SCB Forums, named after SuperCommunity Banking, is the successor company to FinEx, Anat's first consulting firm that was sold to IBM in 1994. The Company is dedicated to creating value for SuperCommunity banks through several channels: SuperCommunity Bank Forums for CEOs, CFOs, Chief Credit Officers, Chief Information Officers, Marketing Directors, HR Directors, Investment Management Directors and other key roles in banks. The peer groups developed by SCB Forums focus on banks with assets in excess of $1 billion, that are invited to participate based upon their location, strategic position and performance excellence.

SCB Forums offers two types of forum meetings:

• Sunday-Tuesday meeting that takes place in lovely, exclusive spots around the country. The meetings allow for ample time for sessions, but also for some leisure time such as golf, tennis, hiking etc., to permit our members to get to know each other better.

• Sunday-Monday or Thursday-Friday meeting in major metropolitan areas. These meetings start Sunday at 2:30pm and end Monday at 4pm. They are intense and compact, and work better for those who prefer not to expand the interaction beyond the boardroom table.

In addition to the CEO meetings, SCB Forums also offers meetings especially designed for specific key roles in the bank: CFOs, CCOs, CIOs, CLOs, HR executives, marketing executives, wealth management executives and others. The meetings take place in convenient locations around the country, ranging from airport hotels and other metropolitan areas to Scottsdale and Florida. Some are one and a half day meetings, and others are two and a half days. Much like the CEO peer groups, these meetings focus on interaction among the members. Agendas are assembled using member input to ensure they address the most relevant and timely topics for the group. The firm currently has 40 meetings a year.

The Forums are groups of Bank executives of non-competing, high performing, $1B+ SuperCommunity Banks who meet twice a year to candidly share experiences and opinions through discussions facilitated by Anat Bird. We typically cap each group at 15 attendees. The discussions focus on issues of interest as identified by Forum members, both strategic and tactical. This unique format has met with great success. The members will tell you that the return on their investment of time and money has been outstanding and they had a great time at it too.

The first day starts at 2:30 PM with four hours of unstructured discussion. We go around the table and each member describes what major events occurred in their organization in the past six months, raises questions they'd like answered by the group and suggests best practices they identified in their company. The discussion is followed by reception and dinner for the attendees and their guests.

The second day is more structured and follows an agena that was comprised from member input at the last meeting and refreshed ten days prior to the current Forum. In addition, topics raised during the first day are also discussed if they appeal to most of the attendees. Folks bring examples and other documents pertaining to either best practices or the topics outlined in the agenda for open and practical sharing. We start with breakfast at 7:30 AM and end at 4 PM.

For more information, click REGISTRATION on the top menu and select the Forums most appropriate for you.

In addition, Anat Bird facilitates board and executive management retreats. Anat also gives presentations to employee groups, boards and bank user groups. Anat has given over 300 speeches and made presentations to dozens of bank and non-bank boards and client groups both here and abroad. Her books have been translated into Spanish and Japanese, and she has made several presentations and has also consulted in Japan. She draws on her experience as a board member as well as an experienced financial services executive to provide both the practical and strategic perspectives as needed.

You can find Anat's articles not only on this site and in the American Banker, but also on a Japanese web site where they are translated to Japanese.

The first Forum took place at the Hilton in Chicago's O'Hare airport in 1990, with members including Jeff Taylor of Cole Taylor Bank, Kelly King of BB&T, Bert Colianni of Marquette Bancshares, Tom Pruitt of Banknorth, Dave Ondersma of First Michigan, Steve Parker of Old National, Carl Campbell of Keystone, Richard Anthony of Alabama's First Commercial and others.

Today our members number in the hundreds, and many of these original members are still with us. We have numerous testimonials from institutions' whose bottom-line benefited well over $1 million for several years as a result of their attendance at the Forums. We are proud to continue adding value to our industry and its community banks by offering a confidential, non-competitive, highly candid opportunity for successful SuperCommunity Bank executives to share actionable lessons from their successes and failures.

Our Forums are designed to create productive exchange among the members, and we have only one speaker per meeting. The speaker is invariably a highly respected professional whose skills were requested by the members. Past speakers include the Banking Editor of the Wall Street Journal, a Federal Reserve Bank President, many of the industry's best and brightest analysts, major investors and fund managers, and other highly respected professionals.

Our format focuses on the value of member interaction and skilled facilitation. There are no "commercials", no vendors and no "dog and pony" shows. We candidly share what works and what doesn't, and expand our networks during off-hours as well.