More than 13 billion videos were viewed on YouTube in December. To the best of my knowledge, none of them were accounting-related song parodies recorded in Second Life.
But that's about to change.
Edith Orenstein and Steven Zelin spent some time recently on CPA Island, the MACPA's Second Life home, recording “If I Were An Auditor,” a parody of Bobby Darin's romantic 1966 hit “If I Were a Carpenter.” The result is a four-minute video that made its debut on the Financial Executives International Blog, which Orenstein writes and edits.
Orenstein, who wrote the lyrics to the parody, is FEI's director of Accounting Policy Analysis and Communications. Zelin, a CPA, is better known as The Singing CPA. He has recorded four CDs of accounting parodies and children's music.
Orenstein said the project allowed her to pursue her passion for music, work with an inspiring role model in Zelin, and promote FEI's blog at the same time. The virtual recording session, meanwhile, gave her an opportunity to collaborate with fellow accounting and finance bloggers from throughout North America.
“The song,” she told AccountingWeb, “is meant to be in good fun, something interesting, and also to provide some visibility perhaps to the FEI blog, and everyone involved with the production team … to perhaps cross-expose our audiences to each other and bring in some new viewers to learn about what our blogs and organizations have to offer.”
More to the point, though, with Valentine's Day on the horizon, who can resist a good love story?
Among the bloggers on hand for the Second Life recording session were:
- Dave Albrecht of Concordia College, author of The Summa;
- Colleen Cunningham, author of the Resources Global Finance and Accounting Blog;
- Michelle Golden, who writes the Golden Practices Blog;
- Gail Perry, managing editor of AccountingWEB;
- Tom Selling, author of The Accounting Onion; and
- Darla Sycamore, author of IFRS News and Views.
The video was produced by the MACPA's Second Life team, chief among them network administrator Mike Tobias, conference manager Dee Day (who portrayed the bride in the video, opposite Shapiro Negotiations Institute's Mark Jankowski in the role of the groom) and CEO Tom Hood.
“It was just another example of the power of social media and virtual worlds to build and strengthen real relationships,” Hood told AccountingWeb. “… It was chance to do something really fun amid all of the angst over the economy — a bright spot, if you will.”