VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

By Karen Reid

Following the fabulous in-person conference, the Program Committee was excited to support a virtual event held March 15-16 and March 22-23 to broaden opportunities for those unable to attend the in-person event or for those attendees looking to attend additional sessions and earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits. Keynote speakers and fundamental, technical sessions were selected to be recorded at the in-person event and replayed at the virtual event. The speakers whose sessions were recorded participated in the virtual event so that attendees could receive CPE credit. A big thanks to those speakers pulling double duty! The virtual event featured repeats of 4 featured speakers and 15 concurrent sessions from the inperson conference. An added bonus was the inclusion of roundtable sessions each day. The topics covered in these discussion sessions included: Career Advancement, Operationalizing Equity in Budget Development, Best Practices, and ERP Projects. A total of 313 people registered for the virtual event and had the opportunity to earn up to 12 hours of CPE credit over four days. Karan Reid has served as the Director of Finance for the City of Concord since April 2013. Her journey in city government began as Senior Accountant with the City of Napa and progressed to Chief Financial Officer for the City of Emeryville and Finance Director for the City of Benicia before joining the City of Concord. Karan has been active in CSMFO and currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Program Committee. She previously served on the Membership Benefits Committee and on the CSMFO Board as a Director representing the North.