The North Jersey Shore Chapter has weathered the super storm Sandy. We have started the year with 2 excellent programs and our next meeting will be a free co-meeting March 27 with the ETP Network. The ETP Network is New Jersey's premier professional networking group with members from many companies and not too many accountants-yet. This meeting will be targeted at helping our members in transition, author Rod Colon will be sharing his program for networking your way into a new job.
NJ unemployment remains high, and in our area hundreds of homes have been lost. Some were vacation homes, but most were not. They are being rebuilt slowly, my brother's home has to be raised 8 feet to rebuild in a zone that had never flooded like this before. This is costly, but we are lucky that the loss of property here is much worse than the loss of life. But many lives, and companies, will never be the same. Some folks are leaving, some companies too. Our meeting with ETP will give NJ IMA members a free networking event where they can meet other professionals who are not accountants, but who work for companies and may know people looking for accountants. This should be helpful, and everyone's network can grow.
2013 will be a year of rebuilding, our careers and our networks. Sandy has shown us that things can change fast, as accountants we need to change too and become much better at marketing ourselves and our profession.