#3 New Year's Resolution: Expand International Growth Efforts to New Regions
/GUEST BLOGGER
Kevin Taparauskas, CFE
ACFE Director of Marketing and Events
#3: Expand International Growth Efforts to New Regions
The first-ever ACFE Asia-Pacific Fraud Conference, held last October in Singapore, was a great success, with more than 200 attendees representing 23 countries. I had the pleasure of attending this eye-opening event in a part of the world where the ACFE is quickly growing. I knew we had loyal members in the region, but I was honored to witness the enthusiasm of our attendees and their dedication to truly growing the profession. I now understand why we have expanded so rapidly in the region for the last several years.
With members in more than 150 countries, the ACFE is truly an international association. However, certain regions have a much stronger foothold of CFEs and anti-fraud professionals than others. This discrepancy is changing, and the ACFE is committed to building a strong presence throughout the world.
The ACFE intends to fully support and help facilitate ongoing growth. I announced to attendees at the conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Conference that the ACFE would hold our first CFE Exam Review Course in Singapore, March 26-29. We are also currently working on a regional call center based in Singapore that will greatly improve support for all of our members in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. In addition, we are committed to returning to the region for additional training seminars and the second ACFE Asia Pacific Conference in late 2012. We hope to emulate this in cities and countries all over the world, and we are excited to take these next steps.
With the global nature of fraud in business today, it is essential for the ACFE to have an international presence in every country in the world. The diverse representation of fraud-fighters we see in membership is also evident in our social media groups. This week, we reached 10,000 members in our LinkedIn discussion group, an invaluable resource for members from all over the globe to connect and learn from one another.
We hope our global network of anti-fraud professionals will benefit you no matter where you live and work, and that our global reach can also be one of the tools you use on your next case.