Game On! One ACFE Chapter’s Perspective on Getting Back Into the Game of Hosting Events Post-COVID-19
/By Michael Booher, CFE
Middle Tennessee Chapter President
Here in Nashville, the Middle Tennessee ACFE Chapter was ready to run at the start of its 2022–2023 chapter year, which spans from August to July. For the past several years, the chapter has hosted one of its two marquee events in September. That event is known as Member Benefit Day, and it is a full eight-hour day of CPE that is free to all chapter members.
Standing: Michael Booher, Suzzie Singleton, Forrest Richardson & Heather Murray. Seated: Lauren Wesley, Jessica Hannah & Scott Udulutch
After two cancellations for the in-person offering in 2020 and 2021, the chapter’s board was finally comfortable pursuing a hybrid event in 2022. Like every other chapter, there is a great desire to get back to networking in person. Chapter events are great places to meet new colleagues, future coworkers, and friends. In addition, they are wonderful places to make connections that can help with whatever fraud-fighting endeavor a member might be working on at any given time.
In short, the chapter’s September 2022 event was a tremendous success. The new venue was fantastic and most of the speaker lineup consisted of presenters that the chapter’s members had never seen before. The technology that enabled this to be held as a hybrid event worked successfully, and in general, the reviews have been great. Having said that, an important caveat for any new chapter leader is that reviews and feedback will never be unanimously positive. For example, one person stated in their review of the event that they would prefer fewer fraud CPE offerings from the chapter. Chapter leadership has chosen not to respond to that comment. The bottom line is that some things are out of anyone’s control, and it is not possible to please everyone.
Former chapter president and Master of Ceremonies, Barry Pruitt & Immediate past president, Jason Conner.
Regardless, the main reason for the event’s success is the dedicated team of volunteers who made it happen. As long as chapter leadership consists of people who want to do a good job, the sky is truly the limit. With that in mind, there are three takeaways to share with chapter leaders who are planning to dive back into hosting events in the coming year.
Use Your Network
From finding and booking the venue, to locating an audio-visual and technology expert, to selecting the right broadcasting platform, to booking speakers, the chapter relied heavily on its network of volunteers, members, and both present and past board officers. As chapters emerge from COVID-19 purgatory, it is crucial to send emails, make phone calls, and set lunch or coffee meetings with folks to figure out how relationships can be leveraged to bring together great chapter events. Truth be told, some of our most important chapter business took place at various happy hours around Nashville. These smaller meetings helped shake off the rust of not meeting in person for such a long time.
Outside of the chapter’s direct network, the chapter leadership also reached out to Joe Broccolo at the ACFE to get his input on what has and has not worked for chapters after merging from COVID-19. The ACFE’s dedicated staff in Austin can assist chapters with all sorts of needs. Every ACFE chapter should take advantage of this valuable resource!
Plan, Plan, Plan!
The bad news is no matter what, something is going to go wrong. The good news is that there are steps you can take to help overcome any obstacles that arise. For example, you can assign chapter volunteers to oversee specific portions of the event. When things do not go to plan for a particular facet of the event, it can be the designated person’s responsibility to tackle the problem.
Dan Shirley - presenter who stepped up last-minute and delivered 4 CPE credits
The chapter faced a couple of issues at the Member Benefit Day event. First, a team of two speakers was set to tackle all four of the morning CPE hours. While en route to the event, one of them suffered a sudden and serious medical issue and had to go into emergency surgery. Fortunately, there was a stable of backup speakers on call, and one of them was able to step up and help the chapter with all four hours at the last second. Having a plan for that contingency was crucial to the success of the event.
The second issue the chapter faced fell into the “technical difficulties” category. Halfway through the first morning session, the volunteer running the Zoom platform for the event was notified that there was a worldwide Zoom malfunction. Fortunately, the designated technology expert for the chapter was able to communicate with the venue’s tech professionals and with a team of chapter volunteers to get the message out to all attendees. Their efforts were efficient, effective and mitigated any panic.
Always Think Forward
ACFE chapters thrive when they have strong membership bases, repeat business for their offerings and eventually a great reputation via word-of-mouth advertising. Every chapter offering should double as an advertisement for future offerings. With details already confirmed for our marquee event in March 2023, the Annual Conference, the chapter was able to advertise the conference to Member Benefit Day attendees to raise awareness and begin to grow excitement.
In closing, it is important to note that not all chapters are alike in their members’ wants, needs, and resources. A successful event for the Middle Tennessee Chapter might be unlike any other ACFE chapter’s events. Having said that, the steps of leveraging the network of the board and chapter membership, planning, and thinking ahead will serve any ACFE chapter well as it embarks on a journey back to hosting successful events for its members. Good luck, and Game On!
