NAPBS 2010 Annual Conference

NAPBS 2010 Annual Conference San Antonio, Texas March 7-10, 2010

The attendance at the conference was about the same as last year. Not bad at all. Here are the details:

I think the quality, content and organization of this year’s conference was again excellent. The conference committee, headed by Dean Carras with Innovative Enterprises did an outstanding job. Exhibitors and attendees still want more face time, but at least they could continue to have visitors to their booth during education sessions.

The biggest news was that Accreditation is in place. All the companies in the beta test phase passed and the process is now open to all companies. Are you going to be accredited this year? You should.

The committees and NAPBS have accomplished a ton of work this past year. Details of all the committee activities will be posted on the NAPBS website, but to highlight:

• Best Practices Committee:
  • Will be updating the state PI requirements for background checkers. GIVS (Government Identify Verification Systems) subcommittee formed.
• Conference Committee:
  • Three year advanced planning.
• Education Committee:
  • Produced 12 free monthly webinars for members.
• Government Relations Committee:
  • Annual Fly-In to meet with Congressional members.
  • Have been pushing to secure an exemption for consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) from H.R. 3126, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009.
  • Currently working on Senate side for exemption for all CRA’s. Broadened and rekindled relationships with SEARCH and certain court clerks in Arizona and California.
  • They also worked with other industry groups such as the National Fire & Fire Alarm Association, Consumer Data Industry Association, Chamber of Commerce, CDIA, CTIG and others.
  • NAPBS representation at MA CORI hearing.
  • Started Tenant Screening and FTC/FCRA subcommittees
• International Committee:
  • Facilitating the set-up of international screening groups to retain them under the
    NAPBS umbrella.
• Media Relations Committee:
  • Hired professional PR firm.
  • Eight news releases in 2009.
  • Articles for NAPBS journal.
• Membership Committee:
  • 2008’s bad economy negatively impacted our membership count.
  • New campaign in 2010to bring back those who left.
• Provider Committee:
  • Online exam for field researchers. Check it out. Publication of provider directory distributed at conference.
• Tenant Screening Committee:
  • Newly formed in 2008 to give this segment a better voice.

So, if you wonder why you pay your dues, look at what has been accomplished. We need you to join a committee (see list below) to help continue to keep our industry strong and free from government intervention. Join today. Yes, today!

Industry Trends:

• The mood of the attendees was very, very upbeat. Not that all were back at the sales levels ofearly2008, but most said either things stopped getting worse or were actually getting better. One claimed $1.2M in new business to start in 2nd quarter. Another said sales were up 50% over last year (some commercial work but mostly federal government work).
• Technology is still key to success in this industry. Better operating platforms, better interface with providers, better computer interfaces with clients, better interface with ATS and HRIS.
• Fingerprint checking was again a big topic, both electronically scanned and manually taken and then scanned. In 1992, FBI handled 3.6 Million criminal checks for non-criminal justice purposes. In 2002,this had increased to 9.1M and in 2008, 21.5M.
• Automated web tools for real-time criminal records checking with full data extraction.

Stuff:

• The reception on Sunday night was again excellent. Food, open bar, exhibitors, networking, information exchange, old and new friends, hugs and handshakes. Can’t be beat. I heard there was also much partying at the bars along the RiverWalk after the reception.
• Monday night was open and several companies entertained their clients. Everyone had a nice place to go and the bars were busy. Coyote Ugly seems to have waitresses that draw on your back with marking pens and cut your BVDs right off your body. How did I miss that one???? (But I hear the video will be posted on the NAPBS website).
• Tuesday night was cocktails/dinner/band planned by NAPBS. It was all very good and extremely well attended. The band was good and the music selection excellent and while a core of people stayed to dance and listen, people gathered in the hallways, at the hotel bar, at the bars outside the hotel and, well, “What happens in San Antonio….”
• NAPBS has a new tag line. Watch for it. Our Nancy Munro’s entry was chosen as a finalist.
• EEOC is reviewing their position regarding the use of background checks for employment screening and it is anticipated that their recommendation will not be favorable for our industry. NAPBS is working to create a response to this. This may require additional investment on your part to thwart this but the alternative could be much worse.

People Stuff:

• Bill Bollinger and Perry Morgan departed NBD for Innovative Enterprises.
• Jim Hall is now GM with NBD.
• Karen Crider moved over to Pre-Employ.com.
• Susan Gant is now with USA-Fact.
• Robin Shattuck is now with Core Data Source.
• Katy Britto is now with USA-Fact.
• Jo Bowen has joined USA-Fact also.
• Chris Feld is now with Vidality Screening.
• Several people told me they are actively looking to hire so we will see more changes and some new people entering the industry. Watch www.BackgroundScreeningJobs.com.
• Three people have been newly elected to the NAPBS Board.
• Congratulations to
  • Dawn Standerwick
  • Christine Cunneen
  • Dean Carras

Company News:

• ABSO acquired by Sterling Infosystems.
• National Diagnostics acquired by HireRight (USIS).
• First Advantage will re-emerge as a separate public company (separated from First American). This is scheduled for June 2010.
• Checkpast got acquired by ZeroChaos, one of their customers.

Conference Presentations included some great topics. I have not seen the stats yet, but all seemed to be very well attended and feedback was mostly positive with no major complaints. The only problem was there were so many sessions it was impossible to attend them all. Here is a list with links to the PowerPoint presentations.

• Adjudicating Screening Results for Clients
• Advanced FCRA and State Law
• An Integrated Approach to HR
• How to Implement a Trade Secrets Protection Program
• Country Screening Essentials- China
• Country Screening Essentials- The Philippines
• Court Record Searches Using Web Data Extraction. How does it work and what makes it different. To quote John John Kloos of
• Backchecked LLC, the moderator of the education session at the conference about this tool, “2010 is the year that this technology comes of age. You can choose to embrace it or fight it but you can’t afford ignore it.”
• Covering Your Assets
• Electronic submission of Fingerprints
• Experian
• FCRA Basics
• Implementing Effective Prices
• International Data Protection Checklist
• International Data Protection Law Resource
• Introduction to UK and Europe
• Navigating the International Data Protection Maze-Basic
• Navigating the International Data Protection Maze-Screening Laws
• Navigating the International Data Protection Maze-Applying Rules
• Navigating the International Data Protection Maze-Practical Solutions Providers and CRAs
• Takin’ Care of Business
• ony the Timebomb Handout
• Web 2.o

Vendor Demos were more numerous this year. We got into the act too, presenting Dexter, our real-time, direct-to-the-court criminal data extraction tool. Click here for more information. It was a huge hit (including opinions other than ours). Other vendor demos included Varian (on-site drug testing), Verisys (marketing to the healthcare industry), Global Data Associates (international backgrounds), the Work Number and CID, which is marketing access to SSA’s Consent Based SSN verifications.

The dues you pay and the conferences you support get you a fabulous return on a good investment. NAPBS has saved us all a lot of aggravation, created a forum for true exchanges of ideas, concepts and experiences that help each of us individually and as an industry. Support NAPBS!

The Mid-Year conference will be in La Jolla, CA, October 10-12, 2010. Be there.
Next year’s annual conference will bein Denver, March 20-22. Be there too.

Let Berg Consulting Group help you sell your business. Our Better Vendor Program is guaranteed to improve your provider quality and reduce your supplier costs for everything in your Cost of Goods Sold.

Dexter (web data tool for criminal records extraction).

Committees:

• Best Practices Committee:
  • Mission: To establish and promote best industry practices and inform members regarding compliance with applicable laws.
    Conference Committee: Mission: To organize the most efficient and educational conferences to help NAPBS® take full advantage of the time spent.
• Education Committee:
  • Mission: To develop quality and timely educational programs for the members and the background screening industry as a whole.
    Government Relations Committee: Mission: To coordinate and engage in policy and political advocacy with Federal, State and Local Government as well as to work with other organizations to further the overall mission and goals of NAPBS®.
• International Committee:
  • Mission: To explore the feasibility of establishing an international network of global background investigation and screening firms in order to aid screening firms around the world to better understand the processes, logistics and laws of conducting international investigations.
• Media Relations Committee:
  • Mission: To clarify and promote the purpose, goals, and accomplishments of NAPBS.
• Membership Recruitment and Retention Committee:
  • Mission: To position NAPBS® as the defining voice for the screening industry; to recruit and retain members and deliver measurable value to members.
• Provider Committee:
  • Mission: To promote and preserve the core values consistent with our professional association through discipline based education and compliance, independent of professional differences.
• Tenant Screening Committee:
  • Mission: To promote and preserve the core values consistent with our professional association through discipline based education and compliance, independent of professional differences.