Spring is coming and it is once again time to celebrate Certified Government Financial Manager month! March has been declared CGFM month and we have received proclamations from Governor Tony Evers, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. Photos are included in the March 2025 Footnotes. We will have the signed proclamations on display at the May Symposium.
As a reminder, the AGA National office has the following events which are free to members:
Registration will be opening soon for the 47th Annual Spring Symposium at Union-South. We are just finalizing the details for one speaker before sending out information. Save the date: Tuesday, May 6.
AGA Southern Wisconsin has a lot of things in motion. Most notable is that the Spring Symposium schedule is nearly finalized and the registration information will be available soon. We are working on setting up some chapter webinars and will be starting to use Conferences I/O for attendance tracking, Q&A during the session, and CPE certificates.
AGA National has some upcoming events that are free for members
It is membership renewal season! All memberships expire on March 31. In past years, AGA National has let these hold off until April for late renewals, but they will be doing a firm cut-off this year. Keep this in mind if you want to register for any of the May members only sessions! This year they will only be sending renewal invoices by email. You can pay on-line and have the option to select “auto renewal.” They are also adding a way to indicate you would like to get text message updates from them; over 700 people have opted in over the past month.
If you have been thinking about the CGFM certification, be sure to check out the great specials in February. When you submit your application, you will get the bonus item noted on the specials calendar (see page 5 for more information). This would be a great kick-start to enhance your career path.
Program Level: Overview Prerequisite: None Advance Preparation: None required Field of Study: Personal Development (PD)
The chapter is working on the ins & outs of using Conferences i/o for webinars. Chapter webinars will be scheduled as we get through the administrative parts of recording CPE codes, completing evaluations, and sending out CPE forms.
Save the Date! The Annual Symposium is May 6 at Union South. We are working on getting the speakers and topics confirmed, but the general information is on page 4 of the newsletter. We look forward to seeing you there!
We are off to a slow start for the chapter program year, but National AGA has several upcoming events that are free for members to keep your CPE on track. Don’t miss out on the free sessions below!
The chapter will be scheduling some webinars for winter/spring and those will be sent as the speakers are confirmed. If you have a topic area you would like us to pursue, feel free to drop a note to any board member or through the website!
AGA National has listed a new training event which is free for government members! Performance Counts 2024. This is May 1 from 11:40 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Registration details are in the April newsletter. This is a bonus CPE opportunity!
Also note that the Wake Up Wednesday Coffee Chat (free to members) is this week: April 17, 8-9 a.m. ET (7-8 a.m. CT). The last Free Members Only Webinar of the program year is Wednesday, May 15 from 2-3:15 p.m. ET/1-2:15 p.m. CT. Webinars are at: https://www.agacgfm.org/Training/Webinars.aspx
If you have not already registered for the May 8 Annual Spring Symposium, there is still time! Registration ends Tuesday, April 23.
** Registration deadline is April 23, 2024** After the registration deadline, there are no cancellations, only substitutions. SPACE IS LIMITED TO 150 PEOPLE
Professional Development Training
May 8, 2024 | 8:00am-3:30pm | In Person | 6.5 CPEs
Symposium Agenda
Start Time
End Time
Session Topic
Session Speaker
7:45 AM
8:00 AM
Sign In
8:00 AM
8:05 AM
Opening Remarks
Sherri Voigt, CGFM, AGA Southern WI Chapter President
8:05 AM
8:55 AM
Leadership Themes in Financial Management(FOS: PD)
Tony Scardino, Crowdstrike, AGA NGB Director At-Large
8:55 AM
9:10 AM
Break
9:10 AM
10:00 AM
How Government Bonding Affects Your Life(FOS: ECON)
David Erdman, Baker Tilly
10:00 AM
10:15 AM
Break
10:15 AM
11:30 AM
Enterprise Risk Management (FOS: MGMT)
Bradley Grams, US Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration
11:30 AM
12:20 PM
Lunch
12:20 PM
1:10 PM
Emotional Intelligence: The Importance of Building Strong Relationships (FOS: PD)
Tony Scardino, Crowdstrike, AGA NGB Director at Large
1:10 PM
1:25 PM
Break
1:25 PM
2:15 PM
Fraud: Internal Controls and Fraud Risk Management (FOS: AUD)
David Miller, KerberRose Amanda Tigert, KerberRose
2:15 PM
2:30 PM
Break
2:30 PM
3:45 PM
Fraud session continued (FOS: AUD)
David Miller, KerberRose Amanda Tigert, KerberRose
3:45 PM
3:50 PM
Closing Remarks
Sherri Voigt, CGFM, AGA Southern WI Chapter President
*Titles and times/speaker order are subject to change*
Welcome to March—We are once again celebrating “March is CGFM Month”!!!! This is the 30th anniversary of the Certified Government Financial Manager credential. We have included signed proclamations denoting this special month by Governor Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.
Registrations are open for the AGA Spring Symposium! Sign up today and mark your calendar… We were able to hold the 2024 registration fee to the same price as last year even with Union South price increases. I hope you can join us for a day of learning and networking! We have not finalized the full agenda yet, but we are close. Confirmed topics are Enterprise Resource Management, Fraud Detection and Prevention, How Bonding Affects Your Life (Government Debt Funding). More information will be sent as the speaker biographies and session information is available. You can visit our website to register and to see any updates (www.aga-wis.org).
There are two free CPE opportunities posted on the AGA National website (https://www.agacgfm.org/Training/Webinars.aspx). April 17 is a CPAG Wake-Up Wednesday Coffee Chat for 1 CPE. The next free Members Only Webinar is May 15 for 1.5 CPE.
We are actively working on getting the Symposium schedule in place. Hold the date! Wednesday, May 8, at Union South. Once this schedule is done, we will get some webinars set up.
It is membership renewal season. They now offer the opportunity to sign up for recurring billing so you don’t have to remember each spring (but they will send an email ahead to remind you it is coming). Please consider checking your information on-line. There are a number of people with outdated addresses (email and physical). Keeping your email current ensures you are receiving all the notifications for members only events and chapter events.
Happy March! I love March since it is official CGFM month! Featured are the proclamations from Governor Evers and Madison Mayor, Satya Rhodes-Conway. I would like to give a “shout out” to board member Andrew Stovich, CGFM, CPA for contacting their offices to get the proclamations this year.
We will have the brochure and registration set up for the Symposium soon. This in-person session will be held at Union South on Wednesday, May 10. We are partnering with CLA and they have helped us pick out a list of topics so we can provide 7 CPE. The topic list is:
Accountability in the Workplace
GASB Updates and Impacts
Pensions and the Current State of the Economy
Effective Risk Assessment and Audit Planning
Common Errors in Governmental Reporting
Cybersecurity Risks and Controls
I hope to see many of you there!
The National AGA office is offering a free members only webinar on April 5, A State of Flux – Shake Up Within Our Profession! This session runs 1-2:15 central time and is 1.5 CPE. If you haven’t registered yet, there is still time! They are also offering a free members only webinar on June 7, but the topic has not been announced yet. This session is also 1.5 CPE. I hope you are able to take advantage of this great membership benefit.
It is membership renewal season! It is also CGFM renewal time. I am sure you are aware and getting emails from the AGA National office. This year, they have added the option to select auto-renewal.
