(1888PressRelease)
June 17, 2009 - No one knows what impact current shifts will have on the economy, but whatever the results CFOs from leading companies throughout North America are borrowing the common motto of “Be Prepared”. CFOs at the 18th CFO Summit, hosted by marcus evans, spent three days of conference sessions, interactive discussions, panels and networking activities examining key industry issues such as repositioning strategies, preserving cash flow, navigating the credit crunch and leadership. Guiding the attendees through the amazing speaker line-up was Chairman of the event Todd Benjamin, Contributing Editor, CNN.
Speakers Bobby Magnano, Chief Financial Officer, National Lending Operations and Infrastructure, Capital One Financial Corporation and Alberto Elli, Group Vice President and Controller, The Sherwin-Williams Company shared their unique perspectives on building a world-class finance department and a high performance global finance organization. Both speakers conclude that career development and talent management programs such as college programs and internships, if handled correctly, can attract the best talent even during tough financial times. While speaker, educator and author Harvey Robbins PhD, LP, hosted a well-received and highly regarded workshop entitled “Creating and Sustaining High Performance Teams”. In clear and concise terms Mr Robbins outlines why teams don’t work, how to assess team members’ behavioral styles and the best strategies for each style within your team.
Keynote presenter Joseph Euteneuer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Qwest Communications International Inc., reviewed the challenges created by capital scarcity and ‘topline’ pressures such as the reduction in customer confidence, and their effects on the shareholder value. During his informative session he suggested that the key to overcoming these challenges is controlling operating expenses and capital expenditures, while growing shareholder value by focusing on the customer, engaging and empowering the workforce, driving efficiencies, cost reductions and partnering with vendors.
Other outstanding speakers who graced the line-up at this year’s event included:
Michael Barkley, Vice President and Controller, PACCAR Inc.
Michael Nichols, Vice President and Treasurer, GameStop Corp.
Ed Bonach, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Conseco, Inc.
Roger Marinzoli, Vice President, Corporate Development, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation
Mike Ford, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, ADT Worldwide
John Feehan, Chief Financial Officer, Virgin Mobile USA, LLC
Luis Damasceno, Chief Financial Officer, Bureau Veritas Industries and Facilities North America
John Labuszewski, Managing Director, Research and Product Development, CME Group
Steven Wishner, Senior Vice President, Finance, Strategy and Business Development, Charming Shoppes, Inc.
Saumen Chakraborty, President, Corporate and Global Generics Operations, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd
Joseph Bradley, Deputy, Force Requirements, Innovation and Readiness Officer, US Navy, Commander Submarine Force
It was closing keynote Rudolph Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York City however, who’s much anticipated session gave the CFOs a clear depiction of a leader in the time of crisis and change. Mr. Giuliani noted, “If you are going to lead other people, you have to force yourself to be an optimist, its easy to do when things are going well, hard to do when things are going poorly, but if you want to be a leader, you have to build up that characteristic in yourself, even if you do not have it by nature.” Highly rated by attendees, his session was well worth the wait.
Organizers
One of the world's leading business information companies, marcus evans is dedicated to the provision of global business intelligence and information to assist in strategic and effective decision-making. This information is disseminated through the following business divisions: summits, conferences, business training, market analysis, business publications and corporate hospitality. Established in 1983, marcus evans produces more than 150 of the world's leading business and economic summits for senior decision-makers.
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