CPE - Free (Sorta-Kinda)

[Mo Sheets]

I received a brochure in the mail today from PESI Law & Accounting regarding upcoming seminars in Indiana. The seminar is the 19th Annual Indiana State Tax Update. It covers Indiana Sales and Use Tax, Indiana Income Tax, Best Practices for Audits and Appeals, Indiana Property Tax, and Tax Incentives. In the brochure, there is a little blurb about if you want to attend for FREE, you can agree to be their on-site coordinator for the day. I called their 800 number and no one had claimed the Indianapolis seminar date so I had them fax me the form, completed it, and sent it back. The normal fee is $259.00 per person. Their website is www.pesilaw.com. They may offer similar CPE seminars in your state. I'll let everyone know how much (or little) work is involved after I serve as the coordinator for this seminar. It sounded like a good way to get some free CPE. I hadn't heard of this group before but figured I have nothing to lose (o.k....maybe 8 hours of my life) but 8 hours of CPE to gain!

Mo

[erchess]

On Site Coordinator

I have been an on-site coordinator for PESI. It was a fun day although the Seminar was actually over my head. I was expecting an intro to estates and trusts and what I was given was a presentation intended for people who have already filed at least a hundred of each. I will say that I coordinated a small seminar, attended by about ten people. If there had been more people I would have had more to do.

The coordinator is supposed to arrive some time (two hours?) before the scheduled start of the seminar in order to unpack the seminar materials and be ready to sign people in and to make sure the room is set up appropriately. They tell you that you are going to need to consult with the speaker that morning about how he or she wishes to be introduced and then make the introduction and announcements but my speaker preferred to do his own introduction and make the announcements himself. During the day you make sure everyone comes back timely from every break and you are available in case something goes wrong with the room to go get someone to fix the problem. Because of that concern, which did not materialize at my seminar, I was able to negotiate a free copy of the audio CD that would otherwise have cost me around twenty dollars. The coordinator normally packs up leftover materials and arranges for the facility to ship them back to PESI but in my case the speaker needed to take them to his next show. That meant that the packing up process was easier (no taping of and affixing labels to boxes) and that he needed to help me. In the normal situation he would have left at the end of the seminar and packing up would have been my problem. They tell you to figure on at least an hour or two after the end of the seminar. So instead of eight hours the coordinator will put in ten to twelve but it isn't terribly difficult work.

I personally consider that being an on site coordinator was very much worth the money I saved. I only wish that I had picked a seminar I could have gotten more out of. PESI was good to work with and the speaker was a real expert in the field.

[Mo Sheets]

Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to let me know about your experience. The affadavit they sent me listed the responsibilities and you are correct in that you are to arrive 2 hours ahead of the conference start time.

With CPE becoming so expensive, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get free CPE on several topics that should be useful. I'm looking forward to the conference and hope I get as lucky as you in that everything goes smoothly.

Have a great weekend