Posts Tagged ‘risk’

10 Reasons to Register Today for NACD’s Board Leadership Conference

April 30th, 2013 | By

For corporate directors, time is a valuable resource. As such, I’m frequently asked why directors should carve out three days to attend NACD’s annual Board Leadership Conference, which is held every October in the nation’s capital. To me, it is obvious why those in the boardroom should attend this first-rate conference.

Here are the 10 reasons I shared with our NACD chapter leaders at a recent meeting in St. Louis, Missouri:

  1. Save $500 when registering by April 30. The NACD Board Leadership Conference is historically sold out, and this three-day conference represents the most important knowledge exchange for the world’s leading directors, C-suite executives, and governance experts.
  2. For directors by directors. Learn from leading boardroom practitioners, those who have endured many hard lessons you may not want to encounter yourself! Hear firsthand from Laban Jackson, audit committee chair of JPMorgan Chase, about the London Whale controversy and his perspective on the board’s role in risk oversight. Learn more about the shifting landscape of social media from Clara Shih, Starbucks director and CEO of Hearsay. Get the latest on how big data is impacting business with Rich Relevance CEO David Sellinger.
  3. Get more actionable takeaways than from any other conference. Address persistent challenges and gain “next practices” from your peers on the timeliest and most critical boardroom issues, including human capital management, emerging technology, compensation, and global markets.
  4. Make your voice heard. Take part in shaping thought leadership and talk to influential legislators, regulators, and stakeholders.
  5. Sharpen your committee skills. Attend a Sunday Board Committee Forum, including dedicated sessions on audit, compensation, nominating/governance, and risk. Network with peers during breaks following big-name keynote speakers, and share your opinion with peer-led panels and committee chairs who really understand your challenges.
  6. Get hands-on with social media. Visit our first ever social media learning lab, staffed by experts in the latest social media trends, who can show you the ropes and help you understand how social medial is affecting your business.
  7. Spark innovative thinking. Participate in active dialogues around Directorship 2020™—NACD’s new initiative—to explore how and why the boardroom will change over the next several years and what you as a director need to know to keep pace. Gain exclusive insights gleaned from thought leaders and directors around the country in a report from our Directorship 2020 regional events.
  8. Build your network. Exchange ideas with nearly 800 directors from around the world, including those from Akamai Technologies, Ford, JetBlue, JPMorgan Chase, and Union Pacific, to name a few.
  9. Strengthen your reputation. The most sought-after directors are well informed and well connected. Your participation at this event will earn you recognition for your commitment to continuous learning. For those who have completed the Master Class, this conference confers all the elective requirements you need to become an NACD Board Leadership Fellow.
  10. Tailor your experience. There’s something for everyone. Join special breakouts for general counsels, private company directors, small-cap directors, and nonprofits organizations. With nearly 50 sessions, choose from unmatched session selection to meet your own boardroom needs and interests.

In my opinion, NACD’s Board Leadership Conference is not only a great value, but an experience every corporate director should take part in.

I look forward to seeing you this October in Washington, D.C. Register here.

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Smartphones, NACD Mobile, and You

February 20th, 2013 | By

At nearly every NACD program addressing risk and strategy, mobile technology and cloud computing are part of the discussion—and not without reason. According to data from Forrester, 93 percent of Americans have mobile phones and 50 percent own smartphones.

Corporate directors, however, have tended to fall behind as adopters of new technology. Studies and articles bemoan directors’ use of social media, their need to place information technology at the top of boardroom priorities, and even go so far as to call boards “luddite.” In fact, the same Forrester research found that among those between 57 and 67 years old (the average director is 62), 89 percent have mobile phones but just 28 percent use smartphones.

Imagine our collective internal surprise when analysis showed that 20 percent of visits—one in five visitors—to NACD’s home website came from a mobile device. This is compared to the national average of 13 percent.

To provide a resource for our increasingly digital membership, NACD has developed an app: NACD Mobile. Because directors need the most up-to-date information and news both inside and outside of the boardroom, NACD Mobile conveniently culls content from our NACD Directors Daily news briefing, Directorship.com, and the NACD Board Leaders’ Blog. Also included with these articles are videos from NACD BoardVision and an upcoming education programming calendar.

 The app is organized into several categories:

  • Daily News: newsfeeds pulled from NACD Directors Daily and Directorship.com.
  • Insights: articles, blog posts, and videos from Directorship.com, the NACD Board Leaders’ Blog, and NACD BoardVision.
  • Categories: a way to drill down into the areas that interest you most, including compensation, board composition, and regulatory issues.
  • Events: upcoming NACD in-person events, peer exchanges, and webinars.
  • Resources: access to select NACD member benefits, including the ability to submit questions, find director candidates, and schedule a complimentary board consultation.

NACD Mobile is available for free download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store by searching “NACD Mobile.” For a video tutorial, visit www.NACDonline.org/mobile. And while it is primarily designed for members, non-members will also have access to some features.

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Posted in Corporate Governance, Inside NACD, The Digital Director | No Comments »

NACD Featured Conference Session: What Social Media Means to Your Board

August 31st, 2012 | By

In the new era of digital media, just 140 characters on Twitter have the potential to affect a company’s reputation and severely impact its brand. In this communications minefield, it is essential that boards stay up-to-date on their companies’ social media strategies.

While directors should consider the defensive mechanisms in place, social media presents more than threats to cyber security and reputation. Websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn can create new opportunities for brand-building, instantaneous communication, and increased engagement with stakeholders.

A session at the upcoming NACD Board Leadership Conference, “Social Media and Reputational Risk,” will help directors dig in and discuss both the risks and advantages that viral communications present. The panelists include some of today’s top experts in the field:

Richard Levick, Esq., president and CEO of LEVICK

Levick represents countries and companies in the highest-stakes global communications matters—from the Wall Street crisis and the Gulf oil spill to Guantanamo Bay and the Catholic Church. Levick was honored for the past three years on NACD Directorship’s list of the 100 most influential people in the boardroom and corporate governance community and has been named to multiple professional halls of fame for lifetime achievement. LEVICK’s digital team is a communications industry leader, deploying potent social media resources on behalf of clients worldwide.

Allan Grafman, CEO, All Media Ventures; chairman, Majesco Entertainment

Grafman monetizes content and investor capital for owners of intellectual property. As president of All Media Ventures, he advises investors, content owners, and media companies.

Grafman is chairman of Majesco Entertainment, a video game producer and distributor. He also serves on the board of directors at Big Tent (licensing), Pixfusion (technology), and is an operating partner at Mercury Capital Partners. He publishes frequently (Directors and Boards, NACD Directorship, Licensing Book, Inventors Digest) and contributes to MSNBC’s “Your Business.”

All of this experience has uniquely positioned Grafman to provide insight—from within multiple technology industries—into the importance of social media as a key component of any corporate strategy.

Fay Feeney, CEO, Risk for Good

Fay Feeney, a self-described “digital whisperer,” is a trusted advisor to corporate boards and executives on the newest trends in business and social media. Feeney founded Risk for Good to advise board chairs, CEOs, the C-Suite, and the entire boardroom on how they can fast track their learnings in a digital world. In addition, Feeney provides strategic insights on how to connect to real time information, whether it’s found on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or Google. This is a competency that will strengthen directors’ “duty of care,” while improving their governance of these emerging strategic risks.

Feeney is a regular attendee at governance education events and is an NACD Governance Fellow. Her insights at conferences have always proven fruitful and her participation in this panel is sure to help directors develop their digital skills.

Neil S. Braun, director, IMAX Corp.; dean, Pace University

Braun has done it all: entrepreneur, corporate attorney, and television network president and CEO. He has been managed and mentored by some of the world’s best executives and, in turn, has had the opportunity to manage and mentor other talented people who have gone on to great success. He currently serves as the dean of the Lubin School of Business at Pace University.

Braun began his career in 1977 as a corporate attorney for the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and later joined a client of the firm, International Film Investors (an SBIC), where as senior vice president he structured and negotiated financing and distribution for feature films, including Gandhi, The Killing Fields, Hopscotch, Escape from New York, and The Howling. He has also served as president and COO of Imagine Films Entertainment as well as chairman and CEO of Viacom Entertainment. In this capacity, Braun was responsible for the turnaround of the production/distribution division for prime-time network programming. Continuing his career in the media, Braun served as president of the NBC Television Network and a GE corporate officer. Most recently, he has served as president and COO of Vanguard Animation LLC, which he founded with the producer of the Shrek animated feature franchise.

This is a small sampling of the long career that has uniquely suited Braun to comment on the issues challenging companies today, specifically in the realm of social networks.

Please join this distinguished panel at the “Social Media and Reputational Risk” session at the NACD Board Leadership Conference, and learn how to succeed as a director in the age of social media.

The conference will be held Oct. 14-16 at the Gaylord National Resort inNationalHarbor, M.D.—just minutes from downtown D.C.

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Posted in Corporate Governance, Director Education, Technology, The Digital Director | No Comments »