IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) kicked off the celebration of its 100th anniversary year at the recent Annual Conference & Expo (ACE2018), held at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis from June 16-20. At the Conference, IMA announced its centennial tagline, “100 Years and Counting” and the launch of a new www.ima100years.org website.
The “100 Years and Counting” tagline was the result of a member-wide contest held last year. The contest asked all members to create a tagline that reflected IMA’s illustrious history and bold future. Members submitted nearly 50 entries and a special 100 Year Anniversary Committee selected the “100 Years and Counting” tagline, proposed by members Frank Homburger and Chris Mishler.
In total, approximately 800 attendees gathered for ACE2018 to earn more than 30 hours of CPE, network with peers, and gain insights into the latest trends affecting the profession. Along with the 100-year lead in, the Conference also featured inspiring presentations by keynote speakers Emmitt Smith; Patricia Wilson; Alex Ross; Tamara Kleinberg; as well as numerous outstanding concurrent session leaders. Copies of presentations will soon be available on the IMA website at www.imaconference.org.
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| Keynoter Tamara Kleinberg speaks on the topic of innovation to a packed house. |
Other Conference highlights included IMA awarding the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award to Bud Kulesza, a long-time Board member, former president, and interim executive director of IMA who was instrumental in creating the IMA Leadership Academy. Also recognized was Dutch technology company Philips, winner of the Bulloch Award, which honors an organization that has demonstrated outstanding sponsorship and support of the CMA program; and Brigham Young University, recipient of the Board of Regents Recognition Award.
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| Bud Kulesza receives this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Pictured, from l. to r., Marc Palker, IMA Chair-Emeritus; Kulesza; Ginger White, IMA Chair-Elect; and Alex Eng, IMA Chair. |
“When I reflect on how far we've come, it's clear that IMA's longevity and strength come from continuously innovating new programs and services that benefit members,” said Jeff Thomson, CMA, CSCA, CAE, IMA president and CEO. “It's inspiring that many of these innovations are owed to the engagement and expertise of our vibrant IMA community.”
At the Conference, IMA released an exposure draft of its enhanced Management Accounting Competency Framework, the first product of IMA's new research initiative focused on identifying how management accounting is changing and the new skills professionals need [see related story in this issue]. IMA also announced its Century Student Scholarship Fund, an initiative to support students in the pursuit of their education as they embark on their accounting and finance career paths. Finally, members were invited to share their stories and tag IMA on social media using #IMA100years.
IMA's centennial celebration will culminate at the next Annual Conference, to be held in San Diego in 2019. Stay tuned at www.imaconference.org for details as they become available.