All Proposals Must Include:

  • Title
  • Description (short paragraph)
  • Topic Area/Track
  • Why the Topic Is Important for Finance Practitioners
  • Vision for the Delivery of Your Proposed Session
  • Learning Objectives/Key Take-aways (one sentence each)
  • Session Delivery Format
  • Name, Title, Company, Business Email and Bio of Each Speaker
  • At Least One Identified/Confirmed Corporate Speaker

There must be at least one speaker included in each proposal. The name of the corporate practitioner is not required at the time of the submission; however, there must be an indication of the type of practitioner (role, title, etc.) that is planned for the speaking slot. In cases where similar proposal topics are being evaluated, proposals that identify the practitioner speaker(s) are considered more complete submissions.

2025 AFP FP&A Forum Educational Sessions are a non-commercial environment offering unbiased information to attendees. Sales pitches for products or services in the proposals are strictly prohibited and will be rejected immediately.

Deadlines:

Proposals are selected by a task force of senior corporate finance practitioners. The proposal deadline is close of business (5 PM ET) on July 19, 2024. Decision notifications for all proposals will be delivered in late September, 2024.

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Presentation Expectations:

All speakers must agree to provide a robust, substantive presentation deck to accompany their session, regardless of the format. Panel discussions and/or moderated interviews are required to provide presentations as well that support the discussion of the overall topic and help to summarize the key takeaways for the audience. All presentations must be delivered using the PowerPoint template that AFP provides.

AFP’s mission is to provide unbiased educational content for its members and certification holders, who make up most of the audience. Speakers must not engage in any sort of sales activity during their session. Sales activity is reserved for the exhibit hall and the numerous networking activities AFP provides.

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Prohibited Sales Activities Include:

  • Product demonstrations of any kind.
  • Extensive highlighting of any product or service and contrasting it with others.
  • Handing out brochures, flyers or sales takeaways of any kind. The dissemination of such items is reserved for the exhibit hall floor only.
  • Conducting sign-in sheets, mass collection of business cards, or roll call.

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Knowledge Types:

Sessions will be categorized into one of three knowledge types based on the makeup of their content. Those knowledge types are:

  1. Tactical: Session content is meant to improve skills and tactics for addressing challenges in the treasury and finance space.
  2. Strategic: Session content is meant to drive organizational change and strategy.
  3. MindShift: Session content features topics that challenge and disrupt how FP&A professionals think about their roles now and in the future.

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Session Delivery Formats:

You will be asked to select a format for your presentation, and to form the content of your presentation around it. Please see below for the format choices:

Campfire: Presentations with an interactive discussion with the audience. Facilitators bring prepared remarks and targeted questions to pose to the audience to stimulate the conversation, supporting those in attendance to learn from the speaker(s) and others in the room.

Case Study: Analysis of persons, groups, events, decisions, periods, policies, or other systems studied holistically by one or more methods.

Fireside Chat: May feature an expert who is confident with addressing a range of questions and a skilled moderator who can lead an engaging discussion and moderate audience Q&A.

Expert Lecture: Speaker(s) present in standard lecture format, with time for audience Q&A at the end.

Panel Discussion: An informed discussion and/or debate on a topic by up to three people with contrasting or complementary points of view, moderated by a chairperson, with time reserved for audience participation, questions, and comments.

Simulation: Speakers present business scenarios, display possible choices for the audience to make in response, record the audience's decisions, and discuss these findings under the framework of effective change management. (May not be a product or service demonstration).

Workshop: Speakers present content that is very hands-on and includes group activities. Workshops are generally better for teaching skills that require interactivity and individual participation to learn. 

We would prefer a more thorough and specific description for the task force’s review to ensure an understanding of the topic to be presented.

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Session Guidelines:

  • All educational session time slots at the 2025 AFP FP&A Forum will be 60 minutes in duration. The number of speakers is limited to a maximum of four (4), inclusive of the moderator.
  • Only one (1) financial institution, solutions provider representative and/or consultant is permitted per session.

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Session Descriptions Should Include:

  • A clear and concise explanation of the strategic motivations for developing or implementing the solution, and how this solution continues to drive business results.
  • A clear view of what tips, skills or strategies one would acquire from attending this session.
  • A discussion of cost savings and/or revenue enhancement; quality improvement; risk reduction; and improved efficiency and/or productivity as appropriate.
Please note that, if accepted, the submitted description will be edited to align with AFP stylistic and brand standards.

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