Auditors In Love

We usually cover fairly serious topics here in the FEI Blog, (see our Top 10 posts from 2009, for example) but we thought we'd take a detour today and provide some pre-Valentine's Day entertainment by presenting the first-ever 'music video' about accounting performed in the virtual world of Second Life: "If I Were an Auditor."

The song (a parody of "If I Were a Carpenter") tells the story of two auditors (would-be auditors) in love, who view their relationship through the lens of accounting and auditing. They look for 'evidence' of each other's love, worry about 'second guessing,' and wonder if they'll get 'sale treatment' (get married), or only be "borrowed."

Here are links to the LYRICS and LINER NOTES.



Second Life - a 'virtual world' created by Linden Lab, is a place where individuals, companies, and any organization or group can interact online via creating an avatar, which can be designed to look like you, or not.

The Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA), creator of CPA Island, the Second Life Association of CPAs, and a leading force in continuing education, networking, and advocacy on behalf of the auditing profession (for CPAs in audit firms, and in industry), served as Producer of the "If I Were an Auditor" music video. Steven Zelin, "The Singing CPA," served as co-musical director with me.

An eclectic ensemble cast, "The MACPA Players & Blogger Friends," was then formed, featuring A-list bloggers and MACPA staff. (Additional bloggers had scheduling conflicts precluding them from participating in the production, but provided moral support to their colleagues in their 'acting' debut.) Although I had met half the bloggers before in various venues (Tom Hood, Bill Sheridan, Colleen Cunningham, Gail Perry, Tom Selling, Mark Jankowski), it was the first time I 'met' the other bloggers (abeit virtually, in Second Life) who I only knew from their blogs, twitter, etc., including Michelle Golden, Dave Albrecht, and Darla Sycamore.

The 'music video' we did may seem like a lark to some, but we 'gotcha to look,' right? Moreover, there is real value in more 'serious' use of Second Life for training and networking purposes, and good examples of this are programs held in MACPA's CPA Island, and Second Life Roundtables produced by the FASB Research Initiative, coordinated by Cornell University's Rob Bloomfield. A major plus for those not ready for Second Life, who have interest in the speakers featured on some of these Second Life programs, is that simultaneous webcasting and archived webcasts are often available, so you can tune in via webcast if you're not ready to participate via Second Life.

There is admittedly a learning curve to using Second Life (downloading the program, creating an avatar, learning how to navigate or sit, stand, walk; getting a headset with a microphone if you want to use 'voice chat' in addition to text chat), but the benefits are a feeling of a higher level of engagement, like 'being in the room' with the other participants, vs. being on a conference call or viewing a webcast.

Below is a list of the full cast and crew for "If I Were an Auditor."

PRODUCTION TEAM: Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA) www.macpa.org
Tom Hood, CEO, MACPA; MACPA Second Life production team: Megan Gratz, Editor, Mike Tobias, Video Production, Andrew Hood, Set Designer, Thomas Hood, Avatar Training. MUSICAL C0-DIRECTORS: Steven Zelin, "The Singing CPA" Edith Orenstein, FEI Financial Reporting Blog . Audio Recording made at: Rob Taube Words and Music.

Lead actors (avatars): Dee Day, Conference Manager, MACPA, in the role of 'The Bride';
Mark Jankowski, Co-Founder and President, Shapiro Negotiations Institute, as 'The Groom'

Bloggers in cast: Dave Albrecht, Concordia College, author of blog: The Summa; Colleen Cunningham, Global Managing Director, Finance and Accounting, Resources Global Professionals, Resources Global Finance and Accounting Blog ; Michelle Golden, Golden Practices Blog; Edith Orenstein, FEI Financial Reporting Blog; Gail Perry, Managing Editor, Accounting Web; Tom Selling, author of The Accounting Onion; Bill Sheridan, CPA Success (MACPA); Darla Sycamore, IFRS News and Views and Many Hatty Returns; Mark Jankowski, Co-Founder and President, Shapiro Negotiations Institute, SNI Blog; Steven Zelin, "The Singing CPA."

Read more about the video and see some photos from the video shoot at these links:
If I Were an Auditor: Introduction, Cast and Crew ; If I Were an Auditor: Lyrics
If I Were an Auditor: Liner Notes ; If I Were an Auditor: Photo shoot: MACPA Flickr page

Thanks to MACPA, Steven Zelin, Rob Taube Words and Music and everyone in the "MACPA Players and Blogger Friends!"

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