the racetrack controller will be speaking.

Registration Info

The planning meeting for the 2008-2009 Akron Chapter IMA Board will be on Saturday, June 21, 2008 with breakfast at 8:30am and meeting start at 9:00am. The place will be announced shortly.

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.

Through the April tech session meeting, the following Akron chapter IMA members have perfect attendance: Ken Bechtol, Jack Brillhart, Jim Campbell, Joan Chamberlain (missed March, but attended January 8 luncheon meeting in place of missed meeting), Bill Dreyer (missed March, but attended January 8 meeting), Gary Floyd, Wayne Hawkins, Roy Howarter, Doreen Kuster, Steve Law, Nancy Layer (missed February, but attended January 8 meeting), Jim Pollock, Becky Price, Mike Savage, and Linda Simko.

The following missed one meeting: Susan Arnold (November), Tamra Emmett (missed November and March, but attended January 8 meeting), Dean Hull (March), Kirsten Jagger (January), Rich Lewandowski (missed January and February, but attended January 8 meeting), Harold Matney (April), Larry McKay (November), and Diane Saulino (September and November, but attended January 8 meeting).

The following missed two meetings: Andy Balint (November and January), Pat Bianco (October and November), Robert "Bud" Reitz (March and April), Doug Rinearson (November and April), Rodney Seiwert (November and January), and Ed Wagner (September and March).

You can be listed with "Perfect Attendance" in the Annual Program Book by attending the May 21 tech session meeting and making up your missed meetings by attending meetings of other IMA chapters (before May 26) or by obtaining (and listening to) audio tapes of the missed meetings. You can get the audio tapes from Roy Howarter (330-769-5583 or R_SHowarter@hotmail.com) before July 1.

The listing below is of the 2008-09 nominees for the board of directors. There are still a few positions to be filled. If you have an interest in joining the board in any capacity please contact either Becky Price our in - coming President or Dean Hull. They will both be glad to answer any questions you may have.
Our chapter continues to grow because of the dedication your board members. The past successes of the chapter can be attributed to this group of volunteer leaders. The time commitment varies from position to position. Even if you cannot commitment to being a board member, there are plenty of other opportunities to participate.

PRESIDENT - Becky Price
Vice President - Finance & Admin. - Doug Rinearson
Vice President - Education & Speakers - Jeffrey A. Falter
Vice President - Communications & Community Relations - Gary L. Floyd, Jr.
Vice President - Membership Tamra Emmett
Treasurer - Dean C. Hull II
Secretary - Open

DIRECTORS REPORTING TO VP - FINANCE & ADMIN:
Chair, Audit Committee - Christopher Reed
Chair, Nominating Committee - Becky Price
Director, Employment, Insurance & Speaker Archives - Roy A. Howarter

DIRECTORS REPORTING TO VP - EDUCATION & SPEAKERS:
Director, CMA & CFM Programs - Stephen A. Law
Assoc. Director, Speakers - Doreen Kuster
Director, Technical and Board Meeting, Facilitation and Attendance - Susan Arnold
Director, Librarian - Open
Director, December PD Session - Diane L. Saulino

DIRECTORS REPORTING TO VP - COMMUNICATIONS & COMMUNITY RELATIONS:
Director, Program Booklet -Gary L. Floyd, Jr.
Associate Director, Program Booklet - Kenneth P. Bechtol
Co-Director, Advertising - Patrick Bianco
Co-Director, Advertising - Open
Director, Corporate & Academic Dev. -Tamra A. Emmett

DIRECTORS REPORTING TO VP - MEMBERSHIP:
Assoc. Director, Member Attendance - Kim M. Williams
Assoc. Director, Member Attendance - Jack Brillhart
Director- Student Relations - Dean Hull
Assoc. Director- Student Relations - Lisa Morgan
Coordinator- KSU - Dave Dumpe
Coordinator- KSU - Wendy M. Tietz
Coordinator- Akron U. - Il Woon Kim
Coordinator- YSU - David Stout
Coordinator- Brown Mackie - Gary Morgan

DIRECTORS REPORTING TO TREASURER:
Director, Chapter Awards - Diane L. Saulino
Assistant Treasurer - Kirsten Jagger

email: floyd@sssnet.com

web: http://akron.imanet.org