PERSPECTIVES.

• Author: Mucha, Michael J.

As staff for GFOA, our primary responsibility is to deliver high-quality products and services that are relevant for finance officers serving cities, counties, schools, special districts, states, retirement programs, and other governments throughout the United States and Canada. But GFOA is a membership organization and in addition to providing services for our members, we work with and rely on members to share experiences, communicate lessons learned, provide expertise, and volunteer to provide and guide the associations programs and services. GFOAs membership network, now 20,000+ strong, is what separates GFOA from other public-sector professional associations. As a volunteer for GFOA, you can join us in our mission to promote excellence in financial management, and we have many opportunities available. Below is just a sampling of volunteer opportunities.

* Committees. GFOA has seven standing committees that meet twice per year (and more often by phone) to discuss best practices. Committee applications are accepted from right after the conference until mid July. Applications will be available on GFOA's website.

* Training. GFOA uses volunteer instructors to provide training at most GFOA training offerings.

* Annual Conference Speakers. This year's conference will feature more than 250 speakers sharing their experience, lessons learned, and best practice examples.

* Award...