how to submit an effective conference proposal

How to Submit an Effective

Conference Proposal

Casey Breslin

Educational

Programs

Coordinator,

AFP

Mary Ellen

Saunders,

Managing

Director, Training

and Policy,

AFP

Aurora Gregory,

Principal and

Senior

Communications

Counsel,

Aurora Gregory

PR

David Pitlik

Content

Creator and

Consultant,

David Pitlik PR

Agenda

• The AFP Annual Conference: An Introduction

• Why Submit a Session to Conference?

• Overview of Proposal Process

• Proposal Submission: Strategies and Best Practices

• Questions?

AFP Annual Conference-

Quick Stats

Largest Meeting for

Corporate Treasury

and Corporate Finance

in the world

Over 6,500 finance

and Treasury

professionals attend

this event-3/4 are

corporate practitioners

Over 200 exhibitors,

including

representatives from

leading financial

services companies

Over 130 concurrent

educational sessions

spread across three

days

According to

internal AFP

research,

Educational

Sessions are the

primary reason

people choose to

attend conference.

Why Submit a Proposal to

Conference?

Practitioners can share an effective process or solution that benefited their enterprises with peers

across every industry

Associates (a provider of goods or services to practitioners) have the opportunity to demonstrate an

effective partnership with corporate practitioners in the presence of other practitioners

Practitioner Position

knowledge and insights

Associate industry

knowledge and solutions

focus

An Effective

Conference

Proposal

Overview of the Submission Review

Process

Submission Portal is Open from

November 21 –January 19 2015.

January 19-February 6: Task Force

and AFP SME’s review and rate the

submissions

February 8-10: Task Force Meets

in DC, discusses the ratings, and

makes initial decisions

Early March: Notifications are sent

out to submitters

Of over 600

typical

submissions,

only 135 are

accepted—less

than 25%

How to Submit an Effective

Conference Proposal

Casey Breslin

Educational

Programs

Coordinator,

AFP

Mary Ellen

Saunders,

Managing

Director, Training

and Policy,

AFP

Aurora Gregory,

Principal and

Senior

Communications

Counsel,

Aurora Gregory

Consulting

David Pitlik

Content

Creator and

Consultant,

David Pitlik

PR

What’cha Talking About?

What’cha Talking About?

• What’s hot?

– Keeping you up at night, driving internal

conversations

• What’s new, innovative?

– Technology, tools, solutions

What’cha Talking About

• What’s controversial?

– Regulatory issues

• What’s successful?

– Hit a homerun? Solve a big problem? Become

a rock star?

Peer-to-Peer Education

Peer-to-Peer Education

• A practitioner is a…

– Treasury/finance professional – treasurer,

cash manager, portfolio manager, CFO, etc.

• A practitioner is not a…

– Banker, consultant, industry analyst, third-

party vendor

It’s All About the Practitioner

It’s All About the Practitioner

• If you’re not a practitioner…

The AFP requires 1 presenter be a treasury

professional

It’s All About the Practitioner

• Practitioners give submissions credibility

- You want a treasury professional to play a

pivotal role in your proposed session

- The right presentation team can make the

difference between an accepted session and a

rejected session

It’s All About the Practitioner

• Others to consider including on your

presentation team:

– Industry analyst

– Industry association representative

– Consultant

– Banking professional

– Educator

It’s All About the Practitioner

Don’t let your submission be rejected

because you didn’t bringing the right

presentation team together!

What’s Your Session About?

• Create drama

– What’s the problem? Why does it matter?

Who or what is impacted?

What’s Your Session About?

• Tell the story

- What happened?

- What will happen?

- What did you do?

- Who was helped?

What’s Your Session About?

• Give a good ending

– Results, outcomes, impacts were achieved

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates,

Be Creative!

New Formats for 2015!

• Make the new AFP formats work for you

• You need to stand out from the crowd! Use a

creative format to distinguish your session

– Roundtable

– Point-Counterpoint

– Simulation

Let’s Take A Deeper Dive

Grab Attention with a Bold Title

• Build drama in 7

words or less

• Be creative

• Communicate key

take-away

Grab Attention with a Bold Title

• Run-of-the-mill title:

“How Businesses Are Combatting

Electronic Payment Fraud”

• Catchy title:

“Kicking Electronic Payment Fraudsters

To The Curb”

Squeeze the Most out of Your 150

Words

• Be impactful

• Be compelling

• Be concise

• Why is this a “can’t

miss session?”

Share Your Success Story

• Start with commonly experienced challenges

• Paint compelling picture of how problems were

addressed and solved

Share Your Success Story

• Be sure to include valuable insights attendees

can apply to their own businesses

Strike the Right Balance of Detail

• Demonstrate the

depth of your

presentation

• Highlight innovations

• Avoid drilling down

too deeply

Tease the Ending

• Describe results in your submission

• Remember, this is about the practitioner

• Make results about the practitioner

– Save money, time, staff

– New process, efficiencies, bank/vendor

relationships

If You Don’t Remember Anything

Else…

• Many submit, few are chosen

– 600 submissions, 120 sessions

• Be strategic

– Good topics make good sessions

• Tell a good story

• Be creative

• Don’t wait until the last minute, start now!