“Seize the Day” GFOA of SC Fall Conference Recap

by President-Elect – Dennis Locke

THANK YOU to the members of the GFOA who participated in the Fall Conference. Even in the best of years, carving time out of our schedules for the conference means facing a pile of deferred work when we return. With the Federal government shutdowns this year, that was a truly daunting prospect for many of us, and some of our members were so directly affected that they were unable to leave their posts to attend.

FALL CONFERENCE ATTENDEES
From left to right: Belinda Harper, Peggy Conkel, Jessica Cartzendafner, Emily Harris, Tammy Gardner, James Hayes, Denise Koon,
Thomas Kaminer, Mary Reames, Hank Moore, Dorothy Spicer, Jessica Booth, Billy Martin, Debbie Walker

Your attendance is critical to our success each year. The survey feedback that you provide afterward shapes future conferences. The planning committee begins putting together the agenda in the Spring of each year, and the decisions that they make regarding topics, speakers, formats, and venues are largely based upon your scorings and comments from previous meetings. In addition, they strive to incorporate timely issues to bring immediate relevancy to the agenda. According to attendance figures and your survey responses, this year’s conference with the theme, “Seize the Day—Our Future Depends on What We Do Today,” was a huge success.

Dr. Bruce Yardle, our keynote speaker, shared his knowledge of and insight into the current economy at the national and state levels, and his analogy of our economy as a three lane highway with one lane closed was refreshingly easy for all of us to understand. With the Federal government shutdown already affecting us and the prospect of a large-scale financial meltdown if the Federal government did not take action to resolve Budget and Debt obligations, his topic was especially meaningful to all of us this year. David Phillips of Greene, Finney, and Horton give us a thorough update of GAAP.

On Tuesday morning, Edward Scott gave us an update on “An Actuarial Perspective on Post-employment Liabilities”. Wednesday morning we were given a presentation by Jeff M. Cathey, Military Overseas Division Executive, who stressed the importance of our responsibility to assist veterans in their reintegration into the civilian workforce. Allyson Bowen closed out the conference with a presentation on ways to reduce stress in our lives. We changed the program format this year, and recognized our fourteen new Certified Government Finance Officers at our Tuesday luncheon instead of the Tuesday night banquet (see photograph).

James Hayes of Columbia was awarded special recognition for having achieved the highest exam score for 2013. I want to once again give special thanks and recognition to Debbie Walker for her leadership over the past year and to Deborah Nye for her continual coordination of our event sponsors. Without their dedication, the Fall Conference would not have been nearly as successful or well-organized as it was. With your input, we look forward to continuing to improve our conferences and training opportunities for ALL our members.