Consumer Law

Consumer Assembly 2011 (March 17th and 18th in Washington)

By Deepak Gupta

Since 1967, the Consumer Federation of America's Consumer Assembly has served as the consumer movement's principal meeting where consumer issues are reviewed, policy reforms are discussed, and new initiatives are presented.

Consumer Assembly 2011 will be held at the Embassy Suites Convention Center Hotel, 900 10th Street, NW, Washington, DC.The conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 17th and conclude at 12:15 p.m. on Friday, March 18th. All those with an interest in consumer issues are invited to attend.

Consumer Assembly 2011 will have two new features:

• A special emphasis on consumer protection, financial services, and health and safety. For each of these subjects, there will be at least two roundtable discussions and at least one general session. ·
• The roundtables will feature comments from a broader array of experts drawn from the consumer movement, academia, government, and business.

General sessions will feature both keynote speakers and panel discussions of issues of broad consumer interest.  You can find additional information at the conference website.  The schedule is below the jump.

Thursday March 17, 2011

8:30AM - 8:45AM        Welcome and Opening Remarks -

Stephen Brobeck
Executive Director
Consumer Federation of America

       8:45AM - 9:15AM        Keynote Address -

The Honorable Henry Waxman
United States House of Representatives

       9:15AM - 9:45AM        Keynote Address -

Scott Keeter
Director of Survey Research
Pew Research Center

       9:45AM - 10:45AM        The Consumer Reform Agenda -

Panelists:

Ellen Bloom
Director of Federal Policy and the Washington Office
Consumers Union

Erik Olson
Deputy Director, The Pew Health Group, Food Portfolio
The Pew Charitable Trusts

Sally Greenberg
Executive Director
National Consumers League

Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director
U.S. PIRG

       11:00AM - 12:15PM        Concurrent Roundtable: Trends in Consumer Complaints and Complaint Resolution -

Roundtable Participants:

Maria Tribble
Consumer Response Center Program Manager
Federal Trade Commission

Beverly Baskin
Senior Vice President & Chief Mission Officer
Council of Better Business Bureaus

Eduard Bartholme
Executive Director
Call For Action

John Breyault
Vice President
National Consumers League

Joe Ridout
Consumer Services Manager
Consumer Action

       11:00AM - 12:15PM        Concurrent Roundtable: Turning Tragedy Into Advocacy -

Panelists:

Linda Ginzel
President and CEO
Kids in Danger

Nancy Donley
President
Safe Tables Our Priority

Janette Fennell
Founder and President
KidsAndCars.org

       11:00AM - 12:15PM        Concurrent Rountable: Do All Consumers Need a Bank Account? Are Prepaid Cards an Alternative? -

Roundtable Participants:

Steve Streit
CEO
Green Dot Corporation

Ellen Lazar
Senior Advisor to the Chairman on Consumer Policy
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Jennifer Tescher
President and CEO
Center for Financial Service Innovation

Suzanne Martindale
Staff Attorney
Consumers Union

Donna Ortega
National Manager, Financial Innovation
AARP Foundation

Graciela Aponte
Senior Legislative Analyst, Wealth-Building Policy Project
National Council of LaRaza

Ardie Hollifield
Project Manager, Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
The Pew Charitable Trusts

       12:15PM - 2:00PM        Lunch/Keynote Address -

Keynote Address:

Dante Chinni
Author
Our Patchwork Nation

       2:00PM - 3:15PM        Concurrent Roundtable: Consumer Debt Burdens and Solutions -

Roundtable Participants:

Barrett Burns
President and CEO
VantageScore Solutions, LLC

Ellen Merry
Senior Economist, Division of Consumer and Community Affairs
Federal Reserve Board

Patricia Hasson
President
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley

Gail Kilmer
Senior Vice President, Senior Card Marketing Product Executive
Bank of America

Lori Trawinski
Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, Consumer and State Affairs Team
AARP Public Policy Institute

Margot Saunders
Of Counsel
National Consumer Law Center

Claudia Warszawski
Manager of Personal Finance Management
Navy Federal Credit Union

Graciela Aponte
Senior Legislative Analyst, Wealth-Building Policy Project
National Council of LaRaza

       2:00PM - 3:15PM        Concurrent Roundtable: Prioritizing Safety Risks -

Roundtable Participants:

Ronald Medford
Deputy Administrator
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Dennis Blasius
Eastern Region Director, Office of Compliance and Field Operations
U.S. Product Safety Commission

Sandra Hoffmann
Economist, Food Economics Division
USDA/Economic Research Service

Associate Director, Department of Federal Affairs
American Academy of Pediatrics

Matthew R. Madia
Federal Regulatory Policy Analyst
OMB Watch

       2:00PM - 3:15PM        Concurrent Roundtable: The Role of the Federal Trade Commission in an Evolving Marketplace and Regulatory Environment -

Roundtable Participants:

David Vladeck
Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection
Federal Trade Commission

Julie Nepveu
Senior Attorney, AARP Foundation Litigation
AARP

Robert Gellman
Privacy and Information Policy Consultant

Thomas D. Domonoske
Of Counsel
The Legal Aid Justice Center

Sharon Goott Nissim
Consumer Protection Fellow
Electronic Privacy Information Center

Ellyn Kay
Investigator
Fairfax County Consumer Affairs

       3:30PM - 4:00PM        Keynote Address -

Robert S. Adler
Commissioner
Consumer Product Safety Commission

       4:00PM - 5:00PM        Vulnerable Consumers in the Great Recession -

Panelists:

Lawrence Mishel
President
Economic Policy Institute

Arloc Sherman
Senior Researcher
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Jonathan Rochkind
Vice President and Director of Research
Public Agenda

                 Friday March 18, 2011        

9:00AM - 10:15AM        The Future of Consumer Communications -

Panelists:

Lee Rainie
Director
Pew Internet and American Life Project

Link Hoewing
Vice President, Internet Technology and Policy
Verizon

Elizabeth Grossman
U.S. Technology Policy Strategist
Microsoft Research

Mark Cooper
Research Director
Consumer Federation of America

       10:30AM - 11:00AM        Keynote Address -

Michael Barr
Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School

       11:00AM - 11:30AM        Keynote Address -

The Honorable David L. Strickland
Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation

       11:30AM - 12:00PM        Keynote Address -

Julie Brill
Commissioner
The Federal Trade Commission

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on March 13, 2011 (boomark / email).