Test by Donald Meyer

Social Media Roadmap New Jersey Society of CPA’s

July 22, 2009

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 3

THE WORLD OF SOCIAL MEDIA MEETS THE CPA PROFESSION................................................ 5

III

KEY FINDINGS BASED ON SURVEY ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 7

NEEDS ASSESSMENT ...................................................................................................................... 11 A 1 2 B 1 2 3 C 1 2

ADVICE ............................................................................................................................................. 11 CPA Exam Advice ....................................................................................................................... 11 News and Important Accounting Related Information ................................................................ 12 CAREER COACHING AND DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................. 13 Career coaching .......................................................................................................................... 13 One-to-One Mentoring ................................................................................................................ 13 Sales and Business Development Training ................................................................................ 13 INTERACTION WITH PEERS ................................................................................................................. 14 Speed Networking....................................................................................................................... 14 Joint Networking.......................................................................................................................... 14

TACTICS AND SOCIAL MEDIA BEST PRACTICES........................................................................ 15 A

FIVE SOCIAL MEDIA RULES OF THUMB ................................................................................................ 16 RECOMMENDED TACTICS .............................................................................................................. 17

A 1 2 3 B 1 2 3 C D E F 1 2 3 4 5 6

LEVEL ONE: FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, BLOG .......................................................................................... 17 Facebook..................................................................................................................................... 17 LinkedIn....................................................................................................................................... 18 Blog ............................................................................................................................................. 19 LEVEL TWO: TWITTER, DELICIOUS, NING ............................................................................................ 19 Twitter.......................................................................................................................................... 19 Delicious (www.delicious.com).................................................................................................... 20 Ning ............................................................................................................................................. 20 LEVEL THREE: NJSCPA PRIVATE (OPT-IN) TEXT MESSAGE NETWORK ................................................ 21 FREQUENCY RECOMMENDATION ........................................................................................................ 21 EFFICIENCY TOOLS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA .............................................................................................. 22 MEMBER RETENTION/ACQUISITION CAMPAIGN AND THE AMBASSADOR PROGRAM ................................ 23 Recruitment ................................................................................................................................. 23 Training ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Personal Benefits ........................................................................................................................ 24 Duties .......................................................................................................................................... 24 Resources ................................................................................................................................... 25 Measurement .............................................................................................................................. 25

VII MEASUREMENT OF SUCCESS ....................................................................................................... 26 VIII APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................................... 28 A B C D E

CPAS EMBRACE TWITTER ................................................................................................................. 28 FACEBOOK USERS ARE GETTING OLDER. MUCH OLDER ..................................................................... 31 FOUR STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGIES THAT'LL RULE THE ACCOUNTING INDUSTRY IN THREE YEAR ............. 32 NEW JERSEY TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL MOBILE PROGRAM .................................................................... 35 SURVEY RESULTS ............................................................................................................................. 37

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I Executive Summary The Gold Group set out to answer the New Jersey Society of CPA’s question: “How can the Society use social media to attract and retain younger members?” Based upon background research, an online survey, and data analysis the, Gold Group recommends that the strategic focus of the New Jersey Society of CPAs activities should be: •

Drive Member retention through a greater level of engagement for current members

•

Create networking and learning opportunities for current members

•

Maintain existing membership acquisition programs

We envision using social media as a powerful tool to communicate these priorities to current and future members. Social media should be the means for spreading the word and building excitement, amplifying the value that the Society brings with its opportunities for professional growth and education, both online and face-to-face. It is important that tools not obscure the end goal. The survey, in which over 500 members and non-members responded, underscored three major needs: •

The need for advice

•

The need for career counseling and support

•

The need for interaction with one’s peer group.

This report covers the content that can be provided by the Society to meet these member needs and suggests digital mechanisms for dissemination. It is important to keep in mind that many of these Social Networking activities need to be “viral” and member led, facilitated with “a little push” from Society headquarters. A critical finding from the Generation X survey respondents indicated that they sought professional recognition and an improved quality of life over the next five years. Since they are the most likely to assume leadership roles in their firms, we believe that a retention campaign is more important to the long term health of the Society than a recruitment campaign. Retention, with a focus on increased member engagement is a long term continuing investment. A key recommendation is to follow a strategy that includes members of Generation X as well as Generation Y. Engagement of Gen X sets a level of involvement that Gen Y will view as standard expectation. We believe this pull along strategy is less costly and has a better ROI than Member Acquisition. Confidential

We believe creation of an Ambassador Program focused on retention can assist in reaching this goal. The steps required to implement and launch the program are as follows: 1. Internal Education To effect significant change in an organization like NJSCPA there must be buy-in at all levels. The Jumpstart Session has been designed for this purpose. In a half day session, the topic can be presented in a consensus building atmosphere. All stakeholders should be included in the process. They will gain an appreciation for the underlying motivation for the program. They will visualize how they may be affected and have an opportunity to express their concerns and reservations. As an open forum, suggestions are welcome. The program concludes with an exploration of ways in which this will help NJSCPA meet the needs of its members. 2. Training The program introduces a number of new tools. It is expected that most of the staff will net be highly experienced with all of these cutting edge concepts. Some level of staff training will be required before specific program details can be effectively designed and implemented. We also feel it is important to have redundant capabilities among the staff as social networking moves very quickly. Delays due to the unavailability of a designated staff member can greatly reduce the effectiveness and success of the programs. 3. Program design There are eight specific tools and techniques outlined in this report. Sections VI and VII discuss how these could be employed by NJSCPA. However, the choice of all or some, the timing of implementation, message content as well as resources available will affect the final program and implementation design. 4. Rollout The above referenced decisions will impact the timing of the project roll out. The time frame in Section VII is our recommendation as to how long each tool or technique may require to find it level of stability and acceptance. Gold Group has been pleased to create this study for NJSCPA. We envision a successful Jumpstart to communicate our shared vision to a larger audience. We would be pleased to work with the Society on specific program design, implementation and rollout.

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II The World of Social Media Meets the CPA Profession According to Wikipedia, Social Media is online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues into dialogues (many-to-many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal, political and business use. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM). Social media is now mainstream. Websites such as Facebook, once exclusive to college students and Twitter, filled with early adopters in the IT world, are now actively being used by 57% of Americans. Appendix B references an article released in July 2009 about just how quickly the average age of Facebook users is increasing. However, even more staggering is the fact that 96% of all Millennials have joined a social networking website. Social Media is NOT a fad. Social Media is a fundamental shift in the way that we communicate. While companies once used traditional advertising in an organized and controlled manner, social media has changed the rules. Messages are often user generated and considered transparent and authentic. According to social media expert and author Brian Solis, “Social Media is only going to become more pervasive, and as such become a critical factor in the success of failure of any business.” As a group, CPAs are trained to be conservative and skeptical when it comes to new concepts. Trained to focus on accurate reporting of past events they are reluctant to predict the future as it is filled with uncertainty and risk. Not known as innovators or early adopters, accountants as a group tend to observe, evaluate and proceed slowly with caution. However, there is a loud buzz in the accounting community. Articles on social media grace the home pages of the Journal of Accountancy and WebCPA. CPE courses are looking at Strategic Social Networking as a critical success factor in the next three years (see Appendix C). The Association for Accounting Marketing’s annual summit in June focused heavily on the integration of social media into the marketing mix. After the keynote speaker by Scott Klososky, technology expert, pushed CPA firms to enter the social media world,

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many discussions have emerged in firms about strategy and effectiveness of the new technology. Questions that are prevalent among CPAs are: • What should our social media policies include? • Who should be using it? Is it the best way to attract clients? • How social media impacts our brand? • Personal vs. corporate branding. It is clear that CPAs are beginning to look at social media as a valuable tool. They are asking and answering those questions. We believe the Society should have a fundamental leadership role in this discussion. The Society can best meet its objectives by utilizing Social Media to educate, advocate and communicate with its members.

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III Key Findings Based on Survey Analysis In June 2009, a survey was conducted of NJSCPA members and non-members that were in the Society’s database and were under 40 years of age. There were over 540 responses. The following is an analysis of the survey findings included as Appendix D. The overwhelming majority (92.6%) of the 540 respondents are members of the Society. The largest single groups of respondents (28.5%) are in the 36-40 age bracket. Gen X respondents 31 years of age and over comprised 52.6% while Gen Y (a.k.a Millennials), 30 and under represented 47.1%. • •

60.8% of respondents are licensed CPAs. 20.4% have graduated but not yet passed the exam while 12.6% are still students.

The demographic data indicates that the vast majority (95%) of licensed CPAs have passed their exam prior to age 26. This implies that career decisions that might be influenced by NJSCPA should target persons 18 to 26. The question of position was skipped by 30% of the respondents. Of those who answered 41% were managers, while 31% were entry level. • • •

58% of respondents were in Public Firms while 39% were in Corporate Enterprise with 3% in the Non-Profit sector. The survey respondents had a 55.6% to 44.4% male - female ratio. 41.3% of respondents were in the workforce more than 10 years. This was more than twice any other category.

There are more females in the 30 and under age groups compared to the 31+ age groups. (This may affect social networking copy content since communications to women is different than for men.) •

30 and under age groups have/had more participation in the NJSCPA as an undergraduate than when 31+ age groups were undergraduates.

The use of social networking sites is more predominant among 30 and under. It is particular strong among 18 to 21 year olds. There was no difference across the age groups in • reading blogs • using the web on their cell phone • listening to online audio podcasts • preference for face-to-face for personal or work communications • preference for texting for work communications Confidential

•

preference for messages through their social network profile for personal or work communications

Visiting news/information websites increases with age. Visiting video website decreases with age. Those 25 and under are: • • •

-More likely to watch online videos. -More open to texting for personal communications. -Less likely to prefer email for personal communications.

Email preference for work-related communications is weakest among the 18 to 21 year olds. This reflects their willingness to use other means of communication as well as their limited working experience. Among the small percentage that has a blog, the 22 to 25 age group is two to three times more likely to have their own blog compared to the other age groups. Those 30 and under tend to show more interest in serving as an ambassador and building connections with accounting professionals in the social media. The 26+ age group visits entertainment/game sites less often but show a higher tendency to visit shopping sites. They also have less of a tendency to visit social networking sites. Question 13 was a free form inquiry asking the key goal over the next five years. The top five answers have been reviewed by age group. It is very interesting to see how priorities change over time. Age Group

Number of Respondents

18-21 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Get CPA Get a job Success Masters Degree Other

25 5 4 2 3

21-25 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Get CPA Job advancement Success Advanced Degree Other

50 39 15 7 5

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26-30 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Job Advancement Success (own practice) Get CPA Advanced Degree Other (buy house)

32 28 23 14 3

31-35 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Job Advancement (Partner/CFO) Success (own practice/business steady job) Advanced Degree Other (family, house, quality of life) Get CPA

52 35 13 10 3

36-40 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Success (stability own practice) Job Advancement (Partner/CFO) Other (Family, Financial Security, Retire) Get CPA Advanced Degree

71 40 16 7 5

Questions 15 and 16 sought to identify those items of interest to members. They were separated by number of years of work experience. Question 15 was posed to those with less than 7 years of experience while question 16 was asked of those with 7 or more years of experience. The top five “Definitely Interested” responses from the less experienced group in question 15 were: 1. Advice online about job opening for CPAs 2. Networking in person with a senior CPA or mentor to get occasional career advice. 3. Advice online about how to prepare for the CPA exam 4. Videos about what it's like working inside different NJ Accounting Firms 5. A website where I could meet peer level CPAs in NJ for networking However, when the top two responses were combined, the ranking of interest changes from job and career to networking:

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1. A website where I could meet peer level CPAs in NJ for networking 2. A website where I could meet both young and experienced CPAs in NJ for networking. 3. Advice online about how to develop my career and achieve personal goals 4. Networking in person with a senior CPA or mentor to get occasional career advice. 5. Advice online about job opening for CPAs The top five “Definitely Interested” responses from the more experienced group asked in question 16 were: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Advice online about job openings Information online about how to balance work time with life outside the office Advice online about how to develop my career and achieve personal goals A website where I could meet peer level CPAs in NJ for networking A 2 hour educational webinar on accounting related or professional development topics

However, when the top two responses were combined, the ranking of interest changes with professional development webinars moving from bottom to top: 1. A 2-hour educational webinar on accounting related or professional development topics 2. Advice online about job openings 3. Advice online about how to develop my career and achieve personal goals 4. A website where I could meet peer level CPAs in NJ for networking 5. Information online about how to balance work time with life outside the office. Question 28 asked the type of website most often visited. News and Information was the overwhelming #1 choice of all respondents by 57%. This was supported by the three oldest age groups at 53, 58 and 55% respectively. While the two youngest two groups selected news as their number 1 choice 36% of the time. Conversely, Social networking was selected first by 24% and 31% of the two youngest groups and fell to an average of 14% for the three older groups.

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IV Needs Assessment Based on the summary analysis from the survey, the following needs emerged: •

Advice

•

Coaching

•

Interaction with peers.

This section identifies strategies the Society should undertake to meet the needs of the membership. Based on the demonstrated needs (objectives) of members above, we recommend creation of several forms of content to address them. To date the Society’s social media content efforts have ranged from highly relevant (the Exam Cram blog) to less relevant content (podcast about how to dress). From a strategic view, all content must be tailored to meet the specific needs of your target audience, using their preferred method of viewing content.

A Advice The Society should be providing advice to members in short, digestible bites. Three areas of concentration should be on CPA Exam, Networking Advice and Career Coaching. With limited attention spans, information should be sent in short chunks similar to a Q&A or Tip of The Day style.

1 CPA Exam Advice Janice has stated in our Kickoff meeting that she is always offering advice on the CPA exam and repeating the information several times a day. While the site offers information on studying for the exam, this information can be posted in several different areas. We recommend creating a few short videos as a FAQ on the exam. Developing creative videos (with an animated character or personality) can be more interesting and engaging than simple text. Basic videos can be made with a Flip video camera for little cost. More sophisticated video can range from $2,500-5,000. The cram blog can remain the main source of this information but all blog posts should also be sent via Hootsuite/ping.fm to the extended social media network. Here is an opportunity to use a chat function (Ning site for example) to answer questions and enhance community. One suggestion would be to schedule a monthly online chat session for one hour to discuss the exam. This can be an opportunity not only to provide facts, but to allow members to speak to each other about their concerns and Confidential

share war stories. The chat can be facilitated by an NJSPCA staff member or by an ambassador. Other chats may be scheduled for parents of CPA exam takers or for human resource professionals at firms where they have a large number of people taking the exam.

Screen Shot of Ning ChatRoom

2 News and Important Accounting Related Information Providing important professional related information is a great use for social media. Not only to share it with the membership, but to become a “go-to” source for changing information. Currently many of the NJSCPA Facebook posts are directed at Young Professionals and the Society may lose some of the attention of older members of Generation X. Some examples include: •

Major announcements from the AICPA

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Regulatory changes from FASB, IRS, PCAOB, etc.

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Blogs or tweets from recognized journalists (Journal of Accountancy, CPA Trendlines, Accounting Today)

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B Career Coaching and Development 1 Career coaching Another way to get members involved and to help feed growth is to have members tell their stories. This can be accomplished with guest bloggers to a coaching focused blog or a wiki that members keep up-to-date and share their experiences and advice. Coaching can be accomplished through online chats, discussion forums videos, and tips. Coaching advice from a wide-variety of sources provides a spectrum of perspectives. Coaches can be experienced CPAs, peers, human resource professionals and those outside of the accounting profession that can bring a completely different set of viewpoints. Some may be willing to donate their time (an hour session, for example) or the Society may look at engaging a professional coach for a fee. Coaching can be specific to career paths with topics like “what it takes it become a partner.” Other topics may include “how to deal with difficult people,” or “work-life balance.” For group coaching to be effective, it should be done based experience level. Members can be asked to submit their concerns anonymously and questions can be answered in a group setting. Members should be encouraged to help each other find answers in addition to a designated coach.

2 One-to-One Mentoring Mentoring programs can be a good way to create both member engagement and recruitment. By pairing up individuals, it helps get current members involved and helps encourage new or prospective members to embrace the Society. This could be accomplished via a Ning site. If a mentoring program were to be created, mentors and mentees may create a video diary of their experience to share with other members to promote the program.

3 Sales and Business Development Training Social media and networking is a great source of business development and the perfect platform for sharing information about this topic. Classes in using social media for business development would be useful to members at all stages of their career. A suggested approach would be to create a combination of online and face-to-face programs that discuss business development. By teaching members how to use social networking, you will automatically be able to show them how to access the tools that the society is using.

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C Interaction with Peers One of the most prevalent needs revealed in the survey is the desire to meet peers. At one time it was considered an act of heresy to interact with accountants outside of one’s firm. However, gone are the days of lifetime employment with one firm. Building a network of professional contacts is now seen as a route for job advancement and employment security. Don’t just think of “technology” when considering social networking. It’s the “networking” part that’s most important to our audience. A strong NJSCPA social networking strategy must incorporate real-world events that appeal to both Gen X and Gen Y and millennials. Then you can use “technology” to inform people about the occurrence of these events.

1 Speed Networking These events can be held at the Society or at remote locations. Members can get together and have 5 minutes to learn about each other before the buzzer. This can be a quick way to meet a lot of people in a short amount of time. There can be a built-in follow-up mechanism to encourage continued communication. This is an energetic and unique approach to create mentoring relationships. For some of the sessions, it can be a mixed group where one side of the room is experienced CPAs that expressed interest in serving as a mentor and the other side is younger accountants that are looking for guidance. Other sessions can be peer oriented or foster social interaction.

2 Joint Networking CPAs don’t only want to meet other CPAs. Teaming with other organizations for networking can accomplish networking experience as well as true connecting with individuals that CPAs need to meet. One of the best ways to quickly establish a social media presence is to partner with groups already embedded in the social space. Suggested organizations are: •

New Jersey State Bar Association

•

Risk Management Association (Young Professionals Group)

•

Alumni Associations from Rutgers, Montclair, etc.,

•

New York State Society of CPAs

•

Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs

•

New Jersey Young Professionals

For any face-to-face events, the Society should start creating a buzz using social media tools. This is where the Ambassador program (discussed later in detail) will be helpful. Ambassadors should comment on the walls of Facebook events and should tweet about the events on Twitter. Confidential

V Tactics and Social Media Best Practices With a content strategy in place, the Society must look at specific tactics and social networking sites … Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, Ning. Here we provide overall best practices for using these media, as well as specific recommendations for being more efficient. The Society has a head-start with many social media sites; the goal is to prioritize and use platforms that resonate best with the membership. We mention Ning several times in this document, and it's important to explain in detail. In addition to our recommendations to help NJSCPA standardize and improve effectiveness of your ongoing social media efforts, we are going to introduce some new tactics as well: Twitter, Delicious and Ning. Of these, we feel Ning may be of most importance, based on the needs assessment above because it creates a greater sense of community. Additionally, Ning can be reserved as a members’ only section and therefore gives a reason to maintain membership. Ning is an inexpensive tool that lets organizations (particularly not-for-profits) build their own social networks -- "private Facebooks" as they've been called. The sponsoring organization -- NJSCPA -- can create numerous social networking features on its Ning site, including Chat, Discussion Forum, Blog, etc. and etc. Visitors who sign up for a Ning network can then create profiles, add friends and message each other, just like on MySpace or Facebook. Graphics can even be customized to mirror your brand. The benefits to creating a site like this are many. We see several in particular that apply specifically to NJSCPA: - Control. With a Ning site, the Society will be able to control its own chat groups, forums etc. We believe direct discussion with members about CPA-related topics -career development in particular -- will be a vital part of your social media effort. To this end, you want to limit access to these tools, which is very hard to accomplish in Facebook or other public social network. NJSCPA will be able to approve (or deny) anyone who wishes to join your Ning site. - Separation. Many people see their Facebook networking as "personal" and may not wish to use this venue for career enhancement, or for "friending" possible business competitors, for example. LinkedIn, while business-focused, is limited in its tool-set. Ning can sit between the two. (Added benefit - since most corporate IT groups don't currently flag Ning, you'll get more potential visitors than on Facebook or a more personal social network) Confidential

- Efficiency. With Ning, you can keep almost all of your content in one place: the Cram blog, message boards, videos, etc. This frees up staff to focus on creating the content, and delivering it to members through all of the targeted social media. One of the Society's partners - NJ Young Professionals - recently converted its entire website to a Ning platform, and has already attracted more than 1,000 profiles from members. You can view it at www.njyp.org. Note that any Ning-created social network can share login/password with the NJSCPA site ... so any member of NJYP for example can request access to your site without having to fill out additional forms and create new logins.

A Five Social Media Rules of Thumb 1 Identify which Society team members are designated social media contacts. This will help create a sense of consistency. Social networking is about personal connections and the chance of success will be greater if people are relating to people and engaging instead of a faceless entity. 2 Add a link on the NJSPCA homepage to the NJSCPA Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn groups. Standard icons for these sites can easily be downloaded for free. (http://www.instantshift.com/2008/12/10/20-free-social-media-icon-setsfor-bloggers/) This will most likely become the norm on all company websites. Consider adding the links to letterhead and all other correspondences including on key employee business cards. The more exposure and publicity for the sites, the more likely they will be read by members. 3 Have NJSPCA staff members add links (or icons with links) to the footer of all e-mails sent. You may want to consider linking to both corporate social media profiles as well as personal profiles in staff emails. As long as these small links are non-commercial in nature they will not be more susceptible to blockage as spam. 4 Support members by becoming fans of their pages, following them on Twitter and sharing their news. An easy way to accomplish this would be via survey and/or by collecting this information when dues are renewed. Another method would simply by search for member profiles using the search function on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Ask questions: Does your firm have a Facebook page, twitter account, blog, etc. This can significantly help collect this information. By “friending” members proactively, you’re showing them the Society is relevant and connected, and you’ll open the path for increased dialogue.

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5 Create a class of membership for those who leave public accounting for Corporate Enterprise or the Not-for-Profit world. Use Social Networking to let them know the Society continues to acknowledge their role in the profession and that there is no stigma of moving to the “dark side.” We believe this “Once a CPA…always a CPA” philosophy will foster engagement and extend the average term of membership by several years.

Recommended Tactics A Level One: Facebook, LinkedIn, Blog These are critical tactics/sites that the Society must maximize in order to connect with your Gen X and Y members.

1 Facebook •

When publicizing events via Facebook, send invitations to all of the fans, in addition to simply posting the event on the fan page. Additionally, allow people to view the attendee list so they can see who else is attending.

•

If multiple people are posting to the Facebook page, it is suggested that they sign the post so that people know who posted it. On the fan page description, it might be helpful to list the potential posters.

•

Include a link to your Facebook page on all press releases to increase traffic to the page.

•

While a large number of respondents use Facebook, we are aware that some firms block access to this and other sites. Members may be accessing these sites after working hours. However, many of the Society’s posts occur during working hours. Incorporating scheduled postings and after hours communications may be a key ingredient to reaching members. Facebook as a business tool may be an educational opportunity for the Society. We believe there would be significant interest on effective use of social networking in a professional environment.

•

We suggest the Society continue to advertising through Facebook. This is a valid technique to drive additional traffic to the Facebook page, Facebook ads allow you to write clear, targeted ads with concise text that speaks directly to the audience you will reach. The title can have up to 25 characters, and the body can have up to 135 characters. Facebook advertising is very budget friendly and allows you to control the cost by specifying the maximum you want to spend per

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day. The pay-per-click format is preferred over the pay-per-impression as it easier measure and reporting ROI, .

Example of Guest List for a Facebook Event

2 LinkedIn •

Publicize all events on LinkedIn and send members of the LinkedIn group info on the events.

•

LinkedIn has a new feature called subgroups. Consider having one main group for NJSCPA and subgroups under it, rather than having a Young CPAs group separately. This will help people find the groups easier. A simple communication can be sent to existing group members regarding the change.

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•

All staff members on LinkedIn should change the link for the website to “Other” and type in “New Jersey Society of CPA’s”; then link to www.njscpa.org. This will help with search engine optimization

•

The official LinkedIn company profile should be updated with an official description. Anyone with an “njspca.org” e-mail address can make this change.

3 Blog Content is still king and the blog is a key way to provide solid content. However, it is important that the blog gets enough exposure that people read it. •

RSS feeds for blog should be posted in several areas including the website. RSS can be shared with member firms for their intranets and with universities that the Society partners with.

•

Consider guest bloggers from the membership and from other recognized experts.

•

All blog posts should be posted to the Facebook page, LinkedIn group and to Twitter.

B Level Two: Twitter, Delicious, Ning These tactics/sites are recommended if the Society can allocate resources towards them, as we explain below:

1 Twitter While many of the respondents have not yet jumped into the “Twitterverse” the increase in usage is expected. Several other state societies are engaging in Twitter related conversations and media relations including: Ohio, Maryland, Indiana, Florida and Oregon. See Appendix B for an article from The Journal of Accountancy on how they are using it. Searching CPA or Accounting on search.twitter.com, reveals many results having to do with people discussing taking the exam or are discussing an accounting class. Using Tweetlater, the Society can begin following people that use the keywords such as “CPA Exam” and offer advice to links back to some of the information posted on NJSCPA.org. Tweetlater allows you to filter by location therefore; you can limit the search to the Tri-State area or only New Jersey. This is a way to begin capturing the attention of accounting students and new graduates before they are actively seeking advice. •

Each member of the Society should sit through a Twitter training class (an hour or two) to get associated with the tool, terminology and ancillary tools.

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•

Consider having designated Twitter users with individual profiles. Or on the Twitter description tell people who the official tweeter is. This helps establish a more personal connection.

•

Photos of individuals are favored by Twitter users. If you are using individuals to Tweet under their own names, use a professional photo. Refrain from changing the avatar (photo) often as people identify with both the Twitter “handle,” (user name) and also with the graphic associated with the account.

•

Include your Twitter “handle” on any press releases issued by the Society.

•

Post all press releases to Twitter in addition to Facebook and LinkedIn.

•

Create a #NJSPCA hash tag in Twitter and apply it to all postings. This can be a great way to create a sense of community. A hash tag is simple a reference tool to follow a conversation. A list of hash tags that have already been used can be found at www.hashtags.org.

•

Consider using tweetchat.com to facilitate discussion among members.

•

Actively follow members and prospective members.

2 Delicious (www.delicious.com) Delicious is a social bookmarking service that allows users to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source. With emphasis on the power of the community, Delicious greatly improves how people discover, remember and share on the Internet. •

NJSPCA can set up a group for Delicious and add this to their e-mail signature as well. They can then tag relevant stories in their Delicious account and share it with members. This would be something that can be added to the e-mail signature of the NJSPCA staff members.

•

Delicious is really useful for “hot topics” – whatever is generating a lot of articles and commentary. By aggregating the articles, the Society is providing a great value-added service. The Society can send out update to membership for example: “For those of you increasingly handling instances of fraud relating to the Bernie Madoff scandal, we’ve organized links to hundreds of stories about the scandal you may find helpful. Visit our Delicious site at http://www.com and search the “madoff” tag.”

3 Ning Ning offers an innovative and easy-to-use technology platform for people to join and meet new people. Ning is a free service that allows for the creation of online Confidential

communities, similar to Facebook, but for a closed group. Users create new social networks based on their interests and passions…the things they care about most in their life. It is recommended that NJSPCA consider starting a Ning group to create a community for members. Among the many features is the ability to create chats, which can enhance the online relationship building. By empowering members to create their own subgroups, they will have the opportunity to learn and share with each other. “NJSCPA is now a Ning community.” The premise of Ning is that is creates a private network that would help networkers build deep business connections, whereas Facebook may be too personal for those business-only relationships.

C Level Three: NJSCPA Private (opt-in) Text Message Network An alternative to public networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn is a private (opt-in) text message network from the NJSCPA. The advantage to this type of network is that it does not lead to any loss of privacy or SPAM. Users opt-in to receive only the types of information they choose to see. This ability to select and filter reduces unwanted noise to the users and generates significantly higher readership and response rates. A text message system can be utilized for broadcast messages, automatic inquiry and response as well as two way chat sessions. The same system can be utilized to transmit voice and multimedia content. See Appendix D for a usage example.

D Frequency Recommendation The Society should be posting content every day. You are already pulling information from other sites such as accountingweb.com on the website. This information should go out via ping.fm. Continuity and a fresh perspective will keep members engaged. Using Hootsuite.com you can program information to be sent at designated times. HootSuite is an award-winning Twitter toolbox. With HootSuite, you can manage multiple Twitter profiles, add multiple editors, pre-schedule tweets, and measure your success. For important information, plan to repost it several times – the average lifespan of post is about 60 minutes. In addition to the posting functionality, Hootsuite includes analytical tools such as click-through to links. This will help the Society identify information of interest and revise the strategy based on automated feedback.) People pay attention when they are acknowledged. Posting event photos and comments are a must in order to continuing the conversation. Make sure to tag the participants in the photos to drive traffic to Facebook.

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Twitter and Facebook should be checked on a regular basis so that inquires can be addressed. The official tweeter should be checking at least 3 times per day for relevant information to retweet or comment on.

E Efficiency Tools for Social Media While there is not currently a high number of Society members on Twitter, using a tool like ping.fm or Hootsuite will allow the Society to post the same content in multiple places with one click. Hootsuite allows posts to be scheduled. This allows information to be sent out in the evening when members are more likely to be checking social media sites. With Hootsuite ping.fm integration, the Society can essentially reach people on over 40 different social media sites (with the list growing) with one click. Hootsuite also allows multiple Twitter accounts to be managed and allows users to assign administrative permissions to other people. Ping.fm can be accessed by a number of different sites, but by using a Twitter integrated tool, this ensures that all posts will stay in the 140-character limited. Should you wish to post something longer, you can use the Ping.fm website and post a similar, shorter post directly to twitter. There is nothing wrong with repeating content. The same post can be sent out several times to make sure that people read it. Articles that have appeared in the NJSCPA newsletter can be repurposed and posted on Facebook and Twitter. Twitter and LinkedIn can also be mechanisms for driving people to the Facebook page. Send updates to both sites directing people to the Facebook page. Cross promote the multiple channels. Another useful tool is Widgets. Widgets are self encapsulated objects that can be embedded on a web site and provide additional functionality. Very often they are developed in flash and embedded directly in the HTML of the site but it can also be applications hosted on foreign servers and then included via an iframe or other embedding code. Widgets can be anything from displaying an RSS feed to full blown applications with login/crm functionality. CPA Firms are always looking for professional development programs. NJPSCPA can partner with content firms to provide a widget for their intranets. These widgets can provide updated tips to firms with career coaching and other advice.

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F Member Retention, Engagement and Acquisition Campaign and the Ambassador Program The key to the success of a major social media plan is by having advocates. Sometimes the easiest way to get something accomplished is simply to ask. The Society should create a campaign that tells members about the value that the Society brings. Let members know that the Society wants to retain them and help them grow. Let’s be bold. Tell them about Facebook. Tell them about Twitter. Let them know in a creative manner how they can get involved and how they can make a difference. You are recruiting your social networking champions through such a program. To accomplish this task we propose establishment of the NJSCPA Ambassador Program. An Ambassador sees their participation in the Society as an active rather than passive role. This is the critical third link in Brand Trilogy (Create the Brand…Build the Brand…Live the Brand). We believe the Ambassador Program will use the tools of social networking detailed above to energize the Society membership resulting in increased participation and membership retention.

1 Recruitment We see specific ways to recruit Ambassadors into the program: a Survey participants: Create an email to invite survey participants who checked “yes” on their interest in joining a social media Ambassador program. This simple method will likely result in numerous participants, as they have already expressed interest. The email should be kept simple, reminding them of their choice on the survey, thanking them for their interest and instructing them of the call to action. b Member firm letters: Send a letter from the NJSCPA Director of Communications to member firm executives, asking them to nominate 2-3 young people in their firms as Ambassadors. Once nominated, Ambassadors should receive personal calls from NJSCPA to gauge interest, explain the program and sign up those who want to participate. c

Personal recommendations: Current students and recent graduates who have built relationships with NJSCPA staff should be shepparded through the membership process by their Society contacts acting as ambassadors.

d A good place to start would be in the 100% Membership Club.

2 Training Once selected and approved, Ambassadors should get a good head start: a To kickoff the program, we suggest holding two free orientation breakfasts (ideally, one in North Jersey and one in South Jersey) to explain the Confidential

Society’s objectives for the Ambassador program and provide a kick-start networking opportunity. b Bonus: As a “thank you” for participation, the NJSCPA can recruit a notable networking expert to keynote with actionable networking skills and lessons tailored for the accounting world. If attendees find this helpful, NJSCPA can host an annual workshop for Ambassadors only, where they will continue to improve their networking skills during presentations from selected speakers. Some suggested speakers you may want to consider: Andrea Nierenberg - www.thenierenberggroup.com Eileen Monesson - www.cowangunteski.com/bio_eileen_monesson.html Bob Littell - www.netweaving.com

c Video copy: The speaker should be videotaped so that his/her presentation can be made available online for Ambassadors who could not attend the breakfast, or for attendees who want to review.

3 Personal Benefits It is important to encourage Ambassador engagement through recognition. Such recognition, industry exposure and its attendant prestige will motivate their continuing participation and ultimately advance the viral nature of this new network: a The role of the Ambassador should be positioned as a prestigious responsibility. b NJSCPA Promo: The NJSCPA should provide something valuable to Ambassadors in kind for their help, to communicate the importance of the program. Ideally, the promo is intimately aligned with the participant’s objective of building networking opportunities. For example, Ambassadors might receive free or discounted passes to NJSCPA events. c

Networking Olympics: This benefit will be outlined in detail below (see Duties section).

4 Duties To help NJSCPA achieve its growth goals, Ambassadors will be tasked with several duties required to retain their positions: a Referrals: Ambassadors must bring 3 membership-eligible guests (criteria determined by the Society) to in-person and virtual networking events each calendar year to keep their ambassadorship. b Friend Status: Ambassadors must either subscribe to the NJSCPA fan page on Facebook or join the NJSCPA group on LinkedIn. Ambassadors with profiles on both networks must subscribe on both. Confidential

c Social Network Invites: Ambassadors must create 3 Facebook or LinkedIn “event invitations” each year to promote NJSCPA events, and invite their friends or contacts. NJSCPA will create boilerplate copy for each event, which can be cut-and-paste easily into Facebook and LinkedIn’s invitation templates d Olympics (detail): Our recommendation is to incentivize Ambassadors’ actions by offering a “grand prize” each year to the Ambassador who refers the most new members to NJSCPA: a free lifetime membership. Each year at the annual meeting, the “Lifetime Ambassador” will earn a seat at the head table and be recognized by the Society in front of his/her peers and colleagues, providing a unique opportunity for each winner and tremendous visibility for the Ambassador program and NJSCPA social networking opportunities.

5 Resources We believe the Society will require the following resources to execute the Ambassador Program: a People • Sending emails and letters and making phone calls for recruitment • Creating boilerplate invitation copy for each event • Posting “thanks” comments on Ambassadors’ Facebook pages • Posting recommendations on Ambassadors’ LinkedIn profiles • Tracking Ambassador referrals • Planning/organizing network breakfasts b Estimated Budget • Two breakfasts and speaker ($1,000) • Videotaping speaker ($300) • Free event passes, assume 50 passes x $40 each ($2,000) • Free annual membership for Olympics ($XXX) 6 Measurement Metrics for the Ambassador program will likely include: a Total participation by Ambassadors Goal: To enlist 20-25% of those recruited for the program. b Total referrals / total conversions Goal: To expect 2-3 referrals from at least half of those who enlist, with conversion rates exceeding typical conversion rates for traditional recruiting efforts. Confidential

VII

Measurement of Success

Item

Facebook

Desired Outcome (Objective) Number of Fans

Resources Required

Time frame

Designated Face Master 4‐6 month trial period

Responses to Events LinkedIn

Reorganize and rationalize LinkedIn subgroups

Moderator

4‐6 month trial period

Active Dialogues Participation Exam Cram Blog

Readership by students

Improved outreach program using Twitter, Facebook and other social channels

9‐12 months

Twitter

Drive traffic to website and blog

Dedicated staff Tweeters (30 minutes daily)

3‐4 months

Positions Society as a thought leader to members and media Fosters immediate conversation Ning

Creates a Community of Outsourced Setup. Society Members (est.$3,000)

12 months

Designated Ning Master Delicious

Information resource for members

All Society Staff should participate in tagging

Ongoing

Promotional Communication

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Text Messaging

Ambassador Program

Targeted one way and two way communication Recruit and Retain Members

Content development

12 months

Designated monitor Program development

Promote events

Designated Program Manager

Promote communication tools

Budget for Ambassador benefits

12 Months

Increase member engagement through personal interaction

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VIII Appendix A CPAs Embrace Twitter Brief messages leave powerful impressions. BY MEGAN PINKSTON JUNE 29, 2009 Twitter has taken the Internet by storm. Like LinkedIn and Facebook, Twitter hosts a growing community of CPAs and financial professionals, but unlike its social-networking peers, the microblogging Web site limits users’ messages, questions and conversations to 140 characters (including spaces). To put this limit into perspective, this paragraph has 425 characters - more than three times Twitter’s character limit for posts. Despite Twitter’s requirement to “keep it brief,” CPA firms, practitioners and state societies are using Twitter to market their organizations and reach potential clients and members. Here, CPA practitioners and state CPA societies share why and how they’re using Twitter and what benefits they’re reaping from their social media investment. CPA PRACTITIONERS

Donna Bordeaux, CPA/PFS Bordeaux & Bordeaux CPAs PA, Lake Wylie, S.C. twitter.com/CharlotteCPA yourcpapartners.com “We utilize Twitter to keep current on the pulse of what is going on locally and in our industry. It is a fun and easy way to meet new people who could someday be your clients and may not know you exist. We have obtained two new clients by their awareness of us in Twitter and have received a few mentions in blogs based on our social media presence. “Our Tweets are a combination of business and personal comments. If you always post about business, you seem like you are always wearing the ‘selling’ hat. Twitter and other forms of social media are really for awareness-building rather than direct sales. To be authentic, you really have to show all facets of yourself. “I always suggest that my clients get involved slowly into the social media formats. We suggest LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter—in that order. Just like you would at a large meeting, listen and learn a bit before diving in. Start following some interesting local people and people in your industry. Pick up some interesting tidbits and then add in hashtags, direct messaging and reTweets.” Donna Bordeaux and her husband, Chad (active on Twitter at twitter.com/cbordeaux), also maintain the “Beancounter Ramblings” blog at yourcpapartners.com/blog.

Byron K. Patrick, CPA/CITP Hosted Solutions, Baltimore twitter.com/byron_cpa goapps.us “Through Twitter, I’m more informed about today’s news and issues than ever. I am able to follow the people whose opinions I respect and no longer need to hunt for the information I want. It’s delivered right to me. It’s also a way for me to be in front of the people that potentially could be clients or referral sources without being too disruptive. I can build trust even before I have ever worked with them.

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“Twitter is different than the other social networks. Others like LinkedIn and Facebook usually require a prior relationship before you connect. Twitter doesn’t require that prior relationship, and it allows for trust and respect to be earned with colleagues that you have no prior connection with. Personally, I have expanded my network exponentially with very little effort and, hopefully, provide some value to those I am now connected with.”

Heather L. Fitzpatrick, CPA MarketFitz, Seattle, WA twitter.com/hlfitzpatrick marketfitz.com “As a CPA who works as a consultant serving CPA firms, I have found Twitter to be quite useful for my practice. I have found references to articles and other resources that are of interest to clients, and the endorsement of a Twitter peer saves me time reviewing for quality. I have also connected with others focused on managing professional service firms through Twitter, and have seen some interesting ideas surface in those 140 characters. Finally, it’s been helpful to my volunteer roles within organizations, which also helps me from a business perspective.” “I’ve had a surge in inquiries from CPA firms asking how to incorporate Twitter into their marketing initiatives. We have been working with some of those organizations to integrate Twitter into their media relations efforts, in particular. While they haven’t necessarily seen a financial return on their efforts yet, they are starting to understand the connection between Twitter and the traditional press.

Crystal Knight, CPA Vestal & Wiler CPAs, Orlando, Fla. twitter.com/CKnightCPA www.vestal-wiler.com “I joined Twitter because it’s a powerful information tool where I can scan the latest headlines, not just the accounting industry but the industries our firm services. In addition, Twitter is a great tool to expand my professional network and make existing professional relationships stronger. If I’m ever stumped on something, I have a whole network of CPAs I can Tweet a question to who can give me an immediate response.” STATE CPA SOCIETIES

The Ohio Society of CPAs twitter.com/OSCPA ohioscpa.com “[On Twitter,] news is shared faster than before. Our members and staff are reading business and accounting headlines as they are happening and commenting on how that news impacts their firms, companies and clients. [What] we Tweet about should add value to the community of users and facilitate greater conversation between CPAs and the people who can benefit from their expertise—media, business leaders and the general public. “OSCPA membership is very diverse, and members like receiving their news in different ways. We continue to reach out to them through traditional, one-way communiqués—print and e-mail. But we’ve also found that integrating our messages through social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn helps us engage more members in two-way conversations. It is a valuable way to get direct feedback from individual members about their needs and interests.”

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Oregon Society of CPAs twitter.com/OregonCPAsNews orcpa.org “We decided to join the Twittersphere shortly after activating our Facebook account because it is another way of engaging our members and nonmembers and providing information we think CPAs would want to know. Not only do we Tweet and re-Tweet news items about or related to the profession, but we inform our followers about upcoming society events and CPE courses and post follow-up items about society events. If we get nonmembers to become interested in the society because they saw us on Twitter, all the better. “In the spring, we held our annual Strategic Leadership Forum for our core volunteer leaders, and I was able to Tweet about the speakers we were listening to—including AICPA Chairman Ernie Almonte—right from my phone.”

Oklahoma Society of CPAs twitter.com/OklahomaCPAs oscpa.org “Twitter helps us develop relationships with members, peers and media. We’ve pitched stories using Twitter, reporters have contacted us through Twitter, and we’ve even had some publicity on local radio stations because of our Tweets. Plus, through some discussion Tweets, we’ve found new vendors that can provide services to meet our needs. “We have been able to use the social networks as recruitment tools for student and associate (CPA Examination candidate) members. We have a renewed emphasis on recruiting and retaining younger members. We feel that in order to keep those members engaged with us, we also need to be socially engaged with them on some levels. More than anything, though, we need to be where they are and communicate in their language, using their tools.”

Indiana CPA Society twitter.com/incpas incpas.org “By using Twitter, the Society has been able to listen to and monitor what is being said about the organization and the profession. It allows us to stay connected in real time with other professional organizations and state CPA societies and use them as a network of resources and collaboration. By creating brand awareness through Twitter and other social media, it helps us to build relationships with the public. It’s an excellent way to engage members, network, share information, move people to action, and most of all, listen to and learn what their needs are and how you can meet them.” The Indiana CPA Society’s public relations and social media manager, Jenifer Groth, also Tweets at twitter.com/jlgroth.

Florida Institute of CPAs twitter.com/FICPA ficpa.org “Twitter is another way to communicate with our members both young and old about accounting information and FICPA events. We’ve set up an interview with an FICPA past president as a result of Twitter. We also connected with an accounting student in South Florida who asked a question about the FICPA. We were able to respond and created a better relationship with a future CPA."

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B Facebook Users Are Getting Older. Much Older From Mashable.com Analytics company iStrategyLabs has examined the demographics stats from Facebook’s Social Ads platform, and they’ve reached some very interesting conclusions. Facebook’s userbase, as a whole, is getting much older very fast. As you can see in the chart below, the overall number of users between 18 and 24 years of age has grown only 4.8% between the fourth of January and the fourth of July of 2009. In comparison, the number of users aged 25 – 34 has grown 60.8%; the number of users aged 35 to 54 has grown 190.2%, while the number of users older than 55 years has grown a tremendous 513.7%.

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If the iStrategyLabs numbers are correct, Facebook, simply put, is not a young site anymore. Most of the users (20,3 million, or 28.2% overall) on the site belong to the 35 – 54 age group. Compare that to the age group that was once Facebook’s bread and butter – the 18 – 24 group – which is now in third place with 18 million (25.1%) users, behind the 25 – 34 year old group, which makes for 25.2% of Facebook’s user base with 18.1 million users. The number of users aged 55 and over has grown from negligible 950,000 to 5.9 million in mere six months. Now, although it may seem like the number of young users has declined, this is not true. The overall number of users of all ages is growing. But they are growing at very different speeds, and therefore the percentages have changed significantly; on a site like Facebook, which lives on advertising, this is a big deal. However, although the number of young users has increased, the number of high school and college students has declined by -16.5% and -21.7%, respectively. This can indicate several things: first, that the data that iStrategyLabs is incorrect or very rough (which is a possibility, since Facebook doesn’t guarantee that the data provided to advertisers is absolutely accurate); secondly, it’s possible that Facebook users simply don’t think that their education, or the school/college they’re in are very important so they’re simply not entering the data. It’s probably a little bit of both, but it’ll be interesting to see and compare Facebook’s own demographics data with these numbers. In any case, these are significant changes. If you show the same ads to Facebook users now, they will react vastly differently than they would have half a year ago. If you’re an advertiser on Facebook, you should take these changes into account and react accordingly, because your campaign might not be as effective as it was a couple of months ago.

C Four Strategic Technologies That'll Rule the Accounting Industry in Three Year An Online CPE Course from the Association for Account Administration Date: Thursday, June 25, 2009 Time: 02:00 PM ET / 01:00 PM CT / 12:00 PM MT / 11:00 AM PT [Prevailing Time] Presenter(s): Ken Garen, CPA President, Universal Business Computing Company (UBCC) Objective: Technology is rapidly changing the way in which accountants work. Strategic technologies are ones with the greatest potential for significant* impact on the accounting professional industry during the next three years. In this session, Mr. Garen will explore and discuss Social Networking, Greener, Web-Centric, and Cloud Computing as the four strategic technologies that will rule the accounting industry in three years.

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*Factors that denote significant impact on our industry have the high potential to disrupt a practice, require a major dollar investment, or put a practice at risk by being late to adopt a technology. Field of Study: Specialized Knowledge and Application Program Level: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced CPE Credit: 1 Credit Hour No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course Course Description It is critical that accountants get a handle on these strategic technologies that are in the pipeline and well on their way, as they are set to impact an organization's long-term plans, programs and initiatives. These technologies are highly strategic because they will have either matured to broad market use during the next three years, or because they enable a decided strategic advantage for the accountants who are the early adopters. Accountants must be educated to better understand the dramatic impact this industry will feel when these technologies advance, and better understand how they too may implement perhaps one or even all four initiatives within their own practice to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to the early adopters. 1) Strategic Social Networking. Strategic Social Networking has always been an important way of making business connections between people. The world continues to evolve from out of the office physical presence (i.e. newspapers, magazines, physical items), and people have decreased the frequency and reliance on commuting “downtown” to physical office space to get work done. Our industry is effectively morphing into a more virtual world where most aspects of business that used to require physical travel can now be delivered via the Internet, with social interaction becoming much less frequent. Therefore, the need is ever present to take measures to cause networking, replacing what used to be consistent face-to-face interaction, so that new business prospects and social contacts can be initiated when an accountant is not consistently moving about from location to location in the business world. 2) Greener: One of the most significant trends from the last century that is carrying forward to this century is the trend to employ technology, software and processes that use fewer resources in the production, usage, and storage of information. Moving ahead, resources will become even scarcer, making “going a bit greener” a compelling economic case in addition to being essentially “good for the planet”. Greener can mean paperless, and it can also mean ensuring the computers and printers being utilized require less energy to run compared to their predecessors. The ultimate efficiency measure being adopted by accountants at an everincreasing rate is paperless practices, where accountants are able to receive and deliver information using no physical resources such as paper (none are being consumed or required). 3) Web-Centric: This can be best described as having the Internet serve as a Wide Area Network (WAN) on steroids. Web-Centric practices allow software and data to reside on multiple computers while still interacting seamlessly with each other. This also allows for tremendously more scalability that would be achievable in any single-server scenario. In the near future, standards will be created to allow for automatic and free-flowing exchange of information, Confidential

similar to how E-mail flows freely today. For example, accountants will be able to review an entire (up to the last minute) financial picture whenever and wherever they want to. 4) Cloud Computing: This represents a growing trend that will continue to gain steam in which the software application and data reside on a server or servers somewhere on the Internet and the user of the information can gain access to it from any connection to the Internet, provided they have the correct security credentials. This allows for a tremendous freedom of usage of the data, having information available wherever and whenever they need it or desire access to it. Cloud Computing frees the accountant from worrying about staying current with software upgrades or having to back up data. Presenter Bio(s) Ken Garen has more than 35 years of experience as a CPA, a technology business owner, and as a business technology software designer for the public accounting industry. Mr. Garen is the co-founder and President of Universal Business Computing Company. Mr. Garen offers a wealth of technology design knowledge, practical application, and public accounting practice management experience. He has managed a successful and highly profitable public accounting practice with over 300 clients. While leading this practice, Mr. Garen tripled their monthly client base by pioneering and utilizing cutting edge computer technology for small businesses. In 1981, he co-founded UBCC and led the company to success as a foremost developer of accounting and payroll software for accounting practices, payroll service bureaus, and commercial enterprises with large transaction volumes or unique accounting/payroll requirements. Mr. Garen has achieved national recognition as a leader in the advanced design of software for portability, flexibility and ease of integration. Mr. Garen is a well-respected and highly accomplished accounting industry speaker, who has conducted national and regional CPE presentations at state and national accounting industry meetings, conferences, most recently featured in two separate CPE sessions as a solo speaker and panel member at the 2008 NYSSCPA Business & Technology Event, and as a solo CPE session speaker for the Accounting Administrators Association. Mr. Garen contributes dozens of accounting industry technology focused articles annually to nationally recognized and highly-respected accounting industry publications including all of the SourceMedia publications, CPA Magazine, and the Accounting Software 411 website. He is listed in the current editions of Marquis Who’s Who in Amercia®, Marquis Who’s Who in the West®, and Who’s Who in Science and Engineering®. He is a current member of the Professional Association of Small Business Accountants, the Independent Payroll Providers Association, and the American Payroll Association. Mr. Garen attended Southern Illinois University and Oxford University, and holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Business Education. He earned his Certified Public Accountant designation in 1972.

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D New Jersey Technology Council Mobile Program Overview The New Jersey Technology Council provides business support, networking opportunities, information, advocacy and recognition of technology companies and their leaders. Founded in 1996, NJTC's more than 1,200 member companies work together to support their own enterprises while advancing New Jersey's status as a leading technology center in the United States. As a technology organization, NJTC seeks to deploy a mobile program that will engage and interact with members and prospective members extending their reach onto an easy to use and maintain mobile platform. Gold Mobile will design and implement a mobile platform for the NJTC that seamlessly integrates mobile into current sales and marketing efforts for a consistent brand experience.

Program Objectives The following are planned objectives for the NJTC mobile program:

Increase member engagement: Build and Grow a Mobile Opt-In Database o Members can register for the NJTC Mobile Alerts via website, WAPsite or keyword and short code. o Database segmented for specific Alerts Event Updates Program Updates Career Updates Mobile Website (WAPsite) for extended Member/Event Information o Members, event attendees and sponsors will be able to access vital information from any standard cell phone on any major US carrier, virtually anywhere.

(Sample WAP Site – design to be finalized with NJTC)

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Mobile Broadcast of Alerts to Members o Mobile provides a simple way to communicate with all opt-in members quickly and effectively about event specific updates or organizational news.

Member Alerts Once members have opted-in, they will receive alerts generated by the NJTC in the form of mobile text messages (up to 140 characters). Some of the text messages may contain a link a NJTC WAP page to get additional information. NJTC will use the Gold Command Center Campaign Manager to generate text message alerts in the specified categories, manage mobile member and prospect data bases and generate delivery reports. Gold Mobile will build a templated WAP site for NJTC to host specific organizational content about events, programs and contact information.

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E Survey Results

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