Sunday, April 15

Monday, April 16

• How to Turn Around an Underperforming Business Unit
  Chuck Roberts, Performance Management Group, Inc.
  
  Many firms let an underperforming office or business unit (or in some cases the entire company) continue to lose money because they aren't sure how to turn it around, or are uncomfortable with implementing the changes they think might be required. This session shows how to turnaround an underperforming office, business unit, or company by implementing a process that first alleviates critical adverse symptoms of the problem, then objectively identifies and addresses root causes of the business performance issues. Included will be information on how to take into account your firm’s existing culture and resources so as to reduce the potential for adverse collateral impacts.
  
  
• "You Want Me to Sign What?" Avoiding Unnecessary Risks When Executing Project-Related Forms
  Dan Knise, Ames & Gough; James F. Lee, Lee & McShane, PC
  
  While much effort is expended to ensure that the "contractual connection" to clients is fair and equitable, much less work has been done to evaluate and re-craft non-contractual documents, such as certifications, affidavits and lien releases, that can create additional — and in many cases unexpected — risks for engineers. This session will explore how the changing nature of design and construction affects risk/reward trade-offs associated with certifications, releases, and ancillary documents (beyond contracts) that engineers are increasingly required to sign. It will identify the risks/opportunities of new project delivery models that require an array of ancillary documentation, which firms must create, edit, review or sign, including lender or LEED certifications, mechanic lien releases or affidavits.
  
  
• Achieving Optimum Team Effectiveness in Project Management
  Cheryl May and Tammy Ogren, MORF Consulting; Christopher Sherry, PE, Merrick & Co.
  
  Bringing large numbers of diverse people with varied interests together on today's project teams is a complex undertaking. The ability to accurately measure, quantify, and graphically display the network of interpersonal communications, flows of trust, and patterns of knowledge exchange is an invaluable tool for pinpointing problems and correcting them before they cause damage. Case studies will show how to reveal the networks of interpersonal communications and how PMs have pinpointed project problems and corrected them before they affected the project. This methodological practice can increase workflow and efficiency, and build greater levels of trust and knowledge exchange among team members.
  
  
• Agency Presentations:
  • USACE Military Construction
  • U.S. Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment (AFCEE)
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

• One Metric Ton of Smart Business Strategies
  Mark Goodale, Morrissey Goodale LLC
  
  Drink from the fire hose as Mark Goodale douses you with smart business strategies. From the moment you sit down, you'll be flooded with invaluable strategic insights and advice. Whether it's how to structure your organization, deal with a problem principal, turbo-charge your marketing, make an acquisition, prepare your company for a sale, create an internal market for your firm's stock, or improve company morale, Mark has the answers. Note: Session does not require caffeine.
  
  
• CAMEE SESSION: Roundtable on Critical Issues Affecting MEP Firms
  Robin Greenleaf, Architectural Engineers, Inc.; Michael DeSantiago, Primera Engineers, Ltd.
  
  The CAMEE leadership will facilitate a discussion on major topics and critical issues facing the profession today.
  
  
• Become a Buyer of Choice: How to Position Your Acquisition Efforts for Long-Term Success
  Michael Landry, FMI Capital Advisors
  
  Firms will come away from this session recognizing that acquisitions are a process not an event. They will learn that in acquisitions, relationships matter — just as they do for other parts of their business. Particpants will understand how to develop and implement a practical plan for establishing and maintaining relationships with potential target companies. Finally, firms will have a clear understanding of how to communicate their strategy, vision and values to potential target companies — so that they can position themselves as the buyer of choice.
  
  
• Agency Presentations:
  • U.S. Department of Energy (DoE)
  • USACE Civil Works
  • U.S. Department of Interior (DoI) and component agencies (NPS, Fish & Wildlife, BLM, Indian Affairs, BUREC, USGS, etc.)
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security and component agencies (FEMA. CBP, Coast Guard)

• The Risk of Personal Liability to Engineers and Senior Executives
  Kenneth E. Rubinstein, Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios, LLP; Jonathan H. Sandoz, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure; Richard L. Levine, Nelson Kinder + Mosseau PC
  
  Engineers and senior executives can be personally liable for actions taken on their company's behalf. In many instances, these risk are not insured and may not be reimbursed by the company. The potential for personal liability extends well beyond simple malpractice. OSHA, ERISA, Sarbanes Oxley, and fiduciary claims can present serious risks to individuals operating within an engineering company. This program identifies the potential risk areas and offers practical solutions to reduce the potential exposure.
  
  
• Accelerate Out of Recession: Six Strategies for A/E Firms
  Mike Phillips, Phillips Architecture
  
  Analyzing feedback from thousands of A/E firms across the US revealed surprising information identifying the six most effective strategies to propel design firms from recessionary challenges. Attendees will see simple approaches, forged from the real priorities of clients and staff, to improve financial results in an immediate yet sustainable fashion. Detailed strategies will cover profitability, liability, marketing, team management, staff performance, and key staff retention. Handouts and door prizes will be given.
  
  
• The New ISI Rating Tool: Putting it to Work for Your Projects
  Michael R. Cline, Hannum, Wagle & Cline; Jeffrey L. Beard, ACEC
  
  The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI)— developed by ACEC, APWA and ASCE — has released its new sustainability projecting rating tool EnvISIon. This session will provide an inside look at what the tool is, how it works, the process for getting certified in its use and making it work for your clients and your projects. Join us for an illuminating exploration of the latest instrument in the sustainability arsenal.

Tuesday, April 17

• General Session
  Governor Ed Rendell on "Infrastructure Politics"


• Cloud: Hype or Reality
  Keynote speaker: Jennifer Kerber, President Tech America & Director of Cloud 2 Commission
  Panelists: Daniel Kent, Director, Public Sector Solutions & Federal CTO, Cisco Systems; Robin Lineberger, CEO, Deloitte Federal Government; Michael Van Chau, Vice President of Cyber Strategy & Development, MEI Technologies, Inc.
  
  Update: Legislative & Regulatory issues, security, risk, collaboration, implementation & customization


• Enhancing Top Line Growth Through Technology
  Jim Walsh, CTO, AECOM; Diann Stein, President, DDS & Associates; Brad Vaughan, Senior VP and CIO, Black & Veatch
  
  How to move technology from operations to revenue generation


• Lunch Program: Emerging Technologies
  Speaker: Alton Cleveland, Senior Vice President, Applied Research, Bentley
  Followed by panel discussion

Click here for detailed agenda.
RSVP Required. For more information contact Leo Hoch at lhoch@acec.org or 202-682-4341

• Advanced Strategic Planning For Your Firm
  Ray Kogan and Cara Bobchek, Kogan & Co.
  
  A well-established tool in other industries, strategic planning continues to be embraced by a growing number of engineering firms who use it to design and implement their own futures. Having employed strategic planning in the past, many engineering firms are prepared to take it "beyond the basics," to apply sophisticated new planning models to help them achieve greater levels of success in a demanding world. Advanced strategic planning helps an engineering firm analyze, address, and improve every aspect of its business, as well as connect its mission and its vision to the needs and aspirations of the wider world surrounding the firm.
  
  
• M&A and Ownership Transition in Today's A/E Industury
  Colvin Matheson and David Cohen, Matheson Financial Advisors, Inc.
  
  This session will give firm owners the tools they need to continue to build value in their firms, as well as to negotiate deals under new expectations of risk and returns. The session will provide insight into firm valuations and deal structuring, discuss underlying business factors that impact value, and review the impact on industry consolidation trends and how engineering firms can best position themselves to successfully close deals in the new environment. It will explore the overall financial aspects of ownership transition plans and the various tools that can be implemented to create such a transition.

• How to Finance Your Projects in the Capitol Markets
  Colin Myer, FMI
  
  Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) project financing is becoming increasingly popular as a funding vehicle for both economic and social infrastructure projects. Infrastructure opportunities include universities, hospitals, prisons, bridges, and mass transit. Governments will increasingly come to rely on P3s as an important means for the delivery of long-term infrastructure assets and related services. The session will examine the key trends in Public-Private Partnerships and discuss how you should be preparing your company to leverage the P3 opportunity.
  
  
• How to Find Out What Your Clients Really Want
  David Stone, Stone & Company
  
  The idea of seeking out regular, reliable and candid feedback from clients is simultaneously exciting and terrifying. This program will teach you how to ask for feedback from your clients and what to do with it when you get it. Virtually every firm tells clients that the firm will 'exceed your expectations,' yet very few firms use any form of consistent and reliable client feedback. Conversely, clients often leave and seek out another firm because of what they perceive as poor communications. This program can help seek that feedback and stop those losses.
  
  
• Agency Presentations:
  • GSA Pubic Buildings service (GSA/PBS)
  • U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ)
  • U.S. Department of State, Overseas Building Operations (DOS/OBO)
  • U.S. Architect of Capitol

• 401(k) Fee Disclosure Rules That You Should Know
  Joan McDonagh and Sara Richman, Great-West
  
  This session will discuss the DOL's new 408b2 regulation and its impact to you. In addition, we'll walk through an example of the types of disclosures you may see from your current retirement provider.
  
  
• How to be Memorable and Win More Work
  Jim Rogers, Fleetridge
  
  Ninety-four percent of university professors say they are better than their colleagues. Most men believe they are good looking. Like professors and most men, you may be overstating your "betterness" in your proposals. You may be the best, whatever that means. However, your betterness doesn't matter because decision makers have trouble differentiating between good choices. Therefore, rather than asserting your betterness, make a connection and be memorable and you will win more work.
  
  
• Agency Presentations
  • USAID
  • MCC
  • USACE International
  • The World Bank

Wednesday, April 18

• The Negotiation Waltz
  David Stone, Stone & Company
  
  In formal contract negotiations and in everyday project management, you are constantly negotiating. With a goal of win-win outcomes, this valuable program will teach you the principles of negotiating, preparation techniques, and parameters of what is and what is not negotiable, and then show you actual, toe-to-toe methods that let you stand up for what's rightfully yours. This session will show attendees how to choose the right negotiating strategy, properly prepare before the negotiation begins, work through each element of the bargaining process in the right order, and both use and defend against negotiating tactics such as "good guy/bad guy," "the flinch," "the Vice" and "funny money."

• Tax and Regulatory Update
  Kathryn Motley, Tax and Regulatory Affairs Director, ACEC
  
  The opening session will focus on those regulatory influences on A/E firms which could impact the strategic planning process.


• CIO/CFO Roundtable: Enhancing Growth and Revenue through Technology
  Panelists: Steve Ross, Thornton Tomasetti; Brad Vaughan, Black & Veatch; Pete Dyke, Arcadis; Zeel Patel, Cardno; Michael Anders, Braun Intertec Corporation.
  
  This panel will consist of CFOs and CIOs meeting to discuss best practices for technology, reporting, and the necessary infrastructure to create a sophisticated and efficient information management process.


• The Importance of Integrating Strategic Planning when Analyzing Capital Structure and Increasing Shareholder Value
  Joe Grabowski, Wenck Associates and Moderator Chris Staloch (Chartwell)
  
  Join us as an ACEC member firm shares their extensive strategic planning process used to chart its future business direction. The financial model utilized in the strategic planning process is designed to maximize the company's shareholder value through addressing key valuation issues such as reducing the company's risk profile while maximizing its financial rewards.


• Luncheon: M&A/Capital Markets Panel
  Keynote Introduction: Paul Halverson, CEO, Chartwell
  Panelists: Greg Fresh, Head of Corporate Finance, Chartwell; Ira Starr, Managing Director, Long Point Capital; Grayson Hale, Attorney, K&L Gates; Regina Carls, Director, JPMorgan Chase Bank.
  
  A panel discussion on the current state of capital markets and mergers and acquisitions activity. Expert panelists will discuss how the current economy and stock market activity are impacting the status of the markets and mergers and acquisitions levels. They will also offer their perspectives on deal activity in the A/E sector and how the industry trends compared to the overall M&A market. Deal financing and creative trends will also be discussed.

Click here for detailed agenda.
RSVP Required. For more information contact Leo Hoch at lhoch@acec.org or 202-682-4341