Page 11 - PPIAC 2021 - Annual Conference Presentation Materials 1_Neat

VP of Training Message
VP of Training Welcome

A conference is a complex thing, made of many moving parts. When these parts work together
in harmony, the conference is as smooth and seamless as well-oiled machine. 2020 threw
everyone for a loop, but 2021 sees us regaining our feet and climbing back into the saddle again!
This could not have happened, were it not for the assistance of many people:

I’d like to thank the conference committee, first and foremost. William Robert Wall contacted all
of our vendors, advertisers, and sponsors, and we are incredibly fortunate to have him on the
team! I’d also like to thank Heather Cohen, who has played the part of our Hospitality Room
Suite for years. Please visit our Hospitality Suite and you’ll be warmly welcomed and made to feel
right at home- she’s got that special touch.
The committee is behind the scenes- but the three parts that the conference-goers see are: the
vendors, the speakers, and other attendees. If any one of these are lacking, the whole conference
wobbles.
Our speakers are, in a word, incredible.

Our presenters are diverse, with fantastic topics that range from criminal defense to legislative to
history lessons and how to improve your business and how to stay sane with difficult
investigations. We have a founder of PPIAC, an attorney working for the Colorado Supreme
Court, an account executive at a huge database, the owners of PI Magazine and PI Gear, a CLI
that will talk about the importance of timelines, and two nationally-renowned investigators
talking about marketing and survival. Our speakers are our pride and joy, and we are so grateful
for their willingness to share their time and expertise with us.

Our vendors (and sponsors and advertisers) help us to shape our conference- not only do they
provide goods and services that are geared toward improving our businesses and making
investigations easier, safer, and more comprehensive, but they are gracious enough to help
support our conferences with sponsorship, education, and even prizes! Many of our advertisers
are fellow PPIAC members, many are industry colleagues, and each one has something to offer.
Without our vendors/sponsors/advertisers, we’d be missing a crucial component to our
conference- many of our investigators are introduced to goods and services they never would
have known, had we not had the fortune to welcome vendors to the Rocky Mountain
Investigators Conference.

And finally, our attendees. What can we say? Without you, we wouldn’t be here at all. You are
the reason we come together for education, for networking, and for fellowship. 2020 was a rough
year-although Zoom helped- and now is our chance to finally meet and greet each other,
reconnecting, saddling back up, and getting into the swing of things.

So, thank you- each and every one of you. I know it’s hard to take a break from work, but with
you participating, this promises to be a terrific experience.

-Tan Smyth, PPIAC VP of Training