Each proxy season brings new challenges for investor relations officers to effectively plan and manage solicitations. Join us November 14 as our panel reviews current issues, including finalized rules for disclosing executive compensation.

As with other SEC rules intended to improve content and clarity of disclosed material, IROs need to understand how these changes affect their role in working with management, directors and the Street.

This panel of industry leaders includes an HR consultant, a securities attorney and a proxy solicitor, brought together to discuss:

Tracy Bean is a principal in the executive remuneration practice with Mercer Human Resource Consulting, where she designs and validates compensation strategies for executives and employees. With more than 20 years of executive compensation consulting experience in the manufacturing, services, high tech, biotech and healthcare industries, she is a frequent speaker to various industry and professional association groups, and has written numerous articles on compensation and benefits topics. A graduate of Portland State University, Tracy is a certified public accountant and a certified employee benefit specialist. She is a member of WorldatWork, the national association of stock plan professionals, and is a contributing member of Compensation Standards.

Chris Visser is an attorney in the corporate securities/mergers and acquisitions group at Preston Gates & Ellis LLP. Representing clients in a variety of corporate, securities and business–related transactions, Chris has extensive experience in preparing proxy statements and related SEC reports, and in counseling clients with respect to Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, NASDAQ and NYSE listing standards and corporate governance standards in general. His experience includes mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and compliance with federal and state securities laws. He received his JD from the University of Houston Law School, an MBA from the University of Houston, and a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Washington.

Ron Schneider is director of business development for proxy solicitation and meeting services at Mellon Investor Services. Ron and his team provide counsel to clients faced with difficult and sensitive proxy solicitations involving compensation, corporate governance, shareowner activism and control issues to public companies in all industries and of all sizes. He is a Princeton University graduate and active in NIRI, Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, and is a regular guest lecturer at the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Moderated by John Snyder of Snyder Investor Relations. Since founding his company eight years ago, John has provided a full-range of investor relations counsel to small- and mid-cap companies in the Northwest and Bay Area . He has been active in the local NIRI chapter since 1990 and currently serves as a senior advisor.