SACRAMENTO—The annual American Chamber of Commerce Executives convention begins today at the Sacramento Convention Center for its four-day run, Aug. 1-4. The convention was recruited to Sacramento by the Sacramento Metro Chamber and the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“This is a unique and diverse event,” says Mick Fleming, ACCE’s president. “Every type of chamber leader, from the government relations director at a major metropolitan chamber to the CEO of a small rural chamber, attends this meeting. Attendees return to their respective chambers with the latest in best practices, emerging trends, and strategies for success, in order to better lead businesses and their communities.”

Of the 1,000 confirmed registrants, more than 800 are chamber presidents, CEOs or executives.

The conference will offer nearly 70 sessions in 10 different tracks: leadership, membership operations, membership sales, economic development, communications, small business development, finance, events, workforce, and government relations. These educational sessions will focus on domestic and international economic challenges and opportunities, as well as quality of life issues.

Keynote Speakers

• Thursday, Aug. 2, Keynote Breakfast, 8-9:45 a.m.—Steve Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine.

• Thursday, Aug. 2, Keynote Lunch, noon-1:45 p.m.—Knight Kiplinger, editor-in-chief of The Kiplinger Letter, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and Kiplinger.com.

• Friday, Aug. 3, Keynote Breakfast, 8-9:45 a.m.—Debra Benton, executive coach and author, expert on the art of leadership.

• Friday, Aug. 3, Keynote Lunch, 12:45-2 p.m.—Michael Leavitt, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

• Friday, Aug 3, CEO Conference—Michael Dowd, chief campaign strategist for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 and for Bush-Cheney in 2004; founding partner of ViaNovo, an international communications and brand positioning firm.

• Friday, Aug. 3, CEO Conference—Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development; former four-term mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

• Friday, Aug. 3, CEO Conference—Dr. Robert Baur, managing director of trading and economics, Principal Global Investors.

• Friday, Aug. 3, Management Keynote, 2-3 p.m.—Doug Keeley, corporate workforce and membership development motivator; CEO and chief storyteller of The Mark of A Leader.”

• Saturday, Aug. 4, Keynote Breakfast, 8-9:30 a.m.—Dr. Howard Fuller, leader in fundamental education reform and school choice; founder/director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis.

• Saturday, Aug. 4, Closing Keynote, noon-2 p.m.—Joel Kotkin, internationally recognized authority on global, economic, political and social trends.

For more information on the conference, session and speakers, see www.acce.org/convention07.