Jen: This is the PKF Texas Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Jen Lemanski and I’m here with Brian Baumler, the Energy Practice Leader at PKF Texas, and the Chair of the 16^th Annual Houston CPA Society Energy Conference. Also with us is Jennifer Poff, the Executive Director of the Houston CPA Society. Welcome to The Playbook Jennifer and Brian.

Brian: Thank you, Jen.

Jennifer: Thank you.

Jen: So, Jennifer, tell us a little bit about the Society.

Jennifer: The Society has been around for ninety years, and one of the things we’ve done for ninety years is we’ve been the local organization for CPAs to get their continuing education, to share ideas with other people in the profession, and just to have an area where they can come network together. One of the things we do for our continuing education is the Energy Conference, and we’re in the 16^th year of doing that. With 7,700 members, we have about 350 who attend this conference making it one of our larger events.

Jen: That’s really great. So, Brian, you’re the Chair and you’ve been the Chair for the past several years. Tell us what you’ve got planned for this year.

Brian: We have a great lineup. As we’ve had in the past, The Big Four are all represented, giving various presentations on technical topics; accounting and reporting, SEC compliance, we’re also covering M&A trends, and also taxation. It’s going to be a great event and is going to be well attended. We also have various panels throughout the day. One is covering the E&P and trying to give everybody perspective on what’s going on in that space. We also have a panel that’s discussing capital markets, we have Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. and other home-grown folks represented in that panel. We also have an exciting panel on technology and what trends are shaping the industry within technology and also changing us in our workforce.

Jen: Perfect. Now, I know you’ve had several really big named keynotes in the past. Who is your keynote speaker this year?

Brian: We have Ryan Sitton, who is the Texas Railroad Commissioner. He’s got a lot of energy, is a great presenter and I’m sure is going to have everybody’s attention.

Jen: Perfect. So, when is this conference, where is the conference and what time does it start?

Brian: This year, the conference is going to be on August 29^th. It’s going to be at Hilton Americas downtown. The registration starts at 6:45am, the conference actually kicks off at 7:45am and lasts until about 5:00pm. We have a special session at the end, we have John Garrett, who is a recovering CPA, and he’s actually going to talk to us about how we brand ourselves outside of the workforce.

Jen: Perfect. I’ve seen his Green Apple talk, it’s really great. Now, Jennifer, where would somebody go to register for the conference?

Jennifer: They can go to our website, www.houstoncpa.org.

Jen: Is there an energy page that they should be looking for?

Jennifer: There are two ways to get the energy page: you can access it through the course catalog, or it’s right on the homepage. When you see the banner at the top just click the arrow and you’ll see the Energy Conference right there.

Jen: I know you guys can’t do this all by yourselves with the Society. Are there sponsors this year?

Brian: Yes, we have almost thirty sponsors this year. Our underwriting sponsor is WG Consulting, so we’re very excited to have them this year.

Jen: Perfect. Well, thanks, and we’ll see you guys on the 29^th.

Brian: Thank you.

Jen: This has been another Thought Leader Production brought to you by PKF Texas The Entrepreneur’s Playbook. Tune in next week for another chapter.