Category: President’s Message

President’s Message
Mary Laufenberg, CGFM, CPA

 

WELCOME:
A lot of our winter days are gloomy days without sun. Without our sun, we sometimes loose our excitement and enthusiasm for work. To get that enthusiasm back and get out of your normal routine for just a little while, watch and sign up for our continuing education times through the AGA newsletter. The next education time is a two-hour web conference scheduled on February 18th titled “Fraud Prevention”. The board is also currently working on an agenda for the May Symposium. It is starting to look like we have a great start to this agenda so watch for this information when it gets posted.

We are blessed with great friends and great jobs. However, some individuals are not in that same place in life. That is why we continue to work on community service to help those in need. Please be sure to watch for those luncheons that are taking donations to help these groups. For your convenience, we also post a list of items that are appropriate to bring at those luncheons.

Stay focused in these gloomy days ahead of us and winter will soon be over. Take care, my friends.

Mary

Mary Laufenberg, CGFM, CPA

I hope everybody has had a safe holiday while traveling to their various events. The weather has definitely cooperated with all our travelers.

Just a reminder that the Annual Tax Update at the Imperial Garden East is scheduled on January 22nd.

A confirmed future monthly luncheon is as follows: John Pohlmann from DNR speaking about plans, budget and funding regarding the Badger Ammunition Plant scheduled on April 23rd. Other tentative speakers are still being arranged for our February 26th and March 26th luncheon dates.

Stay tuned to our future newsletters. I am hoping that we can again dodge the ice and snow for these future continuing education dates.

The board is planning the spring Symposium. If you have any suggestions on topics of speaker recommendations, please send them.

Mary Laufenberg, CGFM, CPA

We have a great lunch meeting scheduled for you this month. On November 20th, Joe Chrisman, State Auditor, will be speaking to us. The title of his presentation is “The Audit Bureau at Work- We Are Here to Help!”

Also a two-hour audio conference is scheduled on December 10 titled ” How do you Spell Success? E-T-H-I-C-S!” to be held at the Department of Health Services.

Our chapter will participate and support community service donations for November; see our newsletter announcement below for a list of those items.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Dave Mellem, membership chair, me, or any other board member.

Mary Laufenberg, CGFM, CPA

We have started off the year a little slower than we would have liked, but we have a lot planned for you for training opportunities.

We have confirmed a speaker for our November 20 luncheon meeting: Joe Chrisman, Wisconsin State Auditor. At that luncheon, he will be highlighting recent audit findings, how state agencies can be proactive and how to keep off their list. We also have several webinars planned for this year as well. Watch for our future newsletters for additional information.

If you have any questions on anything AGA related, feel free to contact any of the board members or myself.

Mary Laufenberg, CGFM, CPA

As the year is coming to a close, I want to thank everyone who made our program year a success.  From the dedicated board members who came up with training ideas to the people who got the message out to each person who attended an event… THANK YOU!  our chapter cannot exist without all sides of this equation.

We are in the process of planning events for the new program year.  We are always looking for topic, speaker, and location ideas.  Feel free to send any ideas to Education Chair Mary Laufenberg.  the annual Symposium is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, 2015.

There will be a membership satisfaction survey coming out late next month.  we hope you will take the time to complete this brief survey to tell us about your membership experience and give us ideas on ways to improve the value.

We have one last event for this year, a two-hour web conference on Understanding the DATA Act.

As we are coming to the end of the 2014 program year, we have a lot in store for you. If you need CPE, this is the time to get it. We have the April 24 lunch meeting, the May 8 Symposium, and a live audio/web conference on June 11. That is 10.5 CPE if you attend all three! If you don’t need CPE, there are just some great learning opportunities open to you.

We had a successful March lunch meeting. There are notes from the session on page 6 of the newsletter. We also had a great response to the community service drive. We collected over 300 diapers, some ointment, and a stack of paper bags for the food pantry. The diapers/ointment will be dropped at the Salvation Army for them to hand out to families in need at the two shelters. Thank you to everyone who helped out!

We also had a nice turnout of CGFMs to celebrate “March is CGFM month”. We got the group together and took a photo with the proclamations signed by Mayor Soglin and Governor Walker.

If you are interested in the certification, feel free to contact Michele Gundrum. The chapter just ordered a set of the 2014 study guides that can be borrowed to study for the exams.

March is CGFM Month!

Happy CGFM Month!!! This month, AGA chapters world-wide celebrate the Certified Government Financial Manager certification. The CCGFM is celebrating 20 years of excellence. If you would like to know more, please visit our CGFM page, under “About AGA.”

The lunch meeting this month will honor CGFMs, who may attend for free. We will have signed proclamations from Mayor Soglin and Governor Walker stating that March is CGFM month.

The March lunch meeting will be at a site close to the Alliant Center to facilitate attendance by those who are attending STAR meeting. If you are in meetings 8-12, 1-5 or both, just let us know and we’ll help you with any special arrangements needed. To make a reservation, go to the Current Meeting page.

Also, here is the 2014 Annual Symposium Brochure and Registration. We have a full lineup of topics for Thursday, May 8, 2014 and hope to see you there!

Greetings All-

We are past the half-way point for the program year. I hope you have been able to attend one or more meetings this year.

If you attended some lunch meetings this fall and are a member, you will soon be contacted about whether you earned a free lunch (attend 3 lunches from September to February, get a free lunch in March or April). If you need just one more, the February lunch is your chance to do it.

It is membership renewal season and the  National Office has been sending out notices. The actual membership year ends March 31. I do hope you will renew your membership and take advantage of the member discounts offered. It is also CGFM renewal time for those who have the certification.

I would like to take a moment to mention that long-time member Laura Bowles contacted us recently. She is returning to private industry after many years working for the WI Department of Health Services and the UW-Madison. Laura was a frequent lunch meeting and Symposium attendee. She also served many years in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program as a chapter volunteer. I wanted to take the chance to congratulate her on this big move and let people know about her change.

Our chapter will be sending out a member satisfaction survey in the next 6-8 weeks. I hope you take the opportunity to give us feedback on the events held this year and provide us with suggestions for topics for the new program year.

 

Please note that we have two separate training events in January! There is an audio conference on January 15 that features 2 CPE. The topic is Fraud Detection and Prevention.

The lunch meeting is the Annual Tax Update at Imperial Garden east on January 23.

I am hopeful we can escape the ongoing snow and ice for these dates. I look forward to seeing you there.

The board is actively planning/scheduling the spring Symposium. If you have any topic or speaker recommendations, please send them in.

Chapter community service efforts continued in November. Two board members volunteered at the Salvation Army Community Meal.

We have a great new way to sign up for news from the chapter. There is a simple “subscribe” option at the website. Never miss out on Chapter news again!

There is still time to save money and join AGA under the 20/20/20 program (see this month’s newsletter Monthly Footnotes – January 2014).

See you in January!

 

I would like to express a special thank you to everyone who attended the October lunch meeting. We had an overflow crowd to match a restaurant mix-up. I appreciate the great attendance.

I also thank those who wore pink in appreciation of the Passionately Pink for the Cure event (and those who made a donation). Also, thank you to those who brought warm socks. Your generosity is much appreciated.

I would like to draw your attention to a report out on our website. On September 30, we published our third annual Report to Our Members. It is available under the Chapter History area. This is a four-page report that highlights the Chapter accomplishments for the past program year. I hope you will take a moment to look at it. Please let us know anything else you would like to see included.

And if you need some last CPE for 2013, check out the December 11 audio conference on the calendar. Please note that registration is through the DHS Training Office.

Sherri Voigt, CGFM, CPA