International Tax Directors Forum meets in London.

In May, TEI Executive Director Timothy McCormally participated in a meeting of the International Tax Directors Forum, a global networking group whose members are the chief executive officers of tax organizations. The ITDF meets annually to discuss issues common to membership associations, such as strategic planning and corporate governance, membership trends, advocacy and relationships with government agencies, the effective use of technology (including Internet sites and web-based communications), educational programs (including CPE certification), and other member services, professionalism, financial matters including sponsorship, encouraging volunteerism, marketing and branding, social responsibility, and staffing issues.

This year's meeting was held in London and was hosted by the Chartered Institute of Tax Advisers in the United Kingdom. Attending this year's meeting in London, in addition to CIOT's CEO and the head of an affiliated organization, the Association of Taxation Technicians, were the CEOs of the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic, Irish Tax Institute, The Tax Institute (of Australia), and the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners. Officials from the Canadian Tax Foundation and the Dutch Association of Tax Advisers were scheduled to attend, but circumstances forced their cancellation. In addition, representatives of tax practitioner associations in Nigeria, Malaysia, and Spain have participated in the past, and an organization in Ghana is being considered for membership in 2012.

Among the topics discussed during the three-day benchmarking meeting were (a) HM...