ACFE 31st Annual Fraud Conference Successful Virtual Turnaround

The ACFE had three months to plan a virtual 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference from scratch. The result is in the numbers and responses: 4,472 attended and 94 percent of the participants were satisfied. Lemonade never tasted so good.

Pivoting. Like everybody, the ACFE is doing it. We’re zipping in one direction. A major circumstance — let’s say, a pandemic — makes us pull the emergency brake. We blink our eyes, shake our heads and spin the vehicle 180 degrees. We gingerly apply a little pressure to the accelerator and gain a bit of speed. Soon we’re cruising into uncharted territory. Nervous but undaunted.

“Three months ago, I was in denial,” said Leslie Simpson, CFE, director of events at the ACFE. “I really fought the idea of canceling our live, in-person 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference in Boston,” she said.

“After 30 years of in-person ACFE Global Fraud Conferences, this year was going to be different,” said John Loftis, CFE, events manager at the ACFE. “It was a decision, quite frankly, that we did not want to have to make.”

“Obviously, we had to come to terms with it, which we eventually did,” Simpson said. “We learned so much about technology, ourselves and how people can inspire you daily.