INVITATION TO SAN DIEGO IN AUGUST

San Diego boasts an almost perfect summer climate—about 76° Fahrenheit (24° Celsius) during the day. It offers stunning views of bays and islands, hills and cliffs. San Diego is both resort and urban center, both a place for business and a place for fun. And this year, San Diego has the eighty-fourth Annual Meeting of the American Accounting Association, August 15–18, 1999.

This Annual Meeting will be one to remember. In addition to the continuing education and technical sessions, events include four receptions for all attendees. Make special plans to attend Tuesday night’s Evening on the Embarcadero, where we’ll serve up beach music and fiesta food in a bayside setting adjacent to both headquarters hotels. This will be a great event. I hope to see you there.

The three plenary sessions and two luncheon speakers will give us plenty to remember as well. They take a single theme—Change!—and illustrate its impact in education, in financial services, and in the global marketplace. Monday morning, former SEC Commissioner Aulana L. Peters will speak on current regulatory issues facing the profession including the Public Oversight Board Panel on Audit Effectiveness. On Tuesday morning, Brown University President E. Gordon Gee will share his thoughts on change in higher education. Tuesday’s luncheon speaker, China Securities Regulatory Commission Chief Accountant Wei-Guo Zhang, will talk about change in China’s audit, stock offering, and economic development policies.

Wednesday morning, we inaugurate the Presidential Research Lecture with a commissioned presentation by Shyam Sunder, winner of the 1998 Notable Contributions to Accounting Literature Award. As 1999 Presidential Lecturer, Professor Sunder will speak on the subject “Why Do Accounting and Control for Private vs. Public Good-Producing Organizations Differ?” His lecture will be published in edited form in a forthcoming issue of The Accounting Review.

The first social event is the Early Bird Reception on Sunday evening in the Exhibit Hall. Monday night’s Welcome Reception offers a chance to catch up with old colleagues and meet new ones. Tuesday’s Evening on the Embarcadero features Mexican food with beach party music and hits from the ’50s and ’60s. And if that’s not enough, linger on for the Farewell Reception Wednesday evening.

But don’t forget the CPE and concurrent sessions at the core of our meeting! (CPE listings start on page 8.) Program Chair Bruce Johnson has worked with hundreds of members to coordinate offerings in virtually every area of accounting and education on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Director of Education Richard Baker and a CPE Task Force including Lee Pryor, Beth Hawes Brown, Ken Harper, and Tracey Sutherland have compiled a list of 40 CPE programs, mainly on Sunday, August 15.

In prior issues of Accounting Education News, I have written of the three core values that AAA programs and services offer our members—networking, peer review, and faculty development. The Annual Meeting embodies all three of these values. Come to San Diego to refresh and renew your contacts with colleagues. Come to participate in or present papers at discussion sessions selected through the peer review process. Come to further your own professional development.

More than 30 percent of AAA members attend the Annual Meeting. In large part this is due to the dedicated work of so many members in preparing for, presenting at, and participating in the meeting. On behalf of the AAA, I would like to thank Bruce Johnson and his Program Advisory Committee, including Stacey M. Whitecotton (Accounting, Behavior and Organization), Keith G. Stanga (Accounting Programs Leadership Group), Roby B. Sawyers (American Taxation Association), Guido L. Geerts (Artificial Intelligence/Emerging Technologies), Joseph V. Carcello (Auditing), Morton P. Pincus (Financial Accounting and Reporting), Timothy J. Fogarty (Gender Issues in Accounting), Dana A. Forgione (Government and Nonprofit), Vicky Arnold (Information Systems), Teresa L. Conover (International Accounting), Andrew E. Spero (Management Accounting), Jenice Prather-Kinsey (Minority Faculty Development), Thomas A. Lee (Public Interest), Bill N. Schwartz (Teaching and Curriculum), and Ellen L. Sweatt (Two-Year College) for their help in organizing the program.

San Diego has a lot to offer—a world-famous zoo, ferry rides, and a multiplicity of museums (sports, history, automotive, aerospace, model railroads, art, and anthropology, among others). The headquarters hotels, the Hyatt Regency San Diego and San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, are both on the bay—and you can catch the trolley to Tijuana (bring proper I.D. for re-entry to the U.S.) just outside the front door. Whether you’re interested in shopping, sailing, or sightseeing, San Diego has it. And whether you’re interested in teaching or research, auditing or tax, managerial or international, systems or fraud, the AAA Annual Meeting covers these and other topics. Come join us in San Diego—you’ll have a great time!

Michael A. Diamond
1998–99 AAA President