IP, Social Media, Employment Insurance, Tax, Lobbying and Health Care

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When:

Wednesday, November 17, 2010
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Where:

The James B. Henry Center for Executive Development
3535 Forest Rd., Lansing, MI 48910

If you can only attend one program this year, this is the one you cannot afford to miss.

The 2010 Association Law Symposium is a must for every association chief staff, senior level executive and association attorney in Michigan. Join MSAE and your colleagues for this executive level program designed to update you on the newest legal, financial and human resource changes that affect your organization. If managed proactively, these are the issues that can make a difference to your organization and your members. Learn about the recent trends in association law, determine what organizational issues should be handled in-house and what issues require professional help, and gain the practical knowledge you need to stay at the top of your profession.

One day is all it will take to stay current and receive the most up-to-date information you need to manage your organization and stay out of trouble.

Agenda:

8:00 - 8:30 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 8:40 a.m.
Opening Remarks

8:40 - 9:20 a.m.
Intellectual Property: Protecting Your Association's Valuable Assets
Samuel J. Frederick

Are you protecting your organization’s intellectual property assets and brand? Learn the required elements of intellectual property as it relates to associations. This session will provide:

• Clarity on different types of intellectual property and their respective protections
• Insight on how to identify your association's trade secrets
• An overview on appropriate actions to protect trade secrets as well as your brand and other intellectual property assets

9:20 - 10:00 a.m.
Social Media:  Developing and Implementing an Effective Policy for Your Association
Samuel J. Fredrick and Melissa J. Jackson

Social Media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube, can be optimized as highly beneficial business development tools; however, if you don’t strategize how to use them correctly they could become employee productivity drains. This session will help your organization discover:

• Why your association needs to have a social media policy
• What needs to be included in your social media policy
• How to handle abuse as it relates to the policy
• What liability your volunteers’ use of social media regarding the association could create for you

10:00 - 10:15 a.m.
Refreshment Break

10:15- 11:00 a.m.
HR Policies and Practices Update
Melissa J. Jackson

Managing the human resources function and staying abreast of changing regulations and current trends is key to an effective organization. This session will provide useful information that you can implement immediately upon your return to the office. Topics to be discussed will include:

• Effective Confidentiality and Non-Compete Agreements
• What you should and should not do when it comes to workplace retaliation
• Unemployment insurance rates and how to measure your status
• The challenges regarding contract law that can impact your employment agreements
• Other must-know changes in HR that impact associations

11:00 - 12:00 p.m.
Managing Email to Reduce Risk in Litigation
Deanna Swisher

Unlike the conversations that email has replaced, email is not forgotten and is often kept verbatim for a long time. Email elevates what may have been a casual comment to a “writing.” and the content and tone of email can be comprehended differently by the author and recipients. This session will use “real” examples to discuss practical strategies to manage the risk that email can present, should the association be involved in litigation, including:

• Employee training regarding the use and abuse of email
• Revising the employee handbook to address email and other electronic access issues
• Document retention policies

12:00 - 12:45 p.m.
Round Table Lunch
Want to know more about a specific topic discussed during the Association Law Symposium? Join one of the presenters for lunch!

12:45 - 1:45 p.m.
Tax Update and Association Governance: Be in the Know
Todd W. Hoppe

Prepare yourself for a fast-paced session that will cover the major tax and association governance updates that you need to know to effectively manage your organization. Discussion will focus on:

• Recent developments in the tax law that apply to tax exempt organizations
• IRS Form 990 and the impact its disclosure requirements have on the governance of tax-exempt organizations including a brief discussion of required policies and procedures
• The evolving scope of charitable solicitation licensing rules in light of the increase use of the internet as a development tool
• Determining the best way to structure a service sharing relationship, partnership, joint venture or merger with another organization as well as what negotiation terms are necessary and what legal documents need to be in place to make it work correctly
• The status of the 1099 implications and tax credits for non-profit organizations and other issues that impact your office.

1:45 - 2:30 p.m.
Lobbying, PACs, Charitable Giving & Gaming: The Do's and the Don'ts
Eric E. Doster

Whether you are involved with politics daily or annually, you must comply with the laws. Receive an overview of the basic framework and current developments with respect to Michigan political activities by associations. Emphasis of discussion will be on utilizing association resources to influence the political process. Throughout the discussion, we will address real life examples faced by associations. This discussion will be broken down into various areas including:

• Political Action Committee activities and common mistakes to avoid
• Use of association treasury funds to maximize political clout
• Lobbying activities
• Charitable gaming activities such as casino nights and raffles

2:30 - 2:45 p.m.
Refreshment Break

2:45 - 3:30 p.m.
Insurance and the Non-Profit Association: Protect Yourself
Frank C. Flood

Risk management is essential for every organization. This session will focus on best practices to protect your association, your events and your reputation. Topics discussed will include:

• Enterprise Risk Management
• Errors and Omissions insurance
• Pros and cons of Directors and Officers coverage
• Employee practice liability insurance and related issues
• Wrongful termination
• Insurance for events as well as negotiating hotel cancellation and attrition clauses
• Affinity Plans
• Duty to Defend

3:30 - 4:45 p.m.
The Health Care Reform Puzzle: What Associations and their Members Need to Know
Jennifer Kildea Dewane and Johanna Novak

With health care reform and other relevant health care issues affecting associations, your organization must be knowledgeable of the updates and changes. This session will provide:

• An overview of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the implications that it has on your association and its members
• Changes required for specific health plans and the requirement that certain employers provide health coverage to their employees
• A brief summary of what information is protected by HIPAA when it comes to your employees

4:45 - 5:00 p.m.
Review, Prioritize and Act
David M. Lick

After an overwhelming day of information, this quick review will help you create your own prioritized "Top 10" list of actions that need to be taken in order to best protect your organization and its constituency. Leave armed with the information and tools you can utilize at your office immediately.