Year of accomplishment validates founders' vision.

• Author: Zelisko, Judith P.

When I realized that the President's Corner column in the May-June issue of The Tax Executive would be the last one to carry my name, my immediate reaction was "Where did the year go? It seems just like yesterday that the Institute's 2004-2005 Chapter Presidents, Officers, Executive Committee, and staff gathered in Annapolis to set our goals for the year and to begin work on accomplishing them." I also thought that while the Institute was able to accomplish many things over the past 12 months, one thing we couldn't do was slow the hands of time. In this final column, I want to present a brief review of TEI's year, to describe the challenges ahead, and to offer my thanks and appreciation to everyone who contributed to our success.

Goals Adopted, Vision Fulfilled

Last August, TEI's Board of Directors adopted an overall theme for the year ("Be Effective, Stay Effective") and identified five general areas in which our effectiveness would be challenged and validated. The specific objectives we adopted related to TEI's principal areas of activity--education, networking, and advocacy--but also included items focused on core membership services and effective management. Upon reading this column, I trust you will agree that we truly made progress on many fronts.

Be Current, Stay Current through Quality Education Programs

For sixty years, TEI has rightly prided itself on the quality and cost effectiveness of its educational programs. Given the pace of change and the ever-expanding scope of the tax executive's role, it is more important than ever for TEI members to stay informed, and I am pleased to report that TEI stepped forward in a number of important ways. Consider the following:

* We held a two-day seminar on financial reporting developments, which drew a sell-out crowd of nearly 350. The program proved so popular--and the forthcoming exposure draft on uncertain tax positions under FAS 109 so foreboding--that we will offer the seminar again this coming September.

* At our 2004 Annual Conference, we featured a session involving the Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a first for TEI. Donald Nicolaisen's remarks were both informative and provocative, and generated more questions from the floor than could be accommodated in the allotted time.

* The Annual Conference last fall merits notice for another reason--it marked the Institute's 60th anniversary. From a group of 14 New York-based tax professionals in 1944 to more than 5,800 tax executives worldwide today, TEI has grown into a truly global organization. I was especially honored that 20 of my...