CPAFMA 2015 Conference Recap

If you’re like me, it seems like just yesterday we were in Orlando for the most amazing conference!  By now, hopefully each of you have been able to plant the roots of success by not only sharing objectives and new strategies from the conference but you are in the initial stages of implementation, too. I am excited to share that I launched a few new ideas and so far, they are well received!  I hope you are experience similar successes.

I wanted to share some of the feedback with you and provide a sense of where your CPAFMA Board of Directors is adapting to the renewed and strengthened relationships resulting from the co-located conference. Overwhelmingly, attendees liked the wide variety of session topics available at a single conference.  While the trade-off was a less intimate conference than what AAA (now CPAFMA) attendees experienced in all prior conferences, joining with AAM, PCPS and the AICPA PracTech team was well-received. The conference planning committee’s commitment to making this conference a reality resulted in over 1500 attendees which included a little over 200 from CPFAMA (formerly AAA)!   In the past few years, our attendance has averaged approximately 150. In fact, there were more partners in attendance who were able to see the quality and the value of the firm management content at the conference provided by CPAFMA.  We consider this extremely important in not only elevating the organization as a whole, but in elevating the impact professionals such as our members do have upon their own individual firms.  The logistical challenges of co-locating four organizations was no small endeavor and there were definitely lessons learned along the way. CPAFMA along with the leaders of the other three organizations are committed to addressing logistics to enhance future co-located conference experiences.  We are also committed to continued partnerships strengthening the depth and breadth of conference topics, speakers and connecting practice management professionals with each other. We will be providing content and speakers to AICPA/PCPS events and they in turn will doing the same. 

As for future conferences, we believe the 2015 National Practice Management Conference was only the beginning and did not end with the Disney Institute speaker.  The 2016 National Practice Management Conference will stand alone in Baltimore and we are in the stages of finalizing the 2017 location.  Both of these conferences will be CPAFMA hosted alone.  We are however engaging in discussions with PCPS, Digital CPA and AAM in planning for a co-located PracTech conference in 2018.  Although no decisions have been made at this time. 

Finally, as Bert Jacobs’ reiterated during his opening keynote address, we “get to” make a difference in our firms each day and it is that strategy that drives the conference planning committee and the CPAFMA leadership!  I encourage you to have the conversations necessary that will enable you to join us in Baltimore, now.  Registration opens on October 16!  Now, go make a difference in your firms!