Tip #4 to Submit a Success Speaking Proposal: Be Timely
My last tip for submitting a winning speaking proposal is to submit your proposal on time. I’ll be honest; we look at this as a test. If you can’t submit your speaking proposal on time, it indicates to us that you probably aren’t going to meet any of the other speaker deadlines either. We have close to 200 speakers at the Conference, so it’s critical that our speakers be responsible about meeting their deadlines with minimal prompting from us. Don’t bother asking for an extension; if you can’t get your speaking proposal in on time, this probably isn’t the year for you to speak.
Speaking proposals for the 24th Annual NASPP Conference can be submitted online and will be accepted through Friday, February 26. Check out my podcast of other tips for submitting a successful proposal.
Don’t Miss Your Chance to Save on the Online Fundamentals
Taught by the industry’s leading experts, the NASPP’s acclaimed online program, “Stock Plan Fundamentals,” is the definitive training program for stock plan professionals, covering both the regulatory framework and day-to-day administrative procedures key to overseeing stock plans. Don’t wait to register—the early-bird rate is only available through this Friday, February 26.
NASPP To Do List
Here’s your NASPP To Do List for the week:
Tip #3 to Submit a Success Speaking Proposal: Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute
Things always go wrong at the worst possible moment—like when you are rushing to submit your speaking proposal at the last possible minute before heading out for your Friday evening plans. Give yourself a little extra time; submit your proposals before the last day, so that you have time to address any unexpected hiccups before the deadline.
The NASPP is now accepting speaking proposals for the 24th Annual NASPP Conference. Proposals can be submitted online and will be accepted through Friday, February 26. Check out ten more tips for submitting a successful proposal.
Don’t Miss Your Chance to Save on the Online Fundamentals
Taught by the industry’s leading experts, the NASPP’s acclaimed online program, “Stock Plan Fundamentals,” is the definitive training program for stock plan professionals, covering both the regulatory framework and day-to-day administrative procedures key to overseeing stock plans. Don’t wait to register—the early-bird rate is only available until February 26.
NASPP To Do List
Here’s your NASPP To Do List for the week:
Register for the NASPP’s acclaimed online course, “Stock Plan Fundamentals”—early-bird rate available until February 26.
Submit a speaking proposal for the 24th Annual NASPP Conference. We are accepting proposals through February 26.
Submit a Speaking Proposal for the 24th Annual NASPP Conference
The NASPP is now accepting speaking proposals for the 24th Annual NASPP Conference. Proposals can be submitted online and will be accepted through Friday, February 26.
Tip #2 to Submit a Success Speaking Proposal: Many Egg and Many Baskets
Don’t underestimate your competition. We get around 150 proposals for about 40 sessions—the odds are against you. They are especially against you if you leave it to the last minute and submit a half-completed idea. The submitters of winning proposals have already started thinking about speaking topics, are asking their colleagues to help refine their ideas and join their panel, and are looking for clients to serve as case studies. Make sure you submit a well thought out proposal that succinctly but clearly describes (and sells) your idea, that includes a well-rounded panel of speakers, and that stands out from the competition. Look for topics that are unique—that haven’t been presented before or that provide a new perspective.
Submit a Speaking Proposal for the 24th Annual NASPP Conference
The NASPP is now accepting speaking proposals for the 24th Annual NASPP Conference. Proposals can be submitted online and will be accepted through Friday, February 26.
Tip #1 to Submit a Success Speaking Proposal: Many Egg and Many Baskets
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Smart submitters know that the more proposals they are on, the more likely they will get to speak at the NASPP Conference. Each company can submit up to three proposals and can be included in proposals submitted by other speakers. Don’t wait to be invited; proactively reach out to your network now to let your colleagues know that you are interested in speaking and would be happy to join them on any proposals where you have something to add. Note, however, that individual speakers can participate in no more than two panels and firms can be represented on no more than six panels; if you are included on proposals in excess of this number that we have designated for acceptance, we will ask you to step down from a panel(s).
CEP Institute Seeks Public Comments on GPS
The CEP is asking for people to submit comments on its newly revised GPS|Stock Options document. The GPS series provides unbiased, university based research to address risk assessment and identify best practices for the equity compensation community. Review the Stock Options draft today.
NASPP To Do List
Here’s your NASPP To Do List for the week:
Register for the NASPP’s acclaimed online course, “Stock Plan Fundamentals“—early-bird rate available until February 26.
Submit a speaking proposal for the 24th Annual NASPP Conference. We are accepting proposals through February 26.
Tip #7 for Submitting a Winning Speaking Proposal Be concise! For the love of Pete, be concise! We receive around 150 proposals and we have to read them all. Several times. Please just get to the point.
NASPP To Do List Here is your NASPP to do list for this week:
Submit a speaking proposal for the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference–don’t wait any longer; proposals are due this Friday, February 28! There can be no extensions to this deadline, no matter how dire the circumstances (see tip #3).
Register for the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference. The Conference will be held from September 29-October 2, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Don’t wait–the early-bird rate is only available until March 14.
Sign up for the NASPP’s acclaimed online Stock Plan Fundamentals course; the first webcast is April 16.
Because yesterday was a holiday, I’m combining the announcement of NASPP chapter meetings for this week with the NASPP To Do List. We’ll return to our regularly scheduled blogs tomorrow.
NASPP Chapter Meetings Here’s what’s happening at your local NASPP chapter this week:
San Francisco: Barbara Wallace of Oracle, Stacy Fox of Salesforce.com, and Marcel Provencher of HP present “Merge, Purge or Scourge? How to Best Handle Assuming Equity Plans.” (Wednesday, February 19, 11:30 AM)
Orange County: Emily Cervino of Fidelity and John Wolff of GuideSpark present “Stock Compensation Goes to Hollywood.” (Thursday, February 20, 11:30 AM)
Atlanta: Valerie Diamond and Nicole Calabro of Baker & McKenzie present “Critical Provisions in Any Equity Grant Agreement – Why They are There and How They Can Hurt (or Help) You.” (Friday, February 21, 11:30 AM)
I’ll be at the San Francisco chapter meeting; I hope to see you there!
Tip #6 for Submitting a Winning Speaking Proposal Be unique, fresh, and innovative. We want new and different ideas, not the same old, same old. Also, don’t present your ideas at other venues before the Conference. When we can see that a proposal is slated to be presented at other industry events before the NASPP Conference (and we check for this), we are less likely to accept the proposal. The NASPP Conference is the premier event for stock plan professionals; we didn’t achieve this status by rerunning presentations from other events.
Once you’ve presented your topic at the NASPP Conference, you are free to present it wherever else you want, but wait until after the Conference to do so.
NASPP To Do List Here is your NASPP to do list for this week:
Submit a speaking proposal for the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference–get started on this now; you have less than two weeks left to submit your proposal!
Register for the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference. The Conference will be held from September 29-October 2, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Don’t wait–the early-bird rate is only available until March 14.
Sign up for the NASPP’s acclaimed online Stock Plan Fundamentals course which will be offered this spring.
Check out Andrea Best’s newest blog in the in the NASPP Career Center, “Working from Your Core: Step 4, Perfecting.”
Take our newest Compliance-O-Meter quiz on Section 6039.
What Does the Movie “The Monuments Men” Have to Do with the NASPP’s Global Portal? Louis Rorimer, long-time contributor to the NASPP and currently the editor of the country guides in our Global Stock Plans Portal, is the son of one of the original Monuments Men that the movie is based on. The Monuments Men were a group that tracked, located, and returned artwork that the Germans stole during WWII. They ultimately saved over five million works of art. Matt Damon plays the character based on Louis’ father (they added some character flaws so they changed the last name of the character–that’s Hollywood for you). Louis attended the premier of the movie in NY and met both Matt Damon and George Clooney, who directed the movie. Want to know more? Here are a few resources to check out:
Pictures from the movie and of the original Monuments Men, including a couple of pictures of James Rorimer, Louis’ father.
An interview with Louis about the movie and his father.
Tip #5 for Submitting a Winning Speaking Proposal Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Every firm can submit up to three proposals for the NASPP Conference–take advantage of this. Submitting three proposals triples your odds of getting a speaking slot. And it’s much easier for us to fit you into the agenda if you give us several different topics to pick from.
NASPP To Do List Here is your NASPP to do list for this week:
Sign up for the NASPP’s acclaimed online Stock Plan Fundamentals course which will be offered this spring. Don’t wait–the early-bird rate ends this Friday, February 14.
Register for the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference. The Conference will be held from September 29-October 2, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Don’t wait–the early-bird rate is only available until March 14.
Tip #4 for Submitting a Winning Speaking Proposal Don’t underestimate your competition. We get around 150 proposals for about 40 sessions–the odds are against you. They are especially against you if you leave it to the last minute and submit some half-completed idea of a speaking topic. The submitters of winning proposals have already started thinking about speaking topics, are asking their colleagues to help refine their ideas and join their panel, and are looking for clients to serve as case studies. Make sure you submit a well thought out proposal that succinctly but clearly describes (and sells) your idea, that includes a well-rounded panel of speakers, and that stands out from the competition. Look for topics that are unique–that haven’t been presented before or that provide a new perspective.
Sign up for the NASPP’s acclaimed online Stock Plan Fundamentals course which will be offered this spring. This course is a great introduction to stock plan administration; register by February 14, 2014 for the early-bird rate.
Register for the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference. The Conference will be held from September 29-October 2, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Don’t wait–the early-bird rate is only available until March 14.
Tip #3 for Submitting a Winning Speaking Proposal My third tip for submitting a winning speaking proposal is to submit your proposal on time. I’ll be honest; we look at this as a test. If you can’t submit your speaking proposal on time, it indicates to us that you probably aren’t going to meet any of the other speaker deadlines on time either. We have close to 200 speakers at the Conference, so it’s critical that our speakers be responsible about meeting their deadlines with minimal prompting from us. Don’t bother asking for an extension; if you can’t get your speaking proposal in on time, this probably isn’t the year for you to speak.
Sign up for the NASPP’s acclaimed online Stock Plan Fundamentals course which will be offered this spring. This course is a great introduction to stock plan administration; register by February 14, 2014 for the early-bird rate.
Register for the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference. The Conference will be held from September 29-October 2, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Don’t wait–the early-bird rate is only available until March 14.
Tip #2 for Submitting a Winning Speaking Proposal My second tip related to speaking proposals is for issuers. Speaking at the NASPP Conference is a great way to attend and get complimentary registration. It’s also great for your career because you will establish yourself as a leader in the industry.
But wait, you ask: “How will my speaking proposal ever get accepted if firms that participate in the Proposal Assistance Program get extra advice and preference (see tip #1)? As an issuer, my company isn’t going to exhibit at the Conference.” Well, you know what they say: “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Issuers can leverage the Proposal Assistance Program by partnering up with the firms that are participating in it. You most certainly have a variety of providers that you work with to manage your stock compensation program. I’m talking about your attorneys, accountants, compensation consultants, broker, administrator, etc. Think about which of these firms exhibited at last year’s Conference and are eligible to participate in the Proposal Assistance Program. These firms have an edge in the proposal selection process and their proposals will have even more of an edge if they include a client. Contact them to see if they need clients for any of their proposals. Many exhibitors tells us that finding clients to serve on their panels is the hardest part of submitting a proposal. Don’t wait to be asked–the squeaky wheel gets the oil, so contact your providers proactively about joining them on a proposal.
Or, even better, offer to submit a joint proposal. Each firm can submit only three proposals. But a joint proposal you submit on their behalf doesn’t count as one of their three. The more proposals a firm is on, the more speaking slots they’ll get, so I expect your providers will be appreciative of the offer. And proposals that include Proposal Assistance Program participants receive preference in the proposal selection process, so having one of these firms on your panel gives it an edge.
Sign up for the NASPP’s acclaimed online Stock Plan Fundamentals course which will be offered next spring. This course is a great introduction to stock plan administration; register by February 14, 2014 for the early-bird rate.
Save the date for the 22nd Annual NASPP Conference: September 29-October 2, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.