AFC hosts happy hour

The Accounting and Finance Club (AFC) hosted a “Happy Hour” event on Feb. 9 in Founders Hall 222A.   

The event kicked off by offering a free Mexican dinner catered by Las Pedrita’s as well as an ice cream bar. Refreshments were followed by a presentation about finding success in business by Chris Jenkins, the CEO of the South Carolina Association of CPAs. The meeting closed with two student panels and a presentation about CHATPGT, a new artificial intelligence chatbot released in November of 2022 by OpenAI.  

Having seen success with Chris Jenkins as a speaker in previous years, AFC advisor and assistant professor of accounting Scott Dell believed it would be a great idea to invite him back again in hopes of achieving the same success in terms of student turnout.   

“I first met Chris Jenkins when participating in a training during the summer of 2019, prior to my official start at FMU,” Dell said. “I had been impressed by his knowledge and commitment to serve. He participated in our first AFC meeting. His keynote at our first meeting attracted over 55 participants, the largest kickoff meeting for any on-campus organization, I have been told. He has become an annual presenter for the AFC.”   

In step with previous meetings, Jenkins drew a crowd of over 40 participants, a turnout Scott said he considered “very successful.”  

“The meeting flowed very well,” Dell said. “We not only included an informative keynote but also had two student panels that I think were powerful in sharing experiences and encouraging engagement for other students in the future. The introduction of CHATPGT was also well received.”  

Sophomore general business major Shymia Scipio also played a key role in bringing this event to life as the co-chief of marketing officer for the AFC.  

“With the help of Dr. Scott, our advisor, I created the flyer on Canva,” Scipio said. “As for food, one of my classmates had recently opened a restaurant with her mother in Florence called Las Pedrita’s, and we wanted to advertise them. I contacted Ana for the menu, and we were able to order a wonderful spread to feed our guests.”   

Junior industrial engineering major Adam Ernberg said he enjoyed the presentation as well as the food.  

“The meeting was very interesting and inspiring,” Ernberg said. “The presenter spoke about how people interact and communicate in his company, which creates a highly efficient and straightforward way to be successful in several areas of industries. And the food was delicious as well.”   

King said the AFC looks forward to hosting more meetings on campus and hopes to see more students in attendance in the future.