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I am always surprised at how many meeting planners schedule speakers who hail from hundreds of miles away.

I imagine they believe that since a speaker comes from a great distance, they are somehow more informed than their local counterparts. It's some version of the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence."

Speaking from personal experience, though, I've found there to be a vast number of local consultants, authors, business executives and government officials who can speak eloquently on a wide range of subjects - and most live just across town.

One event where this is clearly evident is the leadership conference hosted annually by Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. The next one is scheduled for Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the University of New Mexico's Student Union Building.

If you haven't made plans to attend yet, you should consider doing so.

For example, the two keynote speakers, Judith Rogala and D.F. "Duffy" Swan, are UNM graduates.

Rogala has extensive senior management experience with the former Trans World Airlines and FedEx and more recently as a management consultant. In her book, "Trust, Inc.," she gets to the core of leadership by discussing how to build a trusting environment and make ethical decisions.

Swan, the luncheon speaker, served in various leadership roles over 35 years in the telecommunications industry including vice president and CEO for U.S. West-New Mexico, and is also a recipient of the New Mexico Ethics in Business Award. Both of their presentations are must-sees.

There are 19 workshop offerings on the agenda, so I can't cover them all here. But there seems to be a workshop for just about anyone's interest area. They include Taos resident Renee Barela-Gutierrez' workshop on "Using Leadership Principles to Improve Performance," local consultant Mia Logan's "Empowering Leadership Through Credibility, Influence and Negotiation," Albuquerque resident Suzanne Kryder's "How Leaders Benefit From Coaching Skills," and UNM continuing education instructor Diana Spendlove's "Principles and Qualities of Genuine Leadership."

I also highly recommend the Nonprofit Board Fair. Led by Dana Vilardi, director of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, this session will offer participants an opportunity to meet nonprofit executive directors and board members for the sole purpose of joining their boards.

"The agencies will provide information regarding their mission, vision, and history, and a list of board members and a description of board member requirements to aid participants who are interested in board service to select the appropriate nonprofit organization to align with," Vilardi said. "We thought the Chamber's leadership conference was a great place for community leaders and nonprofit executives to mix and mingle."

As Michael Gaylor, vice president for leadership programs at the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce says, "Conference attendees can expect to not only refresh and rejuvenate, reacquaint themselves with colleagues, and meet new people, but also take home some great information and ideas to implement in their workplaces."