The NASPP Blog

Our popular “Meet the Speaker” series, featuring interviews with speakers at the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference, is a great way to get to know our many distinguished speakers and find out a little more about their sessions in advance of the Conference.

For today’s “Meet the Speaker” interview, we feature an interview with Marsha Tepper of CompIntelligence, who will lead the session “Manual Manipulation Madness.”  Here is what Marsha had to say:

NASPP:  Why is the topic of manually preparing calculations and reports so timely right now and how can people struggling with this benefit from your session?

Marsha: Every individual working in stock plan has challenges with the amount and type of manual work that must be done. Even the best administration platforms are not flexible enough to satisfy all the processing, reporting and communication needs.  This session will spotlight two well-known large companies and what they are doing to reduce manual work in their stock plan departments.  I think this topic will be informative to anyone struggling to find cost-effective solutions and help them take a step back and really look think about how they do their job today.

NASPP:  What common mistake do companies make when it comes to manual calculations?

Marsha: One common mistake is to convince yourself that you are too busy to review how you work.  So many of us say “I am too busy to figure out how to do this task differently, I just need to get the work done.”  It is a project to change but usually very worthwhile.

NASPP:  What is the most innovative solution/response you’ve seen to automate a manual process?

Marsha: I believe we are going to talk about one of the most innovative solutions I have seen to reduce manual work during our session.  We will discuss how a very, very manually intensive process was automated by creating a rules-based engine to analyze the data.

NASPP:  What is something you learned from the NASPP?

Marsha: I learned how to play roulette at a NASPP Conference in Vegas years ago!  Seriously, I have learned that we are a small community of dedicated professionals all excited and passionate about stock plans.  There are some people I see only at the NASPP Conference but I feel like they are my friends as we are all part of this industry.  I learn something new every Conference and I have been in this industry 30 years!

Don’t miss Marsha’s session “Manual Manipulation Madness” at the NASPP Conference!

About the NASPP Conference
The 22^nd Annual NASPP Conference will be held from September 29-October 2 in Las Vegas. This year’s program features 60+ sessions on today’s most timely topics in stock compensation; check out the full agenda and register today!