Schedule

Registration/Continental Breakfast/Trade Show

Welcome & General Session

Become a More Influential Leader: Develop a Culture that Engages, Enlightens and Energizes Your Team

Joe Micallef, CEO | Grow UP Sales

Are you an influential leader or simply a task manager? Do you reactively support your team as needed, or do you proactively empower your team to achieve extraordinary success? Bank leaders today are required to be powerful coaches who can engage, enlighten and energize their teams to embrace better approaches to achieving success. But do you know how? As a successful bank leader and coach for more than 25 years, Joe Micallef will share rocket-fueled ideas that will boost your team’s performance.

Refreshment Break

Breakout Sessions 

Human Resources

HR Update & 2025 Cases to Watch 

Karen Shannon, Vice President Business Consulting, CHRO | Ollis/Akers/Arney

2025 is shaping up to be another year of change for organizations and HR professionals. In the ever-shifting world of employment law, the impact of legislative changes can be sudden and unpredictable. Karen Shannon provides an HR update, discusses upcoming changes for employers and reviews U.S. Supreme Court cases from 2024 and cases to watch in 2025.

Marketing

Practical Applications for Generative AI in Your Bank

Derek Baker, Executive Vice President, Growth and Innovation | Mills Marketing
Kim Schuver, Creative Director | Mills Marketing

Discover the transformative power of generative AI, exemplified by technologies like ChatGPT, in revolutionizing content creation and business decisions. This session delves into practical applications, addressing concerns and advocating for banks to leverage generative AI as a competitive advantage. Take away a clear understanding of the distinctions between AI and generative AI, explore three practical advantages for implementation and gain insights into addressing three key concerns surrounding the use of generative AI. Elevate your knowledge and embrace the potential of generative AI in shaping the future of banking and decision-making.

Lunch 

Breakout Sessions 

Human Resources

Troublesome Terminations

Monte Mills, Senior Consultant | Safe Haven Security Group

Who hasn’t experienced a level of fear during a termination interview? If you haven’t yet, you probably will. But what to do about it? How do you keep yourself and your people safe? Learn the top 10 ways to manage a troublesome termination and keep everyone safe.

Marketing 

The Next Digital Wave: Evolving Expectations in Retail Banking

Matt Herren, Industry Consultant | CSI

Retail banking has forever changed. It is not enough to just offer innovative products and services – it is critical to explain to consumers how these changes will benefit them while positioning the bank as a partner that can help facilitate. This session discusses the transition to a more customer-centric approach on how emerging financial technology trends will fit into our collective future. The goal is not technology for technology’s sake but rather to use technology as the connective tissue that allows institutions to meet customers’ ever-changing wants and needs. The rate and pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again. It is imperative that all institutions understand the consumer challenges currently faced in the financial technology world and, more importantly, how the industry is planning to address them.

Refreshment Break 

Breakout Sessions 

Human Resources

Optimize Your Team for Top Performance 

Anne Schutt, CFP, Vice President of Business Development | Midwestern Securities Trading Company

Finding and hiring great talent is a challenge for many financial institutions, which makes developing and retaining the team you have a top priority. This session addresses how to create a sustainable, high-performing team with your staff and how to develop thoughtful benefits and compensation strategies aligned with your institution’s objectives to help you retain your top talent. If employee acquisition and retention is an issue for your institution, this session is for you.

Marketing 

Building a Scalable Marketing Organization and Driving Results Through Impactful Campaigns

Heidi Miget, Senior Vice President of Marketing | Midwest BankCentre

Hallie Stupp, Marketing Manager | Midwest BankCentre

Refreshment Break 

General Session

The Solution Room & Reception

Moderated by Joe Micallef, CEO | Grow UP Sales 

You have an obstacle, and your peers have a solution! During this networking session, attendees will work with their tables to help find solutions to everyone’s obstacles. Please come with one obstacle you would like your peers to assist you with finding a solution!

Buffet Breakfast

General Session

Power of Pivoting

Monica Ortega, CEO | Pivoting Productions

Change can be scary, but if you learn to do it right, you can find purpose in the pivoting. Too often people use these times of unexpected change to play the comparison game and go through all the “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” in their lives. These can be two of the worst words in the English language if we don’t learn to step back and evaluate our progress without our emotions attached to it. Examine where your fear comes from and how to overcome it as you explore steps to turn your vision into reality.

Refreshment Break

Breakout Sessions

Human Resources

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: Gearing for Growth

Carmen Schwab, Senior Consultant | Haberfeld 

In an incredibly competitive environment, we can’t just rely on “the way we’ve always done it.” In fact, some of what we’ve always believed about employees just isn’t true any longer. There are generational differences in what employees want and need from their work. If you want to attract and retain the best talent, now and in the future, you need to understand how they think and what they want.

Marketing

Crisis Communication

Tim Keck, Consultant | SafeHaven Security Group

You’ve just had a critical incident at your business. Reporters are waiting outside with cameras. Are you ready? There’s a way to make sure you won’t be searching for answers when you find yourself in this position. The 24-hour news cycle means local news organizations are hungrier than ever for fresh content and credible experts. This session will make the case that developing relationships with local media and saying “yes” when they call for your help will pay off for your reputation, your business and your bottom line.

Refreshment Break

General Session

A.B.C. for Success – How You Can Achieve an Extraordinary Career in Banking

Joe Micallef, CEO | Grow UP Sales

The banking industry offers everyone an opportunity to achieve extraordinary success, but many individuals don’t know how. Joe Micallef shares how he rose from bank teller to bank CEO by adopting three simple principles for success. He explores these principles to guide you in developing a plan to achieve your goals, build greater confidence and overcome the limiting beliefs holding you back. This inspirational session will help you achieve the career, and life, of your dreams.