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BCCA...the media industry’s credit association, has scheduled an exclusive 2-day workshop focusing on high-level issues for the media industry’s credit and collection professionals at the C-SPAN Offices, 400 N. Capitol St., NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC, just steps away from Union Station, the United States Capitol, and the National Mall.

This workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, October 23rd from 12:00 pm-5:00 pm, and Thursday, October 24th from 8:00 am-12:00 pm.

In addition to the educational sessions and roundtable discussions, the event serves as a networking opportunity for media credit and collection professionals from across the country to come together to share ideas and best practices for the ever-changing media credit and collections function. 

Hotel Reservations - the BCCA room block at The Liaison Hotel has expired.

For List of nearby hotels click here. (Note: BCCA does not have a room block at any of these hotels, but nearby hotels are showing availability.) 

AGENDA

OCTOBER 23

12:00pm - 12:45pm
Check-in Registration and Networking Lunch sponsored by Szabo Associates

 

12:45pm - 1:00pm
Welcome and overview of programs

1:00pm - 1:45pm
Keynote 
The Future of Media, Credit and Collections
Speaker: Dr. Erkan Erdem, Principal, KPMG Economic and Valuation Services, and Adjunct Professor at University of Maryland's Department of Economics.
Overview: Leveraging the latest research and actionable insights from KPMG’s Office of the Chief Economist, Dr. Erdem will provide an overview of the state of the U.S. economy, recent trends, short term outlook, and any notable sectoral developments as they relate to the media and advertising industry. Dr. Erdem will discuss how economic conditions will affect not only your organization but you on a personal level. The session will also feature a discussion of how macroeconomic factors and advanced analytics can be incorporated into corporate forward-looking financial planning, forecasting, reporting, and decision making. He will also talk about the current expected credit losses methodology (CECL) accounting standard. What you need to know as a credit/collection professional and how it impacts your department and organization. Dr. Erdem will welcome questions and comments during or after the presentation.

1:45pm - 2:45pm
Legalities of Controversial Advertising
Speakers: Dan Kirkpatrick, Member and Seth Williams, Attorney at Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC
Overview: Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth’s Dan Kirkpatrick and Seth Williams will host a conversation on issues related to controversial advertising in broadcast media. Dan and Seth will discuss many aspects of Federal and state regulations pertaining to advertising on potentially problematic subjects, including marijuana, tobacco (e-cigarettes), alcohol, and gambling.  They will address the possible pitfalls for stations airing advertising on these subjects, and ways to attempt to minimize potential legal exposure associated with these types of advertising. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion during and after the presentation.

2:45pm - 3:00pm
Break sponsored by HighRadius

3:00pm - 4:00pm
Creating a Strategic A/R Management Plan Utilizing Advertiser and Industry Segment Data
Speaker: Randy Neff, Vice President, Szabo Associates
Overview: This presentation will demonstrate how existing data from a media companies advertising customers can be analyzed to determine revenue concentration and advertising category risk. Then once the level of risk is determined, what steps need to take place now, if necessary, to mitigate any high risk areas and how to strategically manage future changes in the portfolio while operating in a fluid sales environment helping grow credit sales while minimizing credit losses.

4:00pm - 5:00pm
Speed Networking   

5:30pm - 6:30pm
Networking Happy Hour at The Dubliner DC, 4 F St NW, Washington, DC [website]
Sponsored by Altus Receivable Management

   

6:30pm
Dinner on your own (or group dutch-treat dinner)

OCTOBER 24

8:00am - 8:30am
Networking Breakfast sponsored by FastPay 


 

8:30am - 8:45am
Getting Paid By Agencies…What’s the Secret?
Speaker: Larry Shiels, FastPay

8:45am - 9:30am
To Outsource or Not? Challenges…the good, the bad and how it may affect your company
Presenters: Mary McKenna, Vice President, Customer Financial Services at NBC Universal; Stanley Kopec, Director, A/R-Affiliate, Ad Sales Revenue and Collections, AMC Networks; and Ed Ienner, Executive Director-Credit & Collections, Meredith Corporation.
Overview: Does outsourcing improve performance and save money? The answer depends on a combination of flexibility, cost, speed and access to technology. Our presenters will give examples of their experiences, both good and bad, as well as what you need to know to be part of the discussion when your company suggests outsourcing credit and collections to another country.

9:30am - 10:00am
Using Cash Forecasting in Credit and Collections 
Presenters: Candice Herbst, VP GBS Record to Report Operations, Discovery; with Mary McKenna, Vice President, Customer Financial Services at NBC Universal

10:00am - 10:15am
Networking Break sponsored by HighRadius

10:15am - 10:45am
8 Ways Technology Could Deliver 50% Productivity Improvement in Credit and Collections
Speaker: Brian Holmes, Strategic Account Executive, HighRadius 
Overview: Digital is the name of the game. As order-to-cash leaders are exploring digital technologies to improve team productivity and efficiency, the need of the hour is to thoroughly evaluate the different technology options available and what benefits each of them brings to the table. While RPA has a lot of potential in automating repetitive tasks, finance leaders stand to gain more if they couple RPA and AI. The key then is to differentiate between capabilities of RPA and AI as technology vendors use them interchangeably there by confusing everyone.In this session, we explore the potential of digital transformation in your credit and collections department, compare and contrast the technology options and the productivity and cost saving benefits of each.

Key takeaways:

  • 8 ways digitization could improve A/R productivity and deliver cost benefits
  • Improve credit and sales collaboration by preventing blocked orders and rapid customer onboarding
  • Reduce DSO by predicting payment dates and designing proactive collections strategies
  • Improve straight-through cash posting through template agnostic remittance capture
  • Reduce revenue leakages by automatically bucketing deductions and providing actionable next steps fast-track dispute resolution and recover invalid deductions

10:45am - 12:00pm
Closing Roundtable Discussion...Let's talk shop!
Discussion Leaders: Dee Stevenson, Corporate Credit & Collections Manager, Gray Media Group; and Edward Mockus,Director, Order to Cash - Ad Sales, Discovery

Topics that may be discussed include:

  • Buzzwords – what do they mean? A lesson on digital acronyms for the credit & collection professional.
  • What is impression based advertising? The pros and cons...
  • What do I need to know about financial statements?
  • Is taking credit cards beneficial to my company?
  • Credit Policies
  • How to better handle collections when dealing with sequential liability agencies.
  • Best practices on how to handle clients who keep pushing you off.
  • At what point is it best to send an account to collections.
  • And much MORE!!!!! Attendees are welcome to add discussion subjects!

Box Lunch sponsored by CCR (Communications Credit & Recovery)

Optional: C-Span facility tour 

Attendee Registration Rates:

  • Full registration $125 (BCCA & MFM Members)
  • Full registration $200 (Non-Members or MFM or BCCA)

Registration is limited to media industry credit and collection professionals only.

Deadline to register is October 11, rates increase $50 on October 12.

There are a limited number of sponsorships available. For details on availability please contact Arcelia Pimentel at 847.881.8757. Space is limited and attendance of vendors is limited to event sponsors only.

Registration includes: lunch, breakfast, 2 breaks, cocktail reception, box lunch, and materials/sessions 

                        

  Questions? Please email Jamie Grande ([email protected]) or call BCCA office 847.881.8757.