Bloomberg High Frequency Trading
January 19, 2012 – New York, NY

Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness – The Volcker Rule: Measuring the Impact on Business event and a Regulatory Engagement: Corporate Treasurer Fly-in
January 24 – Washington, DC

Bloomberg Sovereign Debt Conference
January 24 – New York, NY

The Conference Board – Diversity and Inclusion New Leaders Academy
January 31-February 1, 2012 – Munich

Bloomberg China Conference
February 1 – New York, NY

Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals – Essentials Seminar 2012
February 1-3, 2012 – Orlando, FL

Money Market Fund Reform
February 8, 2012 – Washington, DC

NACD’s Quarterly Environment Update
February 9, 2012 – Online

The Conference Board – Talent Management Strategies Conference
February 9-10, 2012 – New York, NY
February 29-March 1, 2012 – San Diego, CA

NACD – When an Activist Investor Comes Calling
February 15, 2012 – Atlanta, GA

Bloomberg Portfolio Manager Mash-up
February 16, 2012 – New York, NY

The Conference Board – Employee Health Care Conference
March 1-2, 2012 – New York, NY
March 29-30, 2012 – San Diego, CA

NACD Director Professionalism – The Master Class
March 12-13, 2012 – Scottsdale, AZ
April 26-27, 2012 – Charlotte, NC
August 20-12, 2012 – Laguna Beach, CA
December 5-6, 2012 – Naples, FL

NACD – Navigating Challenges Faced By a Private Company Chairman
March 21, 2012 – Atlanta, GA

Bloomberg Sovereign Debt Conference
March 22, 2012 – Frankfurt, Germany

The Conference Board – Executive Coaching Conference
March 27-28, 2012 – New York, NY

6th Annual Capital Markets Summit
March 28, 2012 – Washington, DC

National Association of Manufacturers 2012 Annual Public Affairs Conference
April 1-3, 2012 – Aventura, FL

Council of Institutional Investors – 2012 Spring Meeting
April 1-3, 2012 – Washington, DC

The Conference Board – Diversity & Inclusion Management Seminars
April 4-5, 2012- New York, NY

Bloomberg Doha Conference
April 16-17, 2012 – Doha, Qatar

The Conference Board – Social Media in HR Seminar
April 17-18, 2012 – New York, NY

NACD – The Roles and Challenges of the Lead Director
April 18, 2012 – Atlanta, GA

The Conference Board – Women’s Leadership Conference
April 19-20, 2012 – New York, NY

NACD Director Professionalism
April 23-24, 2012 – Charlotte, NC
August 16-17, 2012 – Dana Point, CA
November 29-30, 2012 – Washington, DC

Bloomberg Latin America Investing Conference
April 26, 2012 – New York, NY

Bloomberg Washington Summit
May 1, 2012 – Washington, DC

The Conference Board – Executive Compensation Conference
May 8-9, 2012 – Chicago, IL
June 5-6, 2012 – New York, NY

Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit
May 8, 2012 – Toronto, Canada

Bloomberg Enterprise Technology Summit
May 10, 2012 – New York, NY

The Conference Board – Corporate Political Spending
May 15, 2012 – Washington, DC

The Conference Board – Business Ethics and Compliance Conference
May 16-17, 2012 – Chicago, IL

The Conference Board – Leadership Development Conference
May 17-18, 2012 – New York, NY
June 7-8, 2012 – San Diego, CA

Bloomberg Ireland Economic Summit
May 17, 2012 – Dublin, Ireland

National Association of Manufacturing Summit
June 6-7, 2012 – Washington, DC

Bloomberg State & Municipal Finance
June 7, 2012 – Chicago, IL

Bloomberg Asset Management Summit
June 14, 2012 – Boston, MA

Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance – 18th Annual Directors’ College 2012
June 24-26, 2012 – Stanford Law School

The Conference Board – Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Conference
June 27-28, 2012 – Chicago, IL

Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals 2012 National Conference
July 11-14 – Washington, DC

Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance – Fiduciary College 2012
July 23-25, 2012 – Stanford Law School

Council of Institutional Investors – 2012 Fall Meeting
October 3-5, 2012 – Seattle, WA

NACD Board Leadership Conference 2012
October 14-16, 2012
National Harbor, MD

The 2010 B. Kenneth West Award Winner Curtis J. Crawford (left), NACD Chair The Honorable Barbara Hackman Franklin, and the 2011 B. Kenneth West Award Winner Jon F. Hanson

Hanson and Britell treated guests to unique insights into the knowledge they have gleaned over their numerous years of corporate leadership experience throughout the two-day forum, along with numerous other C-suite and boardroom experts and advisors.

Joining Hanson onstage was HealthSouth CEO Jay Grinney in a discussion on fostering relationships between executives and directors that best benefit shareholders, moderated by George Davis, Egon Zehnder’s co-managing partner of the Global Board Practice George Davis. Hanson joined HealthSouth mere months before federal regulators began fraud investigations that resulted in five of the company’s previous CFOs pleading guilty and the firing of CEO Richard Scrushy. Today, the company has returned to prominence, benefited by Hanson and Grinney’s commitment to excellence.

“The most important thing a CEO has with a nonexecutive chair is someone who is familiar with the company, but is not a direct report that he can bounce ideas off of,” explained Hanson. The two describe themselves as having a strong chemistry; Hanson noted that Grinney is not much older than his oldest son. “We’ve never had a disagreement, we may have had differing views, but by the time we got off the phone we were on the same page,” he added.

The two have ironed out a process for communications with the full board, as well. Although Hanson is the primary contact for the board between meetings, who summarizes their ideas and concerns for Grinney, individual directors are always welcome to contact Grinney directly. “I am not the gatekeeper, nor do I want to be,” emphasized Hanson.

Grinney noted that an ideal chairman needs to have leadership skills, honesty, integrity and a clear perspective: “You need a nonexecutive chair who truly does not aspire to be CEO, that’s a key prerequisite.”

Michael Kneeland, CEO of United Rentals (left), NACD Chair The Honorable Barbara Hackman Franklin and 2011 NACD Public Company Director of the Year Jenne K. Britell

Director of the Year Britell also faced a dicey situation as a United Rentals board member in 2007, when the Delaware Courts ruled the rental equipment operator could not force Ceberus Capital Management to complete a proposed buyout of the company. The next year, she was named chairman. Britell also led the turnaround of GE Capital Mortgage Services as its CEO from 1996 to 2000.

Britell offered a glimpse into the best practices she learned from these experiences in a panel titled “Turnaround: Dealing with Distress,” one of which being the ability for challenges to unite a board. “Crisis enables faster changes,” she explained. “It forces a board to come together more quickly and more deeply when the only place you can go is up.”

Other panelists, including Levick Strategic Communications President Richard S. Levick and Blockbuster Director Gary Fernandes, noted that the important part of crisis planning is not to develop a plan for specific crises, but rather have a solid leadership structure that works both in good times and bad. “The board and senior management need to share critical values,” Britell said. “The board has a critical role to play but the buck stops with the CEO, even if there is a nonexecutive chair or lead director. They need a consensus on values more than the plan.” (For more on the D100 from the September 2011 issue of NACD Directorship, please click here.)

This year’s keynote was delivered by former U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, who now serves on the board of JetBlue, and shared what he learned about leadership as commander of the U.S. Forces and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and how he uses that knowledge now in the boardroom. He emphasized that a close relationship with allies is necessary for success, noting that situations where many organizations tasked with similar goals created unnecessary roadblocks. “Leadership is not a talent or a gift, it’s a choice,” he said.

Of the 300 forum attendees, a select group were also celebrating the completion of the required educational programs to become an NACD boardroom Leadership Fellow. Prospective NACD Fellows are required to have years of significant board service, and to complete a number of programs to earn the distinction. To learn more about the NACD Fellow program, please click here.

H. Rodgin Cohen, Carol J. Loomis, Edward A. Kangas

“If you have an athlete that all of a sudden performs far above whatever he or she has ever performed, the immediate thought is steroids. Well, risk is the steroid for business, and too often there’s not enough drug testing in the boardroom,” said Cohen, who together with Loomis and Kangas reflected on their years at the top of the business world.

Introducing the Hall of Fame panel was Mark Preisinger, director of corporate governance for the Coca-Cola Company.  “The theme of this year’s forum is the game changers and it’s particularly relevant given all that we in the corporate governance community are dealing with,” Preisinger said, noting that the Dodd-Frank Act and the mid-term elections will result in even more game-changing events for directors who serve public companies.

Loomis, whose articles have informed Fortune readers and in some instances proved transformative for more than 50 years, told an audience of more than 300 that directors need to keep the CEO honest by providing a balance to the chief executive’s power.  “Your biggest job is fingering the CEO who is pleasant and nice and honest but just isn’t any good, and you have to do something about that guy because you just can’t go along in that respect,” said Loomis, accentuating that one duty of boards is to balance the CEO’s power. “Boards must do a much better job than they do about M&A deals. Too often, as far as I can tell, CEOs like nothing better than to do deals, they’re rather obsessive about it, and so the board has to apply the restraint.”

Kangas highlighted the need for boards to work as a respectful and respectable unit, saying, “It’s important to talk straight, play straight, no games. It’s okay to be politically astute in the boardroom; it’s not too good to be political. You learn in time, and it’s something I’ve learned the hard way, that listening is important. I sometimes reflect back on what my mother had to say, she said ‘Eddie, if you press your lips together your ears will work better.’”

“An independent lead director or an independent executive chairman is really important for the effective function of the boardroom,” Kangas continued. “It’s also important if you have a non-executive chairman that they are not chairman of the company. The CEO should be the focal point for every company both inside and outside.”

The Hall of Fame dinner opened the NACD Directorship 100 Forum, which each year convenes to celebrate the Directorship 100, the annual list published in the September issue, of the most influential people in corporate governance.

Participants:
1. Catherine L. Bromilow, partner, Corporate Governance Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers
2. Scott R. Cutler, EVP, co-head U.S. Listings and Cash Execution,
NYSE Euronext
3. Thomas J. Neff, chairman, Spencer Stuart U.S.,  director, Ace Ltd., Hewitt Associates
4. John S. Barry, partner, Corporate Governance Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers
5. Stuart R. Levine
Founder and CEO, Stuart Levine & Associates, director, Broadridge Financial Solutions
6. Julie Hembrock Daum, practice co-leader, North American Board and CEO Practice, Spencer Stuart
7. Kenneth P. Kopelman, partner, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel,
director, Liz Claiborne
8. Robin A. Ferracone
Executive chair, Farient Advisors and CEO, RAF Capital