My Top 4 Takeaways from the 2018 Annual SCCE Conference
Over the past 14 years of my ethics and compliance career, I have attended many SCCE conferences and events. This year, I was able to experience the 17th Annual Compliance & Ethics Institute, Hosted by the Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE), through 3 lenses. I attended this year’s conference as a speaker, an attendant, and a vendor. Looking through my tri-colored lens, here are the four most important takeaways from this year’s conference.
Changing of the Guard
Roy Snell, co-founder and CEO of the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics, gave his final farewell from SCCE on Monday at the group’s annual conference in Las Vegas. During his farewell speech, Roy captured the essence of the effect compliance professionals can have on people's lives. “Compliance professionals create trust in companies,” Roy said. “Trust in companies creates trust in countries. Trusted countries are more successful in the global economy. Countries that are successful in the global economy increase the standard of living for the lives of their people. You are all part of something that is very, very big.” Roy’s last day as CEO will be November 1st. Gerry Zack, who’s been learning from Roy for the past year, will take over the CEO role. I have no doubt Gerry will make his own unique, positive mark at the SCCE and in the world of ethics and compliance.
Quality speakers
Over the years, as the number of attendees has grown, so has the quality of the presentations. The SCCE has always done a fantastic job of putting together a thought-provoking agenda that offers a wide variety of topics. This year I was both a speaker in a breakout session and an attendee in other speakers’ sessions. I attended several sessions, but the one I enjoyed the most was “M&A Transactions: Tactics and Strategies for Effectively Managing Ethics and Compliance Risk.” Both Kasey Ingram, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer for ISK Americas Incorporated, and Louis Sapirman, Former VP, Associate General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer for The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, deliver an engaging and informative presentation. They made great points on the strategic and valuable role compliance plays before, during, and after a merger or acquisition.
Networking
One of the things that I have always loved about attending the SCCE conference is the chance to meet new people that geek out over ethics and compliance as much as I do. Everyone is always friendly and open to connecting. I’m a big fan of leveraging LinkedIn and connecting with new compliance peers in real time. I also thought the LinkedIn booth, which offered a one-on-one learning session on how to elevate your professional profile, was a great idea. I have always found that most compliance professionals are happy to help each other uncover ideas, share best practices, and spark inspiration. If you aren’t connected with me on LinkedIn, please send me an invitation to connect.
Presenting
My CEO, J Rollins, and I had the pleasure of presenting at this year's Conference. It was a wonderful opportunity to speak on a very important topic, which has impacted me directly. The topic of our presentation was “Building a Corporate Culture that Combats Sexual Misconduct.” I was very excited to see that we had a full room and very impressed with the level of interest and engagement. I shared my personal account of being sexually harassed in the workplace at the beginning of the session. It was empowering to share my story; it’s not something I had ever done.
After the presentation, several attendees came up to me and shared their stories of being harassed in the workplace. I’m still in awe over other compliance professionals getting sexually harassed in the workplace. If compliance team members aren’t safe from harassment, then I’d say that is a good indicator that women in other departments are just as likely, if not more, to experience harassment in the workplace too.
Overall, this year’s SCCE conference was a big success for ETHIX360 as an organization and me personally and professionally. We will definitely be attending next year’s annual SCCE conference. And if anyone would like a copy of our presentation on sexual misconduct, send me an email, and I’ll send it over.
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Stephanie Farmer is a seasoned ethics and compliance (E&C) professional. She has earned an MA in both Business and Professional and Applied Ethics and is a graduate of The Ethics & Compliance Initiative Managing Ethics in an Organization Program. Prior to and during her E&C career, Stephanie served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves and the North Carolina Air National Guard.
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