Pleased to say that I'm chairing a panel at the National Association of Corporate Directors' 2009 Corporate Governance Conference in Washington, DC, Oct 18-20.
Topic = Transparency & Technology: Directorship in a Digital Age. Cool, eh? When asked to chair this panel, I hesitated for less than a millisecond, especially when told who my panelists will be:
- Scott Greenburg, director of Sahale Snacks, Inc., and senior partner, K&L Gates LLP;
- Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center [and fearless blogger]; and,
- Thomas Gensemer, managing partner, Blue State Digital [aka the folks who did the websites for the Obama campaign]
According to the program description, we're going to "explain how social networking, virtual communications, and new ways of problem-solving could transform intra-board communications-and relationships with shareholders." Yes, we will!
I've had the chance to prep a bit with the panelists, leading me to believe that this will be a real eye-opener for corporate directors.
Given the digital-age divide (some of those attending began their careers giving dictation to secretaries), the collective experience of Scott, Paul, and Thomas, all of whom have earned their board stripes -- not to mention their Web 2.0 savvy -- promises a stellar moment in the development of corporate governance. I'm serious.
If we can bring corporate directors up-to-speed on new ways of working, we will likely see major improvements and breakthroughs in corporate transparency. Seeing "through" how our companies work is good for everyone and good for the economy.
And...blogfans: I'm going to live-blog and tweet from the conference. As per above, #NACD. Stay tuned.