Wrapping up the 91st IMA National Convention--Tuesday PM, Wednesday AM and a Brutal Trip Home

Four solid to very good sessions to wrap up the convention: Tuesday afternoon featured Mark Frigo who did a good job of explaining how corporate governance and ethics not only could but needed to fit with the strategic plans for a company, Mark was followed by Sam Weaver who had a quite interested quiz on estimation as part of Risk Analysis in Decision Making. As a former executive with Hershey Company, Sam further endeared himself to many in the audience by passing out Hershey's candy.

Anirban Basu kicked off Wednesday morning with an analysis of the American economy. He stated that recovery had started but that the recovery was not robust. The session was not quite as good (but close) to David Walker's presentation last year and was certainly worth attending. The convention concluded with IMA favorite motivational speaker Nobby Lewandowski. Nobby, who also spoke last year, is a CPA and former baseball player who has overcome a serious stuttering problem to become an accomplished speaker. One of his techniques is singing (shades of Jim Nabors and (to my surprise) Carly Simon)--this year's songs were "Swinging with My Baby (Mr. DJ) and YMCA". Freed from the expectation of a primary ethics content, Nobby's presentation was an enjoyable conclusion to the conference.

The trip home included a failed A/C--not a big problem on a rainy/cloudy Wednesday evening but a BIG problem Thursday driving from Morgantown, WV to Clarksville (about 550 miles).