FEI fall events and serving a new generation of financial executives.

• Author: Hollein, Marie
• Position: President's page - Financial Executives International

The month of October is generally among the busiest times of the year, both professionally and personally. The kids (or grandkids) are settled back into school, the football season is alive and beginning to take shape and--in years such as this--the political landscape is teeming with hotly contested races for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives seats. There's a lot on the line this year.

Autumn is also an extremely busy time for FEI. That's the case every year, and this is no exception. It's time to roll up our sleeves and get to the business at hand--improving and maintaining an organization that best serves our members' needs and interests.

That is our focus year-round, but three current developments are worthy of mention at this time. The first is one of our favorite ceremonial events: Induction into the FEI Hall of Fame. This year, the 5th annual Hall of Fame Gala is scheduled for Nov. 15 at The New York Palace Hotel in New York City. We're celebrating the lifetime achievements of Karl M. von der Heyden and Ulyesse J. LeGrange--two giants in the field of financial management--and we eagerly anticipate adding them to our prestigious "honor roll." As usual, all proceeds from this event benefit the work of the Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF). See the November issue cover story for profiles of these two outstanding gentlemen.

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Around the same time as Hall of Fame, we're holding our 29th annual Current Financial Reporting Issues conference on Nov. 15-16 at the Marriott Marquis in New York. Our "Outlook 2011: Perspectives on the Regulatory and Financial Reporting Landscape" couldn't come at a better time. With national regulatory and perhaps global reform coming, the issues that affect the way all of us manage and conduct our businesses is changing, perhaps dramatically. We're fortunate to have several leading analysts of the current financial and regulatory system as our keynote speakers: Former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Harvey Goldschmid and Zanny Minton-Beddoes, who is the Economics Editor of The Economist.

The forum will include timely discussions on critical issues. Among the topics are lessons learned from FAS 166/167, the new reporting model for pensions and proposed changes in impairment accounting for financial instruments as well as financial statements under FASB/IASB proposals. Also featured is a post-conference "special" update on IFRS convergence and planning approaches.

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