NACM All South Credit Conference

September 21-23, 2008, Galveston Island, Texas, San Luis Resort and Conference Center

Session Descriptions

Educational Sessions

Sunday, September 21

11:30am – 12:30pm
Exam Review Session – CBA
Speaker: Ronnie Archer, CCE

1:30 – 2:30pm
Exam Review Session – CBF
Speaker: Ronnie Archer, CCE

2:45 – 3:45pm
Exam Review Session – CCE
Speaker: Ronnie Archer, CCE

 

Monday, September 22

9:30 – 10:30am
Opening Session
Keynote Address by Maurice “Termite” Watkins

10:45 – 11:45am
Concurrent Education Sessions

60 Collection Tips in 60 Minutes
Speakers: Collection Managers TBA
Down and dirty!  Learn from the experts some new tips and trips to get those past due dollars in…today’s economy requires some different approaches, and we’ll review the tried and true, too!

Quick Tips! Getting the Most Out of Credit Reports
Speakers: NACM Houston Staff w/Vendors
Join this quick review of available credit reports, strengths of each and how to use them to your advantage, maximizing your dollars spent.
 
Internet Information Sources for Credit & Finance
Moderators: Kathi Quill, CAE & Robin Schauseil, CAE
Come with your best internet information sources to share and pick up some you didn’t even know existed.  The information you gain in this session will help to make your credit investigations easier, quicker and more productive.

C-Level Discussion Group – Part 1
Moderator: Doug Dunlap, CCE
CCE, CEO, CFO, COO…..this session is designed for the “what if” and “what about” questions that keep senior level people up at night. We’ll discuss the direction of credit. Are you meeting technology/cash flow/regulatory/ redundancy needs of the company while being flexible enough for sales and operations and are you capable of working creatively with customers? What concerns or topics keep YOU up at night?

 

1:30 – 3:00pm
Concurrent Education Sessions

Roadmap Clinic
Speaker: Robin Schauseil, CAE
Ready for the next step in your career? Earning an NACM professional designation, the CBA, CBF or CCE, can open the door to greater earning potential and professional respect among your peers. This session will guide you through the requirements and paperwork, including the Career Roadmap, of the NACM Certification Program. Your next level of professional achievement… it’s closer than you think!

Applying Ethics in the Finance & Credit World
Speaker: Stan DeGroot, CCE
Think ethics is a black or white issue? Noticed that some people think “situational ethics” is ok, but don’t know where the line is? Wondering what all the hoopla is about? This session will open a conversation about ethics in the business world and continue with an interactive conversation about real-life applications. You will also acquire some practice in applying ethics in your everyday life.

The Bankruptcy Underbelly or Little Known Facts/Tricks No One Tells You about Bankruptcy for Creditors
Speaker: Carl Dore, Esq.
There ARE tricks to coming out ahead as a creditor in a bankruptcy, but no one is going to tell you about them…..except us! Attorney Carl Dore will take you through the “underbelly” of business bankruptcy, assuring you are in the best position to get everything you can for your company at the end of the day.

When Net30 Just Isn’t Going to Do It - Alternative Payment Methods for International Sales – Part 1
Speakers: Sherry Mama, Mike DeLuca, Bob Schmitt & Robert Davis
If not today…soon!  It’s a global economy, and if you’re not selling internationally today, you are sure to be called on to do so soon. International sales carry special risks and considerations:  lack of information available about the customer, currency, terms and agreements, country conditions and terrorism issues.  This session is designed to allow you to make international selling decisions with more comfort and security than you thought possible.

    • LC, Sight Drafts, Trade Acceptances
    • Credit Insurance
    • Obtaining Customer Information
    • More!

3:30 – 5:00pm
Concurrent Education Sessions

When Net30 Just Isn’t Going to Do It - Alternative Payment Methods for International Sales – Part 2
Speakers: Sherry Mama, Mike DeLuca, Bob Schmitt & Robert Davis
If not today…soon!  It’s a global economy, and if you’re not selling internationally today, you are sure to be called on to do so soon. International sales carry special risks and considerations:  lack of information available about the customer, currency, terms and agreements, country conditions and terrorism issues.  This session is designed to allow you to make international selling decisions with more comfort and security than you thought possible.

    • LC, Sight Drafts, Trade Acceptances
    • Credit Insurance
    • Obtaining Customer Information
    • More!

Better, Faster, Smarter Ways to Get Paid with e-Payment Mechanisms and Credit Cards
Rudet Fountain & Bill Plumley
“The check’s in the mail?” Not today, when there are better, faster and smarter ways to get paid. Credit card, EFT and now, e-Immediate Pay…all designed to get your money and get it faster. This session will introduce you to payment alternatives and let you compare your service provider to industry standards to be sure you are getting the most and paying the least. 

Becoming a Manager vs. Becoming a Leader
Speaker: Stan DeGroot, CCE
Interested in the difference between having the authority to tell others what do versus having the loyalty of others to the degree that they would walk through fire in order to not let you down? Managing is easy compared to leading. The speaker will share his passion for turning credit & finance professionals into leaders and impart the knowledge to help you make the leap yourself.

Collections: A-Z
Speaker: Scott Lee, Esq.
Effective collections start at the application (or honeymoon) phase of your relationship with the customer and integrate into purchase orders, contracts, etc. Come learn how to set yourself up to get your money or give your collection agency the best possible tools to get it for you, should it come to that.

 

Tuesday, September 23

8:00 – 8:45am
General Session
Keynote Address by Ambassador Chase Untermeyer

9:00 – 10:30am
C-Level Discussion Group – Part 2
Moderator: Doug Dunlap, CCE
Continuation of Monday morning’s session.

9:00 – 10:30am
Shop Talk Roundtable: U-Pik-It Topics
Bring your cocktail and hallway conversations into this session! We all know that a great deal of what you take away from conferences and meetings doesn’t happen in formal sessions, don’t we? It happens between you – practitioners who share a field of expertise and help each other naturally. Designed to allow that kind of  natural discussion of the topics YOU care about today, this session is exactly what you want it to be…by your participation. 

*What do you want to talk about? Please submit topics and we will find knowledgeable facilitators… no limit to topics, not limit to questions. Submit topics to nacm@nacmsouthtexas.org with subject line of ‘All South Shop Talk.’

Don’t Get Mad, Get Data!
Speaker: Davy Tyburski
You measure this, you measure that, and then you benchmark this or that. This is necessary, but far from adequate. When you do not collect data about what you’re doing and how well you’re doing it, you are missing at least 50 percent of the opportunity to improve the quality of your efforts.
This session will provide you the knowledge to:
- Gather data, identify trends and patterns to help solve business issues
- Deal with large volumes of data and make informed decisions based on evidence
- Apply and interpret data to support effective decision making
- Present data (graphically and numerically) in a way that lends credence to your ideas
- Diffuse emotional decision making (the “I think we should” approach)
- Sell your ideas and concepts across the organization
- Format and present information with clarity and precision
- Explain the benefits of your ideas and gain commitment from difficult people
Anyone who manages people, processes or technology can benefit from this session. As Edwards Deming, one of the pioneers of the continuous improvement movement said, "Without data, all anyone has is an opinion." All participants receive a comprehensive Action Guide.

9:00am – 5:00pm
Credit Boot Camp                    By Popular Demand! 
Speaker: Linda Bost, CCE
A full day program designed to provide an overview of the trade credit function covering:

    • The credit function
    • The credit policy
    • The credit application and laws governing their creation and implementation
    • Role of credit in your organization and as a part of the sales function
    • Investigating the credit worthiness of a potential customer
    • Identifying the red flags of risk
    • Tools to reduce risk
    • Interaction and building relationships with both internal and external customers
    • Impact of the world business market
    • Accounts receivable process
    • Staying out of jail
    • Tools for successful growth in the credit profession

10:45am - Noon
Wanna Get Technical? What Makes a Good Credit Score?
Speaker: Vernon Gerety, Ph.D.
You hear it: all the talk today about scoring your customers and prospects to make your job easier and results better... for a price! But do credit scores really do that in a commercial environment? Can scoring be misleading or is it the path out of the miasma for you? Vernon Gerety with VG Advisors has worked on scoring models for major credit report agencies and clients, and will help you understand what elements go into a good score, whether it comes from an outside source or you calculate it yourself, and how to evaluate scoring models, as well as whether or not scoring works for you and your industry. Bring your questions! Vernon has forgotten more about credit scoring than most of us will ever know!

10:45am – Noon
What We Know About Small Businesses:  Lead – Lag Study Results
Speaker: Crystal Straughn
In this session, we will review the results of a study performed by Experian on over 50,000 business and their owners. The study provides surprising insights into the behaviors of small business owners regarding the use of personal and commercial credit, and highlights the best strategies and tools for predicting small business failure. Topics include:
- How credit behavior evolves as small businesses grow
- Strategies for capturing the early indicators of small business failure

1:30 – 3:00pm
Concurrent Education Sessions

Hope for the Best but Prepare for the Worst
Speaker: Chris Myers
How secure is your job? Your company? In today’s economic market, can you ever be sure your company won’t be sold, even if your job is secure? Whether you are the employee or the employer, operating in an uncertain job market in these economic times takes some forethought and preparation. Don’t be caught by surprise. Be ready to land on your feet, whatever comes your way.

Top 10 Mistakes in Credit Applications and How to Avoid Them
Speakers: Daniel Pacious, Esq. & Barbara Snider, CCE
Oh, the things we see! An attorney who defends credit applications and an experienced credit executive who has seen it all will take you through the top 10 mistakes they see. The mistakes range from who signs the application to the information requested of the applicant. Bring your credit application for a constructive critique on what’s good and what could be better!

Detecting Deception/Fraud
Speaker: Special Agent Vanessa Walther
What does the FBI see happening to businesses every day that could have been prevented? This session will focus on how to prevent the oldest and newest versions of defrauding you out of your goods or money.

3:30 – 5:00pm
Concurrent Education Sessions

Can We Close the Book on Enron Now?  A Case Study & Lessons Learned
Speaker: Michael Anderson
Hear inside details from an FBI Supervisory Special Agent who was in on the Enron investigation from beginning. What happened, why it happened and who was really responsible inside Enron? Special Agent Anderson uses his unique perspective to explore the lessons to be learned from this case and find out how we will all live with the fallout.

Legal, Regulatory & Legislative Update
Speakers: Carl Dore, Esq., Robin Schauseil, CAE and John Herberger, Esq.
What’s hot on the legal and regulatory front that affects YOUR company’s bottom line? Are there new court decisions on fraudulent lien law application? Are you selling to the government and not aware of the 3% withholding tax coming up in 2011? These and more questions will be answered and discussed to prepare you to protect your company.

Is GAAP a Thing of the Past?  New Trends in Financial Statement Presentation
Speaker: Ronnie Archer, CCE
A quick history lesson in GAAP, FASB and government’s role in how we present a company’s financial position, then…is it about to change dramatically? Listen and participate in a discussion about the new move to eliminate GAAP and go to a global presentation model that will radically change what you see in customer financial statements.

**************************

Earn While You Learn

CEUs and CCE Recertification CEUs will be awarded to all qualifying sessions of the All South Credit Conference by the Education Department of the National Association of Credit Management. Participants are also eligible to earn 3.0 participation points on the NACM Career Roadmap for attending this regional event. CCE designation holders will earn 0.5 participation point on their NACM Recertification Report for attending this regional event.



Better, Faster, Smarter