Sunday, September 30, 2007

11:30 - 12:00 PM

Golf Tournament Check-In

12:00 - 5:30 PM

The CFO Rising Golf Tournament
Start your CFO Rising West experience with 18 holes of championship-level golf. It’s a great chance to meet other delegates, compete for prizes — and enjoy a Sunday afternoon surrounded by spectacular desert scenery! You'll be playing at the Johnny Miller-designed Badlands Golf Club, which was voted the Best Desert Course in Las Vegas by Vegas Golfer magazine and has been ranked in the Top Ten Best Courses in Nevada by Golf Digest. All attendees are invited to participate for a fee of $100 per person, but you must pre-register now to guarantee your space. Tournament slots are strictly limited!

1:00 - 1:30 PM

Pre-Conference Workshop Registration

1:30 - 5:00 PM

001 Optional Pre-Conference Workshop — Smart Growth: Exposing the Blind Spots and Behaviors that Inhibit Profitable Growth
Stephen Wilson, Principal, George Group Consulting; Co-author of Conquering Complexity in Your Business
Nick Reynolds, Principal, George Group Consulting
David Neely, VP of North American Administration, George Group Consulting
Many companies today face a common dilemma — how to meet the increasing demands of customers and new competition without driving excessive cost and complexity into their operations, and without overwhelming their customers with too many choices. The challenge is exacerbated because many companies are biased, in incentives and structure, towards putting more variety into the market while at the same time lacking the very information that would shine a light on the true value and cost of that extra variety. The result is a pattern of somewhat “blind” product and service proliferation, with no guarantee of growth in profitability. The role of the CFO has broadened such that they are ideally positioned at this “growth fulcrum” with a responsibility for understanding the levers of profitability while also ensuring a clear path to growth. This interactive workshop will discuss these issues and lay out a path for addressing the blind spots on profitable growth. The format will be a mixture of presentation, case study as well as an interactive breakout session. The breakout session will give participants an opportunity to assess their own companies in terms of the twin factors impeding profitable growth: behaviors and information gaps. Earn 4 additional CPE credits by attending this pre-conference workshop. An additional fee applies and pre-registration is required. See order form for details.

6:00 - 7:30 PM

Registration and Opening Reception Sponsored by IMA
Beat the morning rush by picking up your badge and materials tonight. Then take in the breathtaking views of the big desert sky while chatting with delegates and speakers at our elegant welcome reception.

Monday, October 1, 2007

7:00 - 8:15 AM

Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:15 - 8:30 AM

Welcoming Addresses
Mary Driscoll, President and Editorial Director, CFO Conferences and CFO Research Services, Conference Moderator
Tim Reason, Editor, CFO.com, Session Moderator

8:30 - 9:15 AM

Keynote Address: The CFO as Change Leader
Scott Davis, Vice Chairman and CFO, UPS
In the late 1990s, UPS’s purpose was to serve the small package delivery needs of its customers. Today, $48 billion UPS enables global commerce as a worldwide leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. CFO Scott Davis is at the forefront of UPS’s most recent transformation, and he will share the lessons he has learned in managing growth for long-term success.

9:15 - 10:00 AM

The Role of Finance at Procter & Gamble
Clayton Daley, Jr., Vice Chair and CFO, Procter & Gamble Company
Mr. Daley will share his perspectives on how finance at consumer products giant Procter and Gamble has been integrated into the business. Beyond understanding accounting, controls and stewardship, the CFO and finance managers are increasingly taking on business strategy. The CFO in this context must transform the organization into being a collaborative partner and valued contributor to the business unit in all areas: strategy, finance and initiative planning, controls and forecasting. Mr. Daley will also discuss how finance is helping to drive P&G’s outstanding success with acquisitions such as Gillette, and P&G's proven, disciplined approach to new product and brand initiatives.

10:00 - 10:30 AM

Refreshment Break

10:30 - 11:30 AM

The Office of the CFO: A New Way of Thinking about the Skill Sets Needed Now
Cynthia Jamison, National Director of CFO Services, Tatum LLC
The landscape has changed dramatically for those that sit in, or aspire to sit in, the CFO chair. A once enviable and sought after executive title is at the center of increased performance pressure within both private and public companies. The shift from a primarily tactical position that answered to the CEO has become a high-risk, strategic leadership role that’s accountable to corporate boards, investors, the government and other executives. Couple this increased accountability with heightened market activity, insufficient supporting talent, increased demands with shorter deadlines and elevated levels of personal risk and the modern CFO is caught in a perfect storm that’s resulting in increased turnover and job dissatisfaction. Cynthia Jamison, who has sat in the CFO chair more than once, will argue that the office of the CFO can evolve and thrive in the new environment but a new way of thinking and staffing is required.

11:30 - 12:15 PM

Networking Luncheon

12:15 - 1:15 PM

Exhibit Hall Grand Opening and Dessert

1:15 - 2:05 PM

Track One: Concurrent Executive Education Workshops

2:20 - 3:10 PM

Track Two: Concurrent Executive Education Workshops

3:10 - 3:30 PM

Refreshment Break

3:30 - 4:20 PM

Panel Discussion: Leadership and Change Management
Paul Sharman, President and CEO, Institute of Management Accountants, Panel Moderator
David Burritt, VP and CFO, Caterpillar
The Honorable Kim Wallin, State Controller, State of Nevada
William Brower, retired VP, Group Finance, Business Analysis , Johnson & Johnson
Paul Sharman will lead a fast-moving and provocative discussion on the latest wave of finance function transformation. Discussion items will include:
• For over a decade, CFOs have been driving for finance function efficiency to liberate analytical talent to support shareholder value. Has this focus inadvertently gutted fiduciary accountability? Does rebalancing make sense?
• How can CFOs use change-management skills and tools to build the new set of capabilities needed within finance today and tomorrow?
• The war for talent in finance is a major issue for many CFOs — yet our model for educating and producing finance professionals is ineffective. What should be done?
• Experts say the CFO role in strategy execution is growing. What does this really look like?

4:20 - 5:30 PM

The New CFO Imperative — Be A Legitimate Change Leader
Ram Charan, Acclaimed Speaker, Advisor, and Author
One of our most praised speakers returns with a strong message about what it will take to succeed amid today’s rapidly moving market dynamics. For any business leader, the pace of change, faster now than ever before, is a major challenge. The competitive pattern is shifting, driven by global markets and the volatility of currencies, as well as mergers and the increasing role of private equity. Companies that fail to revise their own competitive strategies can become targets. CFOs must move from reactive to proactive, and think strategically to help their companies to win. They must define the necessary change — then participate in it — and finally, execute it. Often a CFO’s biggest challenge is to be demanding: monitoring KPIs and milestones, asking the hard questions — physical and operational as well as financial. We must change the CFO’s attitude. It’s a new game — and if you are not participating, you will become obsolete. It’s a career-ending decision not to become a legitimate change leader. But meeting this challenge successfully can be career-defining.

5:30 - 7:00 PM

Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

7:00 - 8:10 AM

Continental Breakfast

7:10 - 8:00 AM

002 Breakfast Seminar presented by HiFX — Best Practices in FX Risk Management: Public vs. Private Companies
Ken Goldman, former CFO, Seibel Systems
Ward Naughton, Managing Director, Hanover Partners
Amarjit Sahota, President and CEO, HiFX
This interactive panel discussion will combine the insights and experiences of three senior level executives with a background in treasury management at both public and private enterprises. The panel will discuss the creation of a disciplined risk management methodology, identify real currency risk levels, and offer suggestions to manage risks and protect profits. Practical examples and case studies will be reviewed to explain how to manage when things go wrong. Earn 1 additional CPE credits by attending this breakfast seminar. There is no additional fee for attending but pre-registration is required.

8:10 - 8:15 AM

Introduction and Recap of Day One
Mary Driscoll, President and Editorial Director, CFO Conferences and CFO Research Services, Conference Moderator

8:15 - 9:15 AM

How Companies Get to the Billion-Dollar Threshold
David Thomson, Author of Blueprint to a Billion: Seven Essentials to Achieve Exponential Growth
Renowned business-building and leadership expert David G. Thomson is the author of Blueprint to a Billion: 7 Essentials to Achieve Exponential Growth. Thomson spent three years researching what it takes for an emerging business to reach the magic revenue threshold of a billion dollars. As a result, he identified the quantitative success-based patterns of America's highest growth companies.

9:15 - 10:00 AM

Profitable Growth and the Role of the CFO: The Marriage of Finance and Strategy
Ted French, EVP and CFO, Textron
Mr. French will address the critical role that finance plays in strategic growth management, and discuss how Textron has mobilized through its own evolution as a multi-industry company. For the past several years, Textron has focused on transforming itself into a networked enterprise that shares talent and best practices among its powerful brands, resulting in accelerated evolution and learning. This transforming business culture has developed simultaneously with strategic decisions to strengthen Textron’s portfolio of businesses.

10:00 - 10:20 AM

Refreshment Break

10:20 - 11:05 AM

Ensuring a Winning Strategy for Your IPO and Your “New World” with Public Investors
Jeffrey Babka, SVP and CFO, NeuStar; Recipient of the Northern Virginia Technology Council 2006 Public Company CFO of the Year Award
The CFO's role is crucial in developing a winning strategy for taking the company public and subsequently building a strong relationship with new institutional investors. The session looks at CFO best practices for planning and executing successful IPOs and building a strong investor relations process, based on the insights and experience of a 33-year veteran who spearheaded one of the most successful IPOs in 2005, and now has a new group of investors that include some of the world’s most prominent institutional investors and hedge funds, with fifteen sell-side analysts in their coverage group.

11:05 - 11:45 AM

The Role of the CFO in Leading Today’s Corporation: Times of Challenge, Times of Change
Susan Robertson, Managing Partner, Stop At Nothing
In today’s environment and in the wake of monumental lapses by companies, large and small, and their leaders, the influence of the CFO is critical. How does the finance executive chart a clear and decisive course for his/her team to follow in the midst of this environment? This session will stretch the audiences’ understanding of individual leadership characteristics to successfully lead their organizations. These characteristics will be explored in the context of uncertain and continually shifting regulatory rules that can cause confusion in the ranks of today’s finance organizations. You will be given guidelines for defining and supporting strong financial leadership and take a look at the types of behaviors and principles that can help to sustain a positive, productive organization.

11:45 - 12:30 PM

Networking Luncheon

12:30 - 1:20 PM

Dessert Break in the Exhibit Hall

1:30 - 2:20 PM

Track Three: Concurrent Executive Education Workshops

2:20 - 2:35 PM

Refreshment Break

2:35 - 3:25 PM

Track Four: Concurrent Executive Education Workshops

3:35 - 4:20 PM

Private Equity and Venture Capital: An Interview with Summit Partners
Tim Reason, Editor, CFO.com, Session Moderator
Peter Chung, Managing Partner, Summit Partners
Over the past 12 months, private equity investments have changed dramatically in tenor, scope and style. This activity is having a distinctive--some would say, disruptive--impact on the capital markets, standard practices in deal-making, company valuations, investor expectations, and the role of the CFO in growth planning. In this session, you'll get a close-up look at trends and aspirations in the realm of private equity power hitters. You'll come away with ideas on how to respond if/when private equity firms come knocking on your door.

4:20 - 5:10 PM

The Impact of Globalization on Working Capital Performance
Stephen Payne, President, REL
This presentation will showcase a summary of the 2007 REL/CFO working capital survey, which for the first time since it was created 10 years ago, showed no improvement in days working capital. Focused on growth and more reliant on overseas suppliers, companies have let inventories swell causing a strain on existing supply chains and demanding the implementation of new best practices to reap the rewards. Hear about the traps that companies have fallen in to; hear how some companies have created flexibility to maximize the total cost benefits attained. Globalization is the biggest opportunity organizations have found in recent years, but it is also the biggest challenge.

5:10 - 7:00 PM

Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

7:15 - 8:15 AM

Networking Continental Breakfast

8:15 - 9:15 AM

The Perfect Storm: The Future of Recruitment, Retention and Engagement
Jay Jamrog, Futurist and SVP Research, Institute for Corporate Productivity
The war for talent during the later half of the 1990s was not a short-term phenomenon but the beginning of a true long-term change in the labor force. This is because the forces that were driving those events are still present today, and they are predicted to stay in place for another 15 years. The combination of an improving economy, and demographic trends that predict labor shortages, skill deficits and fewer knowledge workers has all the elements for a perfect storm that will cause significant changes in the way work is performed, who performs it and where, and the skill sets that will be needed. This session explores those demographic trends and countertrends, and presents plausible outcomes. In addition, this session will explore how leaders can respond so that they can attract, retain and engage talent in the future.

9:15 - 10:30 AM

The Exceptional Presenter: A Proven Formula to Open Up and Own the Room
Timothy Koegel, NY Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author
In today’s competitive business world, effective communication is a crucial skill — and the cost of being less than exceptional is high. From the White House to boardrooms worldwide, Tim Koegel has strengthened the presentations, media relations and communication skills of CEOs, business executives, managers and sales professionals. This session will help the CFO and senior finance executive hone their presentation skills to communicate effectively in any venue to any size audience. Learn to develop a communication style that is Organized, Passionate, Engaging and Natural. How you deliver your message significantly influences the impact of that message.

10:30 - 11:20 AM

Trends in Health Care: How Consumerism Helps Engage Employees and Reduce Cost
Bill Reindl, SVP, Consumer Segment, CIGNA HealthCare
In the past ten years, employer gross health care costs have increased almost 120 percent, making it one of the greatest cost pressures on company income statements. And since the U.S. spends significantly more on health care than other similar countries, the cost increases are impacting U.S. global competitiveness. The solution is not in cost-shifting through plan design. An effective health benefits strategy focuses on financial ownership and health advocacy to engage consumers. And this consumer-driven approach will remove costs from the health care system — rather than simply shift it — by engaging employees in their health and motivating them to become part of the solution. This session will show the value of well designed consumer-driven plans as well as the overall impact of a broader consumerism strategy to effectively help manage long-term costs.

11:20 - 11:30 AM

Closing Remarks
Mary Driscoll, President and Editorial Director, CFO Conferences and CFO Research Services, Conference Moderator