What's in a Name?

It’s not often I quote Shakespeare, but here it goes:

“What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose.  By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Here, Juliet is telling Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention.  This one line shows the central struggle of the play Romeo and Juliet, and is one of Shakespeare’s most famous quotes.  I’m using it to illustrate that while our organization’s name has changed from AAA to CPAFMA, we are the same at heart – always working to be better than we are.

This is one area where we have worked a long time to prepare for the arrival of the new moniker.  From casual discussions to a formal process with the involvement of several from inside and outside the organization, much hard work has paid off.  We have already received positive comments about the name change, in particular:

-        No more confusing with the American Automobile Association

-        We are elevating ourselves from administrators to firm managers

-        The logo is bright and up to date

While recognition and elevating the profession are important, especially to those that have just recently heard about our organization, these things certainly help us get our foot in the door for those new to the profession.  Our existing members, many of whom are multi-year tenured, can rest assured that the mission of CPAFMA remains unchanged.

Through our new structure for firm membership as opposed to individual membership, our roster of connections is growing – hopefully to exceed a long standing growth goal of 1,000.  This will further enhance the networking opportunities that we all relish.  Many of those new connections are managing partners – helping us further establish an organization of firm decision makers.

Personally, the change means a lot to me.  While this change has occurred during my tenure as chair, most of the work getting us to this point has happened under the most recent chairs – they, and Kim Fantaci especially – are the ones we should thank.  The change was due, and I’m in agreement with all of the bullet points above regarding the positive comments received.  I’m thankful to be a member and looking forward to letting the unreached know about that for which we stand.

It is good to be a part of a successful team.  After all, it is more than just a name….