In my message in last year’s May/June issue of CFMA Building Profits, I discussed all of the elements of our 2019 Conference in Las Vegas. What a difference a year makes, particularly in the midst of a pandemic. On March 27, 2020, our Executive Committee made the very difficult decision to cancel CFMA’s Annual Conference & Exhibition scheduled for May 30-June 3 in Washington, D.C. There are a myriad of reasons why this was the right thing to do, and I heard from many members who have unanimously agreed with this difficult yet necessary decision. Needless to say, this is the first time CFMA has ever had to cancel its Annual Conference & Exhibition.

Even before we made that decision, we were feverishly working to put together a virtual educational event. I’m proud to report that CFMA’s first-ever Virtual Conference will be held on June 22-26. Attendees will find the opening and closing general session speakers to be of the same caliber as our in-person Conference. Throughout the week:

• Industry experts will present 16 breakout sessions
• Small-, medium-, and large-firm roundtables will enable attendees to share successes and challenges; and
• Construction Technology Forums will provide ERP software vendors an opportunity to connect with current and prospective customers.

While our intent is to provide outstanding educational quality, we also recognize the need for flexibility. We realize that work schedules will continue to be very hectic in the coming months, making it difficult to spend an entire week attending the Virtual Conference.

Due to these extraordinary circumstances, NASBA, the governing body for providing CPE credits, is allowing credit to be provided for not only live sessions, but also on-demand sessions. This means that Virtual Conference attendees have until September 30, 2020, to earn up to 26.5 CPE credits from the Virtual Conference. This flexibility was critical in CFMA’s decision to proceed with this kind of educational event.

This is obviously a huge experiment during very difficult times. While the Virtual Conference will attempt to provide networking during the roundtable discussions, we will unfortunately have to wait until next year for the full CFMA networking experience that so many of you hold so dear. For now, we are simply doing the best we can, and I hope you will join us virtually!

Copyright © 2020 by the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). All rights reserved. This article first appeared in May/June 2020 CFMA Building Profits magazine.