Association of Government Accountants – Boston Chapter

Professional Development Conference

Program (as of January 26, 2015)

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2015

Location: Bentley University, Waltham, MA

CPE: 7 CPE Hours

Cost: Member – $125; Non-member - $170

General Registration Deadline: Monday, March 9, 2015

Early Bird Registration Cost: Member– $110; Non-member – $155

Early Bird Registration Deadline: Friday, February 27, 2015 (This deadline is not negotiable.)

Time / Track / Description / Presenter(s) /
7:45 AM to 8:30 AM / Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 AM to 8:45 AM / Welcome, Color Guard and National Anthem, and Presentation of Chapter Awards / Martin J. Benison, CGFM, AGA Boston Chapter President
8:45 AM to 9:10 AM / Keynote / TBD / William Miller, GCFM, CIA, AGA National President
9:15 AM to 10:30 AM
(Choice of 1 concurrent session – pick a 1st and 2nd choice.) / 1A / Things that Managers Do that Make You Shake Your Head / William Miller, CGFM, CIA, AGA National President
2A / Social Media - Tweet? Post? Download? How will our work find audiences in the digital age? We will look at how the US Government Accountability Office is adapting to new forms of communications in an era when there are so many options and so little time. / Charles Young, Managing Director, Public Affairs, GAO
3A / The New COSO / Paul Kiley, McGladrey, LLP
4A / GASB Update - This session will give an overview of the GASB pronouncements that become effective in the coming fiscal years. The session also will explain some of the projects on GASB’s current technical agenda and research agenda. / Lisa Parker, CPA, Project Manager, Governmental Accounting Standards Board
5A / Fraud / Neil Cohen, Deputy Director of the Audit, Oversight and Investigations, MA Inspector General’s Office
6A / Leadership – Taking Care of People - The resource that really matters is people. You know we have to take care of people, but do you really know what that means? The challenges of today make it more important than ever, especially when you are trying to balance the people you take care of both at work and at home. This presentation will walk you through a simple to use, simple to understand list of fun-filled anecdotes that you can use in everyday life. In fact, the lessons you'll take away will help shape your leadership style and how you deal with people both at work and at home. Taking care of people is important, both at work and at home. Learn what it means so you can do it deliberately and improve upon it every day. Listen, learn and laugh with this high-energy presentation that will leave you wanting more! / David Weinberg, DaveSpeak
7A / Survey Design & Techniques - Students will learn about designing, implementing, and analyzing web-based and other types of surveys as part of an audit. They will understand the importance of standardized data collection in reducing errors in survey data. And they will learn about the considerations of implementing different types of surveys for various populations. / Lee Giesbrecht, Director of Statistical Operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
10:30 AM to 10:45 AM / Break
10:45 AM to 12:00 PM
(Choice of 1 concurrent session – pick a 1st and 2nd choice.) / 1B / Things that Managers Do that Make You Shake Your Head – Repeat of 1A
2B / Social Media – Repeat of 2A
3B / The New COSO – Repeat of 3A
4B / GASB – Repeat of 4A
5B / Fraud – Repeat of 5A
6B / Leadership – Taking Care of People – Repeat of 6A
7B / Survey Design & Techniques – Repeat of 7A
12:00 PM to 12:30 PM / Lunch
12:30 PM to 12:55 PM / Presentation of Chapter Awards and Chapter Election / Martin J. Benison CGFM, AGA Boston Chapter President and Daniel Bonnette, CPA, CGFM, AGA Boston Chapter President-Elect
12:55 PM to 1:40 PM / Keynote / The Power of 8s - Numbers are a fact of life as are people. Both numbers and people take practice. Some are better at numbers than people and some are better at people than numbers. This presentation shows you how one number in particular is more powerful than all the others. It will teach you that if you can harness the power of 8's, you can harness the power of people. Both numbers and people are here to stay. Why not learn more about each? Enjoy this leadership lesson that will enrich your interaction. / David Weinberg, DaveSpeak
1:45 PM to 3:00 PM
(Choice of 1 concurrent session – pick a 1st and 2nd choice.) / 8A / Ethics / Thomas Shack, Esq., MA Office of the Comptroller
9A / The Art of the Edit – This session will focus on the role editing plays in producing clear, concise and interesting reports. By comparing “before editing” and “after editing” samples, we will see the dramatic difference good editing can produce. The session will consider these questions: Who needs an editor? What is the difference between proofreading and editing? What do editors look for? Is it possible to edit your own work? / Joanne Feierman, Seminars in Communication
10A / Grant Flexibility and Program Efficiency / William Bell, MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education and TBD
11A / Management and Diversity: What is your staff bringing to the table? - The concept of “diversity” has many layers. Let’s talk about those layers! What does it mean to be part of a diverse culture and how do we manage our staff efficiently and effectively using “Diversity” as a management tool? We will discuss “difference=difference”, our cultural stereotypes, and discuss diversity in terms of the individual. / Rainie Marchand Barton, MA Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance
12A / Perspectives on Performance and Transforming Government - A panel discussion of performance, accountability and transparency and the transformation of government. Viewpoints from government leaders, academics and organizations. / Craig Hall, Boston Chapter Director of Accountability, Ann Ebberts, CEO, AGA (invited), TBD
13A / Improving Data Quality Through Friendly Audits - The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s current data verification system includes a series of complex business/validation rules that verify the accuracy of each data element prior to acceptance by the department and certification by each local superintendent. However there is room to significantly improve the quality of the data entered at the source, and it is increasingly important to do this.
The data must be of the highest quality. To achieve this, the department has designed and implemented a data-quality curriculum and audit protocols that will increase data quality at the source. This is done using CAROI (Comprehensive Audit Resolution Oversight Initiative) techniques designed to assist auditee’s when audit issues are uncovered.
This session will describe this project, the audit focus using CAROI and thoughts on how Friendly Audits can be used in multiple scenarios. / David LeBlanc, CGFM, Director of Audits, MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education, Patricia Rydlak, Supervising Auditor, MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Christina Lento, Business Management Specialist, MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education
14A / Statistical Sampling - Students will learn to apply simple random sampling techniques to select random samples. They will learn the principles of random selection and the sampling distribution. They will understand situations where stratified, multistage (cluster), and other sampling techniques may be used and the positives and negatives of sampling in various situations. / Lee Giesbrecht, Director of Statistical Operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
3:00 PM to 3:15 PM / Break
3:15 PM to 4:30PM (Choice of 1 concurrent session – pick a 1st and 2nd choice.) / 8B / Ethics – Repeat of 8A
9B / The Art of the Edit – Repeat of 9A
10B / Grant Flexibility and Program Efficiency – Repeat of 10A
11B / Management and Diversity: What is your staff bringing to the table? – Repeat of 11A
12B / Perspectives on Performance and Transforming Government – Repeat of 12A
13B / Improving Data Quality Through Friendly Audits – Repeat of 13A
14B / Statistical Sampling – Repeat of 14A

Due to the seating limitations, sign-up for specific sessions will be on a first come/first served basis. Using the Track Numbers, please indicate your first and second choices for the morning (one from the A concurrent sessions and one from the B concurrent sessions) and afternoon sessions. The morning/afternoon B concurrent sessions are a repeat of the morning/afternoon A sessions so please pick a different session.

MEMBER REGISTRATION POLICY: Members must provide their AGA membership number when registering for the PDC.

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION POLICY: Registrations on or before February 27, 2015 will receive a discounted Early Bird Registration. This deadline is not negotiable.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Cancellations received up to February 27, 2015 are fully refundable. Substitutions can be made at any time up until the day of the conference. Individuals who do not cancel on or before February 27, 2015 are not eligible for a refund. No-shows will be individually responsible for full payment.

NOTE: In case of inclement weather conditions, contact Bentley University at (781) 891-2020 for an updated, recorded message regarding campus closing.

Page 4 of 4