Notes from the Payroll Prof
by Roger A. Smith, CPP & Payroll Consultant
APA’s 25th Annual Payroll Conference – Bigger and Better than Ever!
The Payroll Prof was privileged to attend the American Payroll Association’s Silver Anniversary payroll “Congress” in May 2007. The conference exceeded all expectations and was bigger and better than ever.
For those who have not heard of APA’s Congress, it is a five-day conference containing outstanding opportunities to learn from the experts, network with fellow professionals, find out about the latest vendor offerings, and have a good bit of fun!
Highlights of this year’s Congress included:
- Five general sessions featuring speakers ranging from TV’s Jack Hanna (whose presentation included live animals and rare videotape footage of wild animals such as highland gorillas) to Jeremy Donavon (an indigenous musician and artist from Australia), to outgoing Payroll Man and Woman of the Year, Bradley H. Patterson, CPP and Mary Jo Harling, CPP
- 170 workshop sessions covering just about every topic imaginable of interest to payroll professionals, but more about the workshops later
- A one-day “Pre-Congress” featuring two general sessions and two workshop sessions.
- Over 140 vendors offering various services to payroll professionals in “The World’s Largest Payroll Exhibit Hall”
- Two exciting evening functions, including a dinner and show featuring Las Vegas singer, comedian, and entertainer Steve Sorrentino, and a jungle-themed “Silver Safari Soirée” at the Flamingo Hilton pool. The highlight of this party was APA Executive Director Dan Maddux arriving on an elephant!
Attendees could select workshops from nine categories:
- Payroll Specialties
- Accounts Payable
- Benefits and Compensation
- Government Affairs
- Organization and Personal Management
- Personal Finance
- Special Industry Forums
- International Forums
- Technology Issues
Since there were 19 simultaneous workshops, it would be impossible for one person to attend more than a small fraction of the workshops. Here are a few of my favorites from the limited number that I was able to attend, or that were highly recommended by a colleague:
“Using the Internet for Federal, State, and Local Payroll Research” – Even experienced Internet users picked up additional resources and techniques from this workshop.
“Is Payroll in California THAT Difficult?” – A great discussion of payroll in California, what’s here now, what’s coming, and where to go for help.
“Six Sigma Methodology” – It was an “overview” describing the reasons for using Six Sigma as well as the basics, but also went into enough detail for attendees to truly begin to understand the process.
“HSAs and Consumer-Directed Health: Rx for Soaring Costs?” – These options for attacking the Health Care crisis were thoroughly explained.
“Preparing for the CPP or FPC Exam” – This session gave attendees an overview of the two exams background and purpose, and included sample exam questions.
“Chapter Exchange” – Leaders and members of APA local Chapters recognized excellence and exchanged ideas for improving their Chapters.
“Advanced Career Building: Speaker and Presentation Skills” – Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE shared her excellent knowledge of speaking and presentations in an informative, fun-filled session.
While some of the 2500+ attendees may have found the size of the Congress intimidating at first, everyone I talked to agreed that it was informative, fun, and the best Congress ever!
Next year’s Congress is May 13-17, 2008, in Austin, Texas. Or, if you’re looking for a smaller, more payroll management-oriented conference, I would strongly recommend the APA’s Payroll Best Practices Leadership Conference, to be held August 15-17 in Las Vegas. Information on these and other APA learning opportunities is available at www.americanpayroll.org.
If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you at Roger.Smith@payrollprof.com.
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