Continuing AAM’s Circle of Life

A Word From the President

By Laura Snyder

As my year long term as AAM president nears its end, I cannot help but look back over my career in accounting marketing and be thankful for what I call the “AAM Circle of Life.” As we learned in Disney’s The Lion King, it is the duty of the elders to educate the next generation and empower them to innovate and lead. This is exactly what my predecessors did for me, and what I hope I have done and will continue to do for others in the years to come.

The next generation of AAM leaders is more than ready to assume their roles and move AAM to even greater heights. Here are just a few things our association and its volunteers have accomplished over the past year:

• Millennial, Katie Butler, our youngest new board member lead her conference committee in a quest to “Think Fresh.” Widely recognized as one of the best conferences in AAM history, this year’s Summit is one perfect example of how out-of-the-box thinking can take something old and make it new again.
• Rebecca Weiand and the membership committee have dug deeper into member satisfaction survey results, helping all committees use insight gained from members to improve their programs and offerings. They have also created New Member Roundtables to better acclimate new AAMers into the organization and a member appreciation week to let long-time members know how much they mean to the association.
• From a technology perspective, Nicole Sterling and the website committee have done a fantastic job helping AAM better utilize its marketing platform to create an easier to use, better organized website, leading edge CPA Growthtrends.com blog and active, engaged communities.

We have added several long-term committee chairs (Katie Butler, Natalie McCann, Crystal Mapp, Nicole Sterling, and Ed Warren) to this coming year’s Board. This group asks tough questions; challenging the way things have been done in the past and pushing the organization to improve in all areas in the future. Their rise makes way for new leaders to develop at the committee level, thus continuing the “AAM Circle of Life.”

I am tremendously proud to be a member and eternally grateful the Association has allowed me to volunteer for more than 15 years. While I’m certainly not a king, these words from The Lion King ring true for me: “A king’s time as ruler rises and falls like the sun…the sun will set on my time here….”

As I ride off into the sunset, I am looking forward to being witness to all of the great things to come.