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January 8, 2026
Roundtables vs. Conferences: Why Leaders Prefer Roundtables
As a financial services leader, your inbox is likely full of invites to industry events: Conferences, forums, summits, and expos that promise insight, networking, and a glimpse into what’s next in the industry.
But are these one-off events really the best medium for leaders to stay connected and informed?
As operational complexity increases, regulatory, technological, and staffing pressures intensify, and fraud looms large, it’s time to reassess what kind of engagement actually brings results. That’s why Auriemma Roundtables offers more than one-off conferences.
Let’s compare conferences vs. Roundtables side by side and understand why the latter model is so vital to making the right calls in the financial services space.
| Conferences | Auriemma Roundtables | |
| Scale | “Bigger is better” and tickets are widely, including to vendors and consultants. | Intimate by design, with attendance open only to member institutions. |
| Agenda Topics | Conferences are for mass audiences, so discussions typically focus on:
|
When executives get a closed-door, invite-only forum, they can be candid. Confidentiality allows leaders to speak openly about:
|
| Attendee Profile | Industry events are public forums that encourage hundreds of participants from all levels to gather in a conference hall. Conferences are a passive experience, with no direct influence on the content being shared onstage. | Frontline leaders and process owners are our focus. In Roundtables, the people in the room already know the landscape. Participants are not there to be educated on fundamentals; they seek insight to manage teams, budgets, risk exposure, and regulatory accountability more effectively. |
| Data | True benchmarking is absent. Examples provided in presentations are generalized, and lessons are almost always framed as success stories—not the real story. | Auriemma Roundtables provides unmatched benchmarking for financial institutions. Metrics vary by Roundtable, covering operational volumes, staffing pressures, key risk indicators, and more. Leaders can determine whether an issue is isolated or systemic. |
| Longevity of Insights | Content comes in one-time bursts, with no mechanism to revisit ideas, track outcomes, or adjust strategies as conditions evolve. | Auriemma Roundtables operates on a fundamentally different timeline. The same peer group meets multiple times throughout the year, allowing insights to build and compound. |
| Networking | Industry events offer brief introductions and shallow connections with little chance for follow-up | Because participants return to the same forum, members can:
|
Why Roundtables Matter Now More Than Ever
The growing appeal of Auriemma Roundtables reflects a broader reality: Today’s challenges are not solved in a single conversation.
Risk management, operational efficiency, compliance, and technology governance require ongoing calibration. Decisions made in January may need revision by June. A year-round cohort provides a place to think through that evolution with peers who are navigating the same uncertainty. For more information, contact Kylie Brown.
