December 2011

It’s the most wonderful time of the year . . . Happy Holidays to all and Best Wishes for the New Year!!!

We received year-to-date certification information for our chapter from IIA.  We have 4 new CRMA’s (Certification in Risk Management Assurance): Juanita Banks, Krista Krueger, Ryan Otto and Matt Chalmers.  We have 1 new CFSA (Certified Financial Services Auditor): Breanne Hornsey and 7 new CIA’s: Kari Parker, Ryan Otto, Sean Huggins, Jeffrey Nelson, LaShawn Hickman, Kellie Friese and Robert Jacobson.  Congratulations to all!!!

CIA Exam Changes: Number of questions on each of the four exam parts will drop to 90 for 2012 and by mid-2013 the exam will move from a 4-part to a 3-part exam. More information is available on the IIA website in the certification section.

The IIA Milwaukee Chapter board voted to remove the fee when a “member” company posts a position on our chapter website.  We see this as improving service to members. If you have a group membership or single member from your company then you fit the definition of “member” company.  The fee for nonmember companies remains at $50. Also, consider using LinkedIn for posting positions available at your company.

Go to the Events section and register for the December 15 program: Colluding Against Fraud: How Prosecutor and Fraud Investigator Partner to Defeat Fraud.  The speakers are Kurt Benkley, Assistant District Attorney, and Mike Yankunas, Risk Advisory and Forensic Services Partner, CFE, and Expert Witness. Registration begins at 2 p.m.  David Cook and Heidi Humbert will provide highlights of the Midwestern Regional Conference and summarize feedback provided by attendees. Wipfli is hosting the December 15 program at 10000 Innovation Drive.

The feedback from our November 17 program: Mobile Security – The Evolution of a New Challenge held at Brookdale Senior Living on Thursday, November 17 was quite positive.  All the respondents felt the program was technically detailed enough to be of practical use and 80% gave an excellent rating for the overall program.  Additional comments included: “One of the best IIA events” and another said the program “was very timely for me.”

We are still looking for members who are considering chapter leadership opportunities.  Please contact Michel Kopplin by clicking on her name below to let her know of your interest. Being involved in a professional organization in a leadership role is a great way to develop and enhance your leadership skills.

Our featured exhibitors for December are American Appraisal and Resources Global.  See the information in the blocks below. This is a special way to thank each for the support provided during the regional conference.  Please consider these exhibitors for future projects and assignments.

Sharon Morton
Chapter President
samorton@execpc.com 

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November 2011

As I said in my remarks at the Midwestern Regional Conference, the IIA is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and the Milwaukee Chapter is just a few years behind. The Milwaukee Chapter was established in 1947. We are poised to become a Platinum chapter this year. A chapter must attain Gold status for 10 years before getting the Platinum designation. I want to thank all past presidents, the current and past officers and the current and past board of governors for your efforts throughout the years to guide and grow the chapter.

It is time to start planning for our next chapter year. Our succession planning needs to be completed by the end of November. There are many leadership opportunities available. We need to fill 4 board of governor positions. Will the incumbents run again or will there be new candidates to consider? Michel Kopplin steps into the President role starting June 1, 2012. The other officer roles are VP (and President Elect), Treasurer, Secretary and VP Programming. In addition, we need committee chairs for Academic Relations, Membership, Marketing, Advocacy/Junior Achievement, and WebMaster to name just a few. Being involved in a professional organization in a leadership role is a great way to develop and enhance your leadership skills. Please contact Michel (click on her name below) to discuss how you might get involved in chapter leadership.

Be sure to register for our November 17 program: Mobile Security – The Evolution of a New Challenge to be held at Brookdale Senior Living, 6737 W Washington St, Suite 2300, Milwaukee on Thursday, November 17. Registration is at 8:15. A Junior Achievement presentation will be at 8:30 (15 minutes). Program is from 8:45 – 10:30 a.m. See "Events" for more details. NOTE: We are having a Board meeting immediately following the program. Attendees are invited to stay for the Board meeting.

The Risk Assessment for Internal Audit Planning program on October 18 was well-attended. Thanks again to Rockwell for hosting. More than half of the attendees completed the feedback survey. While 70% reported that the topic was relevant for them, only 25% found the technical detail of the presentation to be of practical value to them and 84% felt it was overall a poor presentation. We will certainly take this feedback into consideration in planning future programs. Thanks to all who provided such candid feedback.

Our featured exhibitors for November (we had a little difficulty in getting the detail published) continue to be ACL and Thomson Reuters. See the information in the blocks below. This is a special way to thank each for the support provided to the regional conference and to our chapter. Please consider these exhibitors for future projects and assignments.

Sharon Morton
Chapter President
samorton@execpc.com 

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October 2011

Be sure to register for our October 18 program. Risk Assessments for Internal Audit Planning seeks to provide a practical approach for individuals to develop their risk based audit planning skills for annual, quarterly and individual audit project basis. Join us at Rockwell Automation, 1201 South 2nd St in Milwaukee from 8:30 – 11:30. See "Events" for more details.

The IIA Midwestern Regional Conference (MRC) held from September 25-28, 2011 at the downtown Hilton was a tremendous success!!! The sessions were well attended and feedback is very positive. The receptions provided ample networking opportunities and time to relax a little at the end of each day. The exhibit hall served as a gathering place and provided many wonderful desserts and breakfast treats.

David Cook, co-chair of the event, told the planning committee that "Words cannot express how grateful I am to each one of you for showing courageous leadership, dedication, and hard work during the 2+ years of preparation for the conference. During the last six days, it was amazing to see how well our team functioned especially how you handled any issues that came up during the conference. Our team has made the IIA and the Milwaukee Chapter of the IIA proud. Thank you for putting on a "World Class Conference" and exceeding expectations. I had numerous people come up to me and say they had a great time and really enjoyed the conference."

One of our CAE's sent an email to express his feelings: "Often efforts like yours go under recognized and I thought it was important to personally "Thank You" for all of your time and effort that went into the Conference. I was quite impressed. The Conference was very well done, the topics were both relevant and appropriate, the speakers made us reflect and think, and overall it was well worth my time to attend. Again, thank you!"

And, finally, one of our Director's had this to say: "My congratulations and thanks to all of you for a wonderful conference. All things appeared to go seamlessly (at least to me!) and it was professionally administered. You had a great slate of key note speakers and a good variety of presenters. My entire team participated and found their sessions very worthwhile. I know that this event took a lot of time, sweat, energy (and maybe some tears!?!) to plan and execute and your hard work did not go unnoticed. As a life-long resident of Milwaukee, it was very good to hear the visitors say such positive things about Milwaukee as a result of your events. In fact, this morning at breakfast two women from Missouri said they enjoyed this first visit to Milwaukee so much they would bring their families here on vacation in the future. Many thanks for all your efforts on an excellent event. Please extend my thanks to all those in the "blue shirts" for their hospitality, professionalism, assistance and, most importantly, being great representatives of the Milwaukee business community."

Our featured exhibitors for October are ACL and Thomson Reuters. This is a special way to thank each for the support provided to the regional conference and to our chapter.  Please consider these exhibitors for future projects and assignments.

Sharon Morton
Chapter President
samorton@execpc.com

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September 2011

Don't wait another minute or another day to register for the MRC conference!!! Attendance is limited to 350 and we are moving closer to that limit every day. The conference provides between 19 - 24 CPE credits. The two pre-conference sessions are also almost closed. The CIA review sessions will be well-attended. The MRC has all the appearances of being a tremendous success!!! Register for the IIA Midwestern Regional Conference (MRC) to be held September 25-28, 2011 at the downtown Hilton by clicking on the conference logo above.

Just by coincidence, there is a Walk/Run for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® on Sunday, September 25. We have the Director of Internal Audit and the Chief Financial Officer speaking at the opening general session on Tuesday, September 27.

We are hoping to have a large IIA team participating in the walk/run. There will be an IIA Team Tailgate spot so that we can gather together before the walk/race for coffee and a light breakfast. Contributions will be matched by the Milwaukee chapter up to $500. Feel the pride and satisfaction that comes from knowing you are part of the largest world-wide effort to help find a cure for breast cancer. Please join the team by registering under the IIA team name at http://southeastwi.info-komen.org/goto/MilwaukeeIIA.

In addition, on Monday, September 26, raffle tickets will be available. The raffle prize will be a very robust iPad. The proceeds of the raffle will be donated to Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®. We will present the chapter's contribution to this great cause before the general session on Tuesday.

Many exhibitors will be on hand during the conference. The chapter board has authorized a $500 Southwest airline gift card for those participating in the Vendor Passport Give Away. Details will be provided at the conference. Be sure to take advantage of the exhibitor space. The chapter and conference leadership also want to thank the many local and national companies for providing sponsorships of conference activities. Exhibitors and sponsors will be featured in future president letters throughout the chapter year.

Dates and details from the Programming committee will be available at the conference. You can mark your calendar for a Risk Assessments for Internal Audit Planning and/or Fraud Investigations presentation which is planned for Tuesday, October 18, 2011. It will be a 2 CPE credit event and will be held at Rockwell Automation. Check the chapter website for more details and to register for this program.

Sharon Morton
Chapter President
samorton@execpc.com 

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August 2011

Register for the IIA Midwestern Regional Conference (MRC) to be held September 25-28, 2011 at the downtown Hilton by clicking on the conference logo above. Don't miss the opportunity to attend these general sessions:

• Internal Auditing in 2011: Trends, Opportunities, and Challenges presented by Richard Chambers, President & CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors
• Characteristics of Highly Effective Audit Leadership presented by Larry Harrington, VP – Internal Audit for Raytheon Company
• Singular Goals, common concerns, Unique courses: Drawing on Our Past to Help Susan G. Komen for the Cure Today presented by the Director of IA and CFO of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization
• Future Forecast: Where We've Been and Where We're Going Economically presented by Dr. Abdur Chowdhury from Marquette University
• Know Your Environment: The Power of Knowledge in Setting Your Course presented by Rich Meeusen, President and CEO of Badger Meter Inc.

The conference provides between 19 - 24 CPE credits and is based on tracks for: A. Governance and ERM; B. Technology Auditing & Emerging Issues; C. Legal and Regulatory Compliance; D. Leadership, communication, and People Skills; E. CAE Forum and G. CIA Review Sessions. David Cook and Heidi Humbert are serving as the conference Co-Chairs. The programming committee is chaired by Dan Langer and PJ Wiltsley. Words cannot thank them enough for their leadership and accomplishments.

Programs for the remainder of the chapter year are being developed by Annie Goetzinger and her programming committee. I want to give a hearty thank you to those who completed the annual survey. Your feedback is essential as we develop programs which meet your needs and preferences. Details for the 2011/2012 chapter year programs will be distributed at the MRC. The $50 GAS CARD winner is Margaret Moutvic.

Thinking about a career or job change? There are many resources available to you. Have you visited the IIA Career Center or the Job Postings listed on the chapter website? Are you connected to the Milwaukee chapter through LinkedIn? There will be quite a few placement/consulting firms who will be in the Exhibitor area at the MRC. You could plan on visiting Robert Half, Experis, Resources Global, Baker Tilly, Wipfli and others in the Exhibitor area during breaks at the regional conference to discuss career and job options. Hiring managers may find the "Searching for Candidates" article (located in Member Library) helpful when trying to locate candidates with the right level of skills and experience.

Sharon Morton
Chapter President
samorton@execpc.com 

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July 2011

You're encouraged to attend IIA Milwaukee chapter events and share in the professional discussions, learn from experts, socialize and equally important, have some fun. Please visit the web site events tab for more information.

If you are interested in participating in any of our various committees including, but not limited to, Programming, Academic Relations, Audit Research, Certification, Membership, Web Site and Social Media Management or Finance, please let me know.

Also, start planning for the IIA Midwest Regional Conference September 25-28, 2011 being held right here in Milwaukee at the downtown Hilton! Registration is open. Just follow the link by clicking on the logo above. If you are interested in sponsorships, volunteering, programs, etc., please contact David Cook or Heidi Humbert, our Co-Chairs. If you would like to know more about the conference plans and where you can help please contact any one of us.

Please continue to check our website for further details on future events, news, job postings and other audit resources. As in the past, our primary method of communication is through the website and e-mail. If you have changed jobs, moved, or have profile changes, please update your information by visiting TheIIA.org or calling the IIA's Customer Service at 407-937-1100.

Sharon Morton
Chapter President
samorton@execpc.com 

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May/June 2011

Well, this will be my last message to you serving in my capacity as your IIA Milwaukee Chapter President. Thank you for allowing me to serve in this role. It has truly been my honor to work with a terrific group of individuals committed to the goals of the profession of internal auditing. Having had the opportunity to serve in volunteer related responsibilities for other not-for-profit community and professional organizations I will express with pride that I had the opportunity to serve in this leadership role with such a great group of committed professionals.

As regards the business of the chapter this final month of the year, we have an exciting program scheduled for the afternoon of May 25 at ManpowerGroup World Headquarters in downtown Milwaukee. UW Milwaukee Audit and Accounting Scholars, Professors Brian Daugherty and Larry Abbott will be facilitating an interactive open share forum. You are strongly encouraged to register as this is guaranteed to be an event for which you will walk away with ideas and alternative practices to take back to your organizations as well as an opportunity for you to share some of your leading edge ideas. When you register you will be asked to complete a brief survey which will be used by the Professors to help guide program facilitation.

Although registration is closed, we had an overwhelming response to a two-day, May 5-6 ACL led interactive workshop being held at Fiserv. My predecessor, past President, Steve Schmidbauer deserves all the credit for helping to organize and shepherd planning for this program we are confident will be value-added for attendees.

As the chapter year comes to an end I am delighted to let you know the incoming leadership under the Presidency of Sharon Morton is already actively planning 2011-2012. Michel Kopplin, President-Elect and Annie Goetzinger, VP-Programming just came back from a two day IIA Leadership Seminar in Florida (volunteer leadership does have it's benefits!) and they have brought back a number of terrific ideas to take into the incoming chapter year, networking relationships to capitalize on and a lot of energy and enthusiasm. They and the rest of the leadership team is ready and raring to go into 2011-2012, yet all the officers, board members and volunteers would welcome hearing from you should you have a particular volunteer interest or idea for the coming year.

We all know 2011-2012 is going to start out with a fantastic one of a kind event, the IIA Midwest Regional Conference at the downtown Hilton September 25-28, 2011. The program is set and available for review on the web site. Simply click the logo to link to the web site from the IIA Milwaukee home page. David Cook and Heidi Humbert, our fantastic Co-Chairs continue to steer us towards planning what is guaranteed to be one-of-a-kind successful regional conference in the annals of the IIA.

And finally, I am pleased (and relieved!) to let you know the IIA Milwaukee Chapter achieved its overall goals this chapter year both operationally and financially, leaving a solid foundation to transition to incoming leadership.

Again, thank you all for allowing me to serve and for your volunteer efforts, attendance at programs and your general commitment to a profession critical to the operational and financial monitoring and control of risks facing organizations in today's challenging economic times.

If I don't see you in coming weeks my sincere wishes for a wonderful summer to all of you and, at a minimum, looking forward to seeing you at the IIA Midwest Regional in September.

All the best,

Daniel B. Langer
Chapter President
dlanger@bus.wisc.edu 

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May 2010

Thanks to all those who attended our May 11^th session on PwC's State of the Internal Audit Profession. Thank you to Mike Maali and Laura Koelzer for also providing the presentation! We are looking forward to our upcoming May sessions including our webinars. On May 25th, Danny Goldberg will join us for a full-day report writing seminar. Also, as mentioned in earlier e-mail communications, the Chapter is still pursuing a live, 2-day CIA exam training, which may start as soon as June and will focus on part 3...further details to follow. In the meantime, if you are interested, please let Bethann Ambrose know.

During our summer programming break, stay tuned to your e-mail and our chapter's event calendar to see how the 2010 - 2011 events are progressing. Don't forget to watch for further details on our September 7th kickoff event and Brewer game with Richard Chambers, the IIA's President & CEO!

Another reminder to put September 25