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Growth, innovation top agenda at first-ever Maryland Business and Accounting Expo

 
MACPA Executive Director Tom Hood
kicks off the Expo by introducing
keynote speaker James Swartz.

Hundreds of CPAs and hundreds more exhibitors, business leaders and students invaded the Baltimore Convention Center in June for the inaugural Maryland Business and Accounting Expo, an MACPA event that paved the way to business growth and innovation.

Featuring an impressive lineup of thought leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs, the Expo’s goal was to address some of the most pressing challenges facing business leaders today. Issues like rising energy and health care costs, workforce issues like talent shortages and generational gaps, and changing regulations and standards are at the top of the list of concerns for many executives – at least the ones Tom Hood has talked to – and he said the time had come to address those challenges.

“It almost seems as if business as usual just doesn't cut it anymore,” said Hood, the MACPA’s executive director. “The question was, how do we endure and prosper in the face of continuous market, economic and environmental changes? We need to learn to harness those winds of change and turn them to our advantage.”

The speakers included such high-profile dignitaries as these:

  • Ian Dingwall, chief accountant of the U.S. Department of Labor, who spoke about issues related to employee benefit plan audits.
  • James Swartz, co-author of Seeing David in the Stone, who offered ideas on how to find and seize great opportunities.
  • Lean expert and award-winning author Jerry Solomon.
  • Mark Koziel, a senior technical manager with the AICPA, who addressed staffing concerns and talent management.
  • Ron Baker of the Verasage Institute, who spoke about pricing issues.
  • Greg LaFollette, executive editor of The CPA Technology Advisor.
  • Mike Willis, founding chairman of XBRL International.

expo photos

Check out more photographs from the first Maryland Business and Accounting Expo.

thank you!

Special thanks to the following organizations for their support of the Maryland Business and Accounting Expo.

Sponsors

  • Platinum Sponsor: Intuit
  • Diamond Sponsor: Richard J. Princinsky & Associates
  • Gold Sponsor: Microsoft Dynamics
  • Silver Sponsor: PNC
  • Bronze Sponsor: CCH
  • Sponsor: Ober Kaler
  • Sponsor: Oracle
  • Sponsor: Business Learning Institute

Partners in the Profession

  • Aronson & Company
  • Arthur F. Bell Jr. & Associates
  • BDO Siedman
  • Clifton Gunderson
  • Deloitte & Touche
  • Ellin & Tucker, Chartered
  • Ernst & Young
  • Glass Jacobson
  • Grant Thornton
  • Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates
  • Hertzbach
  • KAWG&F
  • KPMG
  • McLean, Koehler, Sparks & Hammond
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Reznick Group
  • RSM McGladrey
  • SC&H Group
  • Stoy Malone

Media sponsors 

  • Accountants Media Group
  • Baltimore Business Journal
  • The CPA Technology Advisor
  • SmartCEO

Exhibitors 

  • See a complete list of exhibitors here.

WII drawing

Expo attendees who submitted feedback forms were eligible for a drawing for a Nintendo Wii home video game console.

The winner was Leslie Dickson, who works in the finance department at The (Baltimore) Sun and has been an MACPA member since 1989.

Congratulations, Leslie!

The Expo also featured the first-ever CPE session for CPAs to be held simultaneously in real life and the virtual world of Second Life. The session, titled “The Future of Small Business and What CPAs Need to Know,” was presented by Intuit’s Catherine Harrell and Steve Blundell and examined trends that will impact small businesses over the next decade.

A second session, titled “The Virtual World of Second Life,” was also held simultaneously in both real life and Second Life.

Other sessions addressed strategic issues like leadership, management and innovating thinking, as well as a wide variety of technical issues, including regulatory changes, tax issues, budgeting, fraud prevention and the like.

“We wanted share best practices, thought leaders and pathfinders and help business leaders begin to learn how to deal with this turbulent environment,” said Hood.

Download materials in PDF format from individual sessions below:

Day 1 workshops

Day 2 workshops

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