November 13th The Dynamics of Communication – Experiences of Communicating as a Board Leader

Program Overview: Board leaders’ effectiveness is often measured by one criterion - how they communicate with other board members, shareholders, employees, potential investors and the senior management team. In fact, some could say that “successfully communicating” is a board leader’s primary role. A panel of board leaders will discuss their experiences in communicating with multiple constituencies in carrying out their duties to drive value from board operations. Gain insights in how to communicate board decisions that fit the strategy of the company, improve communications between board members, and communicate to relieve shareholder unrest and create confidence in the board to handle most situations faced by board leadership. The format for the evening is engaging three board leaders who provide specific examples of communicating with multi-constituencies facilitated by a principal of the Board of Directors Development Group.

Panel Members include: Bill Heck (Moderator) is the managing principal of the Board of Directors Development Group, an advisory to board leadership and managing principal of the Harlon Group, a performance and compensation consultancy headquartered in Denver. Susan Meisinger, SPHR, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world's largest association devoted to human resource management. Debra Koenig former CEO, VICORP Restaurants, Inc. and President, Southeast Division of McDonalds Corporation. As a board member of VICORP, Ms. Koenig helped build corporate and shareholder value by concentrating on rebuilding operational performance while communicating need for support from the Board of Directors. John Adams served in several roles with Big O Tires, culminating with the appointment as President from 2000 to 2008. During his tenure with Big O Tires, John was involved with Board of Directors’ matters in both a private and public setting.

October 14th - Current Shareholder Activism Issues

Program Overview: Public companies are increasingly under fire from hedge fund and other institutional investors who seek management change through board representation or who want a company sold. High profile proxy contests like CSX, where two hedge funds sought board seats, and Yahoo, where Carl Icahn sought board seats to force a sale of the company to Microsoft, are increasingly in the news. Institutional investors are agents for change as their ownership of public companies increases and they seek economic returns for their investors. Smaller companies with market capitalization materially lower than underlying assets values can be especially vulnerable. Our panel will discuss the factors influencing these changes and what companies and their boards can do to respond.

Panel Members Include: Fran Wheeler (Moderator) - Mr. Wheeler is a partner with Cooley Godward Kronish LLP in its Colorado office. Andy Brimmer - Mr. Brimmer is a partner with Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher, a leading strategic, financial and corporate communications firm located in New York City. Rachel Posner - Ms. Posner is the Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of Georgeson, Inc., a Computershare company located in New York City. Allan Spies - Mr. Spies has worked as a board director over the last eight years. The organizations have included private, public, non-profit, and informal angel investor opportunities.

September 10th - Troubled Waters Ahead? How Corporate Boards Can Help Chart a Course through Financial Distress

Program Overview : The current economic conditions are causing difficulty for many American companies. The protracted decline in the housing sector, the collapse of subprime mortgage lending and increased prices for food and energy have negatively impacted the consumer driven U.S. economy. These factors, coupled with a significant tightening of available credit, have put many companies in financial distress. Our panel of experts, each with many years of experience in leading and advising troubled and underperforming companies, will discuss how to lead a company through challenging times.

Panel members include: John Bittner (Moderator) - Mr. Bittner is the leader of the Corporate Advisory & Restructuring Services practice of Grant Thornton located in Dallas; Jeffrey Cornish - Mr. Cornish is President and CEO of Performance Transportation Services in Allen Park, Michigan; Greg Gordon - Mr. Gordon is a partner with Jones Day overseeing the Dallas Office business restructuring and reorganization practice; and Melvin Keating - Mr. Keating serves on the board of directors of LCC International and Kitty Hawk, Inc., the latter currently operating in bankruptcy.

April 2008 - Corporate Ethics and Conducting Business Overseas.   Click here for additional information.

An expert panel discussion with: James Gunderson - a Corporate Governance Advisor.  He provides corporate governance and legal department management services to U.S. and European-based companies.  His corporate governance practice focuses on improving board practice and developing management support for good governance at the board level.  Wayne Murdy -Retired CEO of Newmont Mining Corporation in 2001 and was elected Chairman of the Board in 2002.  Newmont is the world's larged gold producer, with 13,500 employees located on five continents.  George Sissel - Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ball Corporation, where he served as a Director and a member of the Finance and Audit Comittees until April 2007.  Mr. Sissel joined Ball Corporation in 1970 and assumed the positions of President and Chief Operating Officer in 1994 and Chairman of the Board in 1996. 

March 2008 - Enforcement Trends Against Corporations by Regulators and Prosecutors. Click Here for additional information.

An expert panel discussion with: George Curtis, Regional Director, SEC. AAppointed Regional Director of the SEC's Central Region in the fall of 2006, George is a trial lawyer with extensive experience in complex corporate, securities and accountancy matters. As SEC Regional Director, he supervises enforcement, trial and examination activities by the Commission in a several state region and is responsible for the implementation of Commission policies. His duties also include the well-being and development of an office of one-hundred-plus staff members. Chad Williams, Partner, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP. Chad practices complex civil and criminal litigation, with an emphasis in commercial disputes, white collar crime and all cases earmarked for trial. His civil practice covers a wide range of high stakes matters, including large scale natural resources disputes, products liability, personal injury defense and environmental cases. Mr. Williams also carries a diverse criminal defense case load. Rian Jorgensen, Senior VP, Marsh/FINPRO. FINPRO is the Financial and Professional lines Claims Advocacy Group of Marsh. Mr. Jorgensen is located in their San Francisco office. The FINPRO Practice comprises over 900 professionals providing insurance coverage and claims support to Marsh's clients on a global basis, specializing in the areas of directors' and officers', employment practices and fiduciary liability. Jennifer Lynch-Moderator, FINPRO Practice Leader, Marsh. Located in Marsh's Denver office, Jennifer's responsibilities include helping clients identify & quantify risk exposure, understand insurance program structure alternatives, select appropriate limits, prioritize coverage features and keep abreast of industry trends. In particular, she specializes in directors and officers liability, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, professional liability and commercial crime insurance.

February 2008 - Click Here for additional information.

An expert panel discussion with: Betty Arkell, Partner, Holland and Hart Denver Office. As a partner in the largest law firm in the Rocky Mountain West, Betty Arkell has over 30 years of experience as a corporate and securities lawyer. Her clients include established and emerging growth companies as well as venture capital and other private equity funds. She specializes in venture capital investments, mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, acquisition finance, corporate restructurings of publicly held and privately held companies, and general corporate counseling. Randy Kenworthy, Founding Partner, Caddis Capital. As an entrepreneur and executive, Randy Kenworthy has participated in over $500 million of debt and equity financing for start-ups and early stage organizations. He has raised funds from multiple sources, including high net worth individuals, angel investors and leading venture funds. Caddis Capital collaborates with management and ownership of closely held companies and family-owned businesses to structure innovative solutions to long-term capital needs, including subordinated debt, preferred equity or combinations of both. Scott Maierhofer, Co-President and Managing Director, Green Manning & Bunch. As an expert in investment banking and private equity, Scott Maierhofer has a 20-year career in arranging middle market transactions. Mr. Maierhofer has been with the investment banking firm of Green Manning & Bunch since 2001. Prior to that he was Co-Founder, President and Managing Principal of Denver-based UniRock Management Corporation, an investment banking firm. He was also a merchant banking officer of the Merchant Banking Group of United Bank of Denver (now Wells Fargo Bank Denver), which was the corporate finance and private equity subsidiary of what was then Colorado's largest bank.

January 2008 - Recruiting, Retaining, Motivating and Terminating a CEO. Click Here for additional information.

An expert panel discussion with: Larry Jones-CEO & President, StarTek, Inc. Mr. Jones has over 25 years of experience building, operating and growing public and private technology companies. He has a proven track record of initiating growth and acquisition strategies in various industry segments, including marketing services, enterprise software and information and IT services. Julie Wolf, Ph.D.-Managing Director, RHR International. Dr. Wolf is the managing director for the Denver office of RHR International Company. Prior to joining RHR in 1999, Dr. Wolf was a Harvard University Clinical Psychology Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. She earned masters and doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. The company's KnoWorks division advises clients experiencing major organizational changes, such as mergers and acquisitions. RHR has offices in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US. Ron Brown (Moderator)-Managing Partner, Heidrick & Struggles. Mr. Brown is the founder of Heidrick & Struggles Colorado office. His national search practice focuses on senior executive-level assignments for private equity-backed and growth stage companies.

November 2007 - Defining the Line Between Governance & Management; Strategy & Oversight. Click Here for additional information.

An expert panel discussion: How do seasoned, experienced Directors and Executives draw the lines between exercising required levels of governance and interfering with management? How do effective boards strike the appropriate balance between providing adequate oversight and usurping corporate strategy? Panel members include: Ms. Kathleen Early - COO & President, The Trizetto Group, Inc.; Director, Digital Realty Trust, Inc.; Director, Switch & Data Facilities Company, Inc.; Director, Vignette Corporation. Mr. Harold (Hal) Logan - Former CFO, Transmontaigne, Inc.; Chairman, Suburban Propane; Director, Graphic Packaging International; Director, Thor Exploration, Ltd.; Director, Hart Energy Publishing, LLC; Director, The Houston Exploration Company. Mr. Thomas P. Briggs - Director, Whiting Petroleum Corporation; Director & Chairman of the Audit Committee, Corrpro Corporation; former CFO of several public and private companies in the Oil & Gas and the Consumer Goods industries. Dr. Daniel Sweeney - President, The Center for Corporate Excellence; Director, West Marine Stores, Inc.; Adjunct Professor, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver.

October 2007 - Board Leadership: Structure, Roles and Performance Click Here for additional information.

An expert panel discussion with: Joe Colosimo, Principal, Board of Directors Development Group - a consultancy providing boards direct access to management techniques focused entirely on leadership and the management of processes, The Board of Directors Development Group answers a need for boards to become more comfortable leading initiatives. Bill Heck, Managing Principal, Harlon Group - consultants in performance and compensation management - Bill sits as an outside director and a lead director and consults with public and private company boards of directors and senior executives in shaping and implementing compensation plans tied directly to relative and absolute performance metrics. Derek Johnson, Fusion Specialties - Derek is currently president of Fusion Specialties, a specialty supplier to the retail industry. Prior to working at Fusion Specialties, he was employed from 1984 to 2005 with CoorsTek, a manufacturer of technical products, supplying critical component and assemblies for mining, automotive, semiconductor, aerospace, electronic, power generation, telecommunication and other high-technology applications on a global basis. Melissa Mong, Patton Boggs, LLP, Ms. Mong advises clients on a broad range of corporate and securities law matters, providing ongoing legal advice to publicly- and privately-held corporations, company management, and boards of directors. Richard Swanson, ADA-ES/ASTI - Dick is a director, chairman of the audit committee and the designated financial expert for two NASDAQ companies; a Denver industrial technology company serving the power industry, and a Denver thin-film solar energy technology company serving a range of industries.