Welcome to the AFP Call For Proposals!

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION - January 7, 2009

More than 6,000 treasury and financial professionals attend AFP's Annual Conference, making it the most important educational event in finance. Attendees are able to choose from over 150 sessions and workshops over a four-day period. The AFP Annual Conference provides attendees an opportunity to learn from the thought leaders in the industry, explore different approaches to address common challenges, gain the skills necessary to succeed in today's corporate environment, and discuss the expanding roles of treasury and financial professionals.

AFP has always maintained a very distinct line between the educational sessions that are offered at the conference and sales activity. Accepted Sessions must:

• Be unbiased. Speaking opportunities cannot be purchased.
• Be original. This must be the first time the session has been offered to an audience.
• Be essential. Accepted sessions are relevant, current, and topical.
• Include a corporate practitioner as the lead or co-presenter.

Click Here To Submit:

Please fill out your proposal information. Once you submit your entry, a confirmation e-mail will be sent within 24 hours. The e-mail will include a link to this submission so that you can make changes and/or additions as necessary. Please contact Conference Programs at 301-907-2862 with any questions.

Thank you for your submission!

Please Note: AFP's Conference is a non-commercial forum - sales pitches and distribution of marketing materials during the presentation are strictly prohibited.

More info:

• About AFP Conference
• Selection Process
• Proposal Guidelines
• Speaker Benefits
• Field Descriptions
• Track Descriptions

AFP Annual Conference attendees prefer to hear from industry professionals who:

• are cutting edge, proven leaders in their field
• faced obstacles and solved real problems
• adapted and introduced new programs, products, procedures or practices
• managed budgets and controlled costs, and
• are able to share their knowledge from a realistic, hands-on perspective.

CFOs, VPs of finance, controllers, treasurers, assistant treasurers, finance directors, cash managers, financial analysts, service providers, bankers, product managers and academicians attend to learn what today's corporate finance departments are doing. Organizations represented range in size from $50 million to more than $10 billion in sales.

A task force of seasoned corporate practitioners review and select proposals or develop sessions on topics that have not been covered in the submitted proposals. The overall program is crafted to ensure that all subject areas are equitably covered and that they will meet the needs of attendees who are in various stages of their careers - from entry level to the most seasoned executives. Proposal submitters will receive the task force's decision in late February.

• Sixty-minute sessions should two presenters from different organizations
• Ninety-minute sessions may have up to three presenters (unless it is a panel discussion format).
• AFP also offers a limited number of intensives (sessions that are two to three hours long and delve more deeply into particular subject matter material.
• All speakers must be from different organizations. Please provide as much information about your potential co-speaker(s) as you can if you do not yet have a commitment from a specific individual. Should your proposal be provisionally accepted, you will have a deadline in late April to secure a co-speaker. If you can not secure a co-speaker by this deadline, AFP reserves the right to rescind the acceptance.
• Be advised that only ONE financial institution representative or consultant is permitted per session.

Complimentary Conference Registration is provided to each speaker. As a nonprofit organization, AFP does not provide honoraria or travel expenses for presenters.

CTP/CCM Recertification Credits will be granted for presenting a session on a topic covering cash/treasury management, finance or accounting. Speakers receive two CTP/CCM recertification credits for every 50 minutes of presentation. (You may only claim credits once for a presentation although you may deliver it multiple times during a renewal period.)

Session Descriptions

1. Should not exceed 150 words
2. Should clearly explain the topic that will be covered in the session
3. Should describe the problem, issue or objective and the solution implemented
4. Should explain the strategic motivations for selecting the particular solution
5. Should be discussed in terms of cost savings and/or revenue enhancement; quality improvement; risk reduction; and improved efficiency and/or productivity.

Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives should be benefit oriented and relate what knowledge participants can expect to acquire. Proposals without clear learning objectives will not be accepted. Example: Attendees will learn to: recognize…, differentiate…, increase/decrease…, improve…, create…, etc.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites identify knowledge, skills or experiences that are expected of attendees in order to gain the fullest educational benefit from the presentation. If there are any prerequisites, they should be listed.

Take-aways

Take-Aways include topic-related information and resources, such as research studies, articles, books, web sites, checklists, templates, etc. that conference attendees can take with them and use as reference. Take-aways are very important to our attendees' overall conference experience and your success as a presenter, which is why we require at least ONE per session.

Cash and Liquidity Management

Understand strategies, techniques and best practices used to ensure the timely provision of liquidity required to achieve corporate treasury and finance goals, including:

• How to structure cash management systems
• Enhance the management of surplus operating cash
• Improve cash flow forecasting
• Identify alternative sources of liquidity
• Measure and monitor performance of short-term investments

Corporate Finance and Capital Structure

Explore the treasurer's role in the shaping and managing long-term capital costs, with an emphasis on:

• Innovative trends in the field, including alternate investment vehicles
• Balance Sheet Management for Optimum Performance
• Detailed analysis of processes involved in structuring a corporate merger
• The influence of capital markets on treasury processes

Financial Accounting and Reporting

Learn how to identify and comply with accounting rules and regulations relevant to the treasury field, including:

• New and proposed accounting standards
• Fair value accounting
• Account for derivatives and minimize P&L ineffectiveness and forecast errors
• Evaluate and manage impact of mark-to-market accounting on earnings volatility
• Current information on financial and cost accounting, financial reporting, compliance and taxes.

Global Financial Management

Explore the knowledge base necessary when conducting business in the international marketplace, as well as the challenges and responsibilities finance and treasury professionals face in this environment, including:

• Global treasury operational structures
• Doing business in emerging markets, e.g., China, Other Pacific Rim countries, India, South America, Eastern Europe
• Tools to manage the cash position and liquidity management of international organizations
• Gain vital information on geopolitical, regulatory, and risk management aspects of operating in the international arena.

Payment Systems

A cornerstone of the AFP curriculum, the payments systems topic encompasses a variety of options that companies may use to be paid and pay for goods and services, each delivered in a secure and timely manner.

• Understand recent and imminent payment systems developments and their impact on corporate treasury
• Identify best practices in controlling payments, managing risks and complying with regulatory requirements
• Integrate electronic payment systems into accounting systems
• Realize operational efficiencies in converting paper to electronic transactions.

Pension and Benefits

Comprehensive, leading-edge coverage of practices that enhance an individual's understanding of, and ability to manage effectively, defined contribution and deferred compensation plans. Learn more about:

• Funding options for employee benefits
• Alternative compensation trends
• Plan performance measurement techniques
• The latest regulatory implementation issues.

Risk Management

Minimize your company's exposure to risk using tools designed to:

• Business continuity/disaster recovery plans -- comprehensiveness and testing requirements
• Enterprise risk management
• Operational, financial, insurance, credit, and/or reputational risks
• Fraud prevention
• Mitigate loss through implementation of effective controls
• Identify methods to assess, measure and report risk factors

Treasury Operations

Explore strategies and methods that maximize efficiency and productivity within the treasury function, while also highlighting Treasury's value to the business. Learn more about:

• Key strategies for bank or financial service provider relationship management, including pricing and negotiation
• How to benchmark and measure functional performance
• How to evaluate and re-design workflow for maximum efficiency
• Implementing the strategic partnership approach.

Canadian Content

Treasury and financial issues as it relates to doing business in and with Canada.

• Truncation and Electronic Cheque Presentation (TECP) and what lessons can be learned from the U.S. Check 21 experience?
• Taking full advantage of cross-border correspondent banking relationships
• How Canada is leading the way to a paperless clearing system
• NAFTA: why Mad-Cow, softwood lumber and political differences may reshape trade relations
• The Canadian dollar in a global context.

Career Development

Explore professional growth strategies, including:

• Negotiation skills
• Recruiting and interviewing skills
• Performance management
• Project management
• Methodologies to deal effectively with common workplace challenges.