IMA GREATER MILWAUKEE CHAPTER
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
February 23, 2015
Mary Strautmann called the meeting to order at 8:11 PM.
Steve Weiss will be visiting DePaul Student Chapter, Chicago Chapter and Beta Alpha Psi during his visit
this week.
January Minutes were approved as amended.
Treasurer: Lars Faus presented monthly financials for November, December and January.
November: A microphone for live meeting remote was purchased. Mary Strautmann explained that
there was not much interest in remote meeting access, most likely due to poor sound quality. Most
venues have no speaker lavelier.
December Comedy Sportz expense was paid in Janurary.
January YTD financials were close to break-even.
Financials were approved after discussion.
Website: Kim Retert will work on moving past meetings to another tab or archiving to bring current
information to the front page. Archiving is quicker. Talk about CMA corner to link with local review
courses. Kim has done a fine job on updating the website to bring it current.
IMA-GMC Board 2015-16: Mary asked to solicit Board Candidates for the next Chapter year. Only one
or two people have committed in addition to this year’s board.
Next year’s Board President, Tim Harrison, asked for commitments from members in attendance from
the current board. Erin Ankebrant may consider a seat on the Mid-America Council, but may still remain
active in some capacity. Lars Faus may step down as Treasurer. All other members indicated they were
willing to commit.
Student Night: Additional corporate sponsorships are needed at Student Night. Additional booths are
needed to be manned by companies. They may not necessarily have current opportunities, but may
present potential career paths with their company or in private industry, as an alternative to public
accounting. Additional donations are needed from corporate sponsors for student meals. Confirmed are
Ogden and X-Club for $200 each.
LinkedIn IMA-GMC group: Mary and Jenelle have been doing nearly all LinkedIn posts. To encourage
greater participation by other board members, Mary will distribute a weekly schedule where a different
IMA board member will be required to post.
Steve Weiss gave a short presentation before the board adjourned for the evening. Following are some
of the points that were presented:
A survey of growing professional organizations worldwide revealed IMA growth in Asia and the
Middle East, while the US has been relatively flat. AICPA and IIA have also experienced declining
memberships in the US. Population shifts and changes in demographics across the board have
contributed to the overall decline. The primary age group joining the IMA is 30-35 years. IMA has the
best trend in the US.
Some other Chapter meetings are only networking and socializing in order to create activity and
awareness. Success has been found in Minnesota, Charlotte and Dallas chapters. Over 100 members
attend Dallas meetings. Other associations are struggling all over. Participation appears to be
strongest in Dallas.
CMA Penetration: Lakeland to partner with Chapter to put their CMA review on our website. Offer
discounts for Masters and CMA programs to IMA members. There have been communication issues
with Lakeland contact. Mary will follow up. We need to get CMA/Student corner on our website to
explain discounts.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:08 PM.