Let the Countdown Begin: ACFE Prepares for Annual Conference
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GUEST BLOGGER
Cora Bullock
Assistant Editor, Fraud Magazine
Staff is abuzz here at the ACFE headquarters in Austin, Texas. Not about summer plans, but about the 22nd Annual Fraud Conference. I just came on staff in January, so I have not had a chance to attend, but that will change in a few weeks.
To be perfectly honest, when I first learned about the conference, I was nervous. VERY nervous. How was it possible that our staff could pull off the world’s largest anti-fraud gathering? The answer has become clear these past few months: hard work and fierce dedication. If anyone doubts that, they can listen in on the endless vendor and attendee calls, the packet stuffing, the auction organizing, the speaker wrangling, etc. etc. I sit among the event staff and have witnessed this, and more.
We will be creating webpage templates for stories and video. Speaking of video, we’re putting the finishing touches on the Fraud Museum video, and next week several of us will carefully remove about 30 pieces from the walls to pack them for their trip to San Diego. We’re also finishing “Conference Link,” the new e-newsletter that attendees will wake up to in their email boxes every morning of the conference, highlighting must-sees and must-dos, along with links to the previous day’s coverage. That will be ACFE social media guru Mandy Moody’s and my last task every night before we crash into bed so that it will be the first item in your inbox when you wake up in the morning.
Be sure to check the ACFE Annual Fraud Conference site for real-time conference coverage, photos, video and more. And, yes, we have some prizes we can't wait to give away.
Everyone does everything at conference. I will write stories on the break-out sessions, man the registration table, help set up and break down, act as a room monitor for some sessions, take photos and interview attendees, finally meet some of the writers for Fraud Magazine, answer questions and, most importantly, meet members! If you see a short brunette bearing down on you with a determined look in her eye, that would be me. I’ll try not to wring a promise out of you to write for the magazine, unless it somehow just happens to come up in conversation ….
We have fancy new ACFE blazers to wear, so now I’ll have to start thinking of wardrobe, especially shoes. What can I wear that will be comfortable from 7 a.m.-9 p.m. every day? Do those even exist? No matter, I’ll let the excitement of each day carry me away. Oh, and a respite from 95-degree days in Austin! See you soon!