"CD Forum" is a quarterly dinner meeting/ discussion forum for Corporate Development Officers (CDOs) and other M&A, Transactional and Strategy executives, generally from larger corporations.  The group has been meeting for six years and over 100 CDOs have attended, with many current "regulars."  A typical dinner discussion group has a CDO leading the discussion on an important topic of interest, with 15 to 20 CDOs attending.

Value proposition:  This exclusive, strictly peer-to-peer, meeting is an excellent forum for Corporate Development Officers and other corporate transactional executives to share experiences and best practices while developing relationships in a convenient, enjoyable and relaxing setting.

       "Since its inception, some 5 years ago, the CD Forum has been for me a great vehicle for exchanging ideas and insights with many other CD executives." Joe Dunning, Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions, J.M. Huber Corporation. 
                                                                                                     
       "The CD Forum is an intimate and valuable venue for business development professionals to discuss openly topical issues and best practices, and to network for new ideas. I have developed relationships with high-level colleagues from other companies here who I never would have met otherwise," George Koutsaftes, Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions, Honeywell Specialty Materials. 

Attendees:  Prior attendees of the CD Forum include Hercules Angelatos, SVP-Administration/Finance, Hapag-Lloyd (America); David Blaskey, SVP, Development & Integration, Avis Budget Group; Brian Buchert, Director, Corporate Strategy and M&A, Church & Dwight; Pierce Cleary, Manager of Business Development, Metal Improvement Co., Subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright; Pat Fetaya, New Business Development, Ethicon, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company; Kevin Kilroy, Head of Business Planning, RBU NA, Linde Group; Mitch Koppelman, VP, M&A & Planning, Minerals Technologies;  John Lillis, VP, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances, Pitney Bowes Management Services; Bob Lurie, VP North American Business Development, Ocean Power Technologies; Koshi Okamoto, Executive Director, Corporate Business Development, Hitachi Metals America; Laurent Paty, Director of Customer Programs and Market Development, Petra Solar; and Rick Surett, SVP, Financial Planning & Analysis, Ports America.

February 16, 2012 - Joseph Lynch, Director, Global Merger & Acquisions, Catalysts Division, BASF Corporation

December 7, 2011 - David Losch, Executive Director - Mergers & Acquisitions, Sealed Air Corporation

September 21, 2011 - Brian Buchert, Director, Corporate Strategy and M&A, Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

Pictured above alphabetically:  Gary Appelbaum, Executive Director, Business Development, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.; Art Bentley, Director, Business Development, H.J. Baker & Bro., Inc.; Pierce Cleary, Manager of Business Development, Metal Improvement Company, Subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright Corporation; Joe Dunning, Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions, J.M. Huber Corporation; Glenn Evans, Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management; Pat  Fetaya, Director, Global Commercialization, Bristol-Myers Squibb; Chris Gebelein, Principal (and Past President, ACG), Private Equity Growth Advisors, LLC; Derek Hicks, Director, Transactions, Pfizer; Allen Kohan, Managing Director, Mast Advisors, Inc.; Mitch Koppelman, Vice President, Strategic Planning, Minerals Technologies, Inc.;  Specialty Minerals Inc.;  George Koutsaftes, Vice President - Mergers and Acquisitions, Honeywell Specialty Materials; Mark Kuehn, President (and Corporate Counsel), ACG New Jersey (and Gibbons P.C.); Peter Leitner, Senior Advisor, Waterford Advisors LLC; Dave Losch, Executive Director - Mergers & Acquisitions and Business Development, Sealed Air Corporation; Joe Lynch, Director, Global Merger and Acquisitions, Catalysts Division, BASF Corporation; Mary McCormack, Managing Director, Palm Ventures, LLC; Koshi Okamoto, Executive Director, Corporate Business Development, Hitachi Metals America, Ltd.; Mike Perna, Head of Corporate Development, ConEdison Solutions, Inc.; Michael Probst, Associate Director Business Development, ConvaTec; Jaime Robertson-Lavalle, Director, Global Head of Markets and Development, AccountAbility; Ted Stone, CFO, Velocity Express; John Tarabocchia, Director - Corporate Growth & Development, Americas, Evonik Degussa Corporation

Pictured above alphabetically:  Art Bentley, Director, Business Development, H.J. Baker & Bro., Inc.; Brian Buchert, Director, Corporate Strategy and M&A, Church & Dwight Co. Inc.; Desiree Castillejos, VP, Corporate Development, Persistent Systems Inc.; Pierce Cleary, Manager of Business Development, Metal Improvement Company, Sub. of Curtiss-Wright Corp.; Ryan Dismukes, Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development, J.M. Huber Corporation; Joe Dunning, Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions, J.M. Huber Corporation; Elliot Fishman, President, Astrina Capital LLC; Chris Gebelein, Principal (and Past President, ACG); Private Equity Growth Advisors, LLC; Haresh Keswani, Director, Business Technology Leader, Pfizer,Inc.; Jaap Ketting, Controller - Specilaty Products Division, Church & Dwight Co. Inc.; Allen Kohan, Managing Director, Mast Advisors, Inc.; George Koutsaftes, Vice President - Mergers and Acquisitions, Honeywell Specialty Materials; Mark Kuehn, President (and Corporate Counsel), ACG New Jersey (and Gibbons P.C.); Michael Li, Integration - Vice President, Mindray North America; Dave Losch, Executive Director - Mergers & Acquisitions and Business Development, Sealed Air Corporation; Joe Lynch, Director, Global Merger and Acquisitions, Catalysts Division, BASF Corporation; Michael Probst, Associate Director Business Development, ConvaTec; Ted Stone, CFO, Velocity Express; Jef Wu, Director, Corporate Development, Johnson & Johnson Ventures

Pictured Above alphabetically: Brian Buchert, Director, Corporate Strategy and M&A, Church & Dwight; Pierce Cleary, Manager of Business Development, Metal Improvement Company, Subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright Corporation; Joe Dunning, Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions, J.M. Huber Corporation; Allen Kohan, Managing Director, Mast Advisors, Inc.; George Koutsaftes, Vice President-Mergers and Acquisitions, Honeywell Specialty Materials; Mark Kuehn, President ACG New Jersey and Corporate Counsel Gibbons P.C.; Bob Lurie, VP North American Business Development, Ocean Power Technologies; Joe Lynch, Director, Global Merger and Acquisitions, Catalysts Division, BASF Corporation; Koshi Okamoto, Executive Director, Corporate Business Development, Hitachi Metals America, Ltd.; Ted Stone, CFO, Velocity Express; Rick Surett, Senior Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis, Ports America; Jef Wu, Director, Corporate Development, Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon Inc.

Pictured above alphabetically: Art Bentley, Director, Business Development, H.J. Baker & Bro., Inc.; Jeff Brennan, Director, Corporate Transactions, Corporate Development, Pitney Bowes; Desiree Castillejos, VP, Corporate Development, Persistent Systems Inc.; Pierce Cleary, Manager of Business Development, Metal Improvement Company, Subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright Corporation; Michael Derkach, Corporate Development, Micandea LLC; Ryan Dismukes, Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development, J.M. Huber Corporation; Joe Dunning, Vice President, Mergers & Acquistions, J.M. Huber Corporation; Pat Fetaya, New Business Development, Ethicon, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company; Gavin Furtado, Director, Mergers & Acquisitions, Tyco Electronics Corporation; Harvey Homan, President & CEO, Urovalve, Inc.; Allen Kohan, Managing Director, Mast Advisors, Inc.; Mitch Koppelman, Vice President, Strategic Planning, Minerals Technologies, Inc., Specialty Minerals Inc.;  George Koutsaftes, Vice President - Mergers and Acquisitions, Honeywell Specialty Materials; Mark Kuehn, President (and Corporate Counsel), ACG New Jersey (and Gibbons P.C.); Ramesh Nuggihalli, Director - Strategy & Business Development, Tyco Flow Control; Jaime Robertson-Lavalle, Director, Strategic Investments, Zermatt Dusk; Hal Russo, Vice President Business Development Consumer Healthcare and OTC’s, McNEIL-PPC, Inc.; Ted Stone, CFO, Velocity Express

Pictured above alphabetically: Hercules Angelatos, SVP Admin/Finance, Hapag-Lloyd (America) Inc.; Gary Appelbaum, Exec. Dir., Bus. Dev., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies; Art Bentley, Dir. Bus. Dev., H.J. Baker & Bro., Inc.; Pierce Cleary, Mgr. of Bus. Dev., Metal Improvement Company, Sub.of Curtiss-Wright Corp.; Joe Dunning, VP, M&A, JM Huber Corp.; Elliot Fishman, Pres., Astrina Capital; Gavin Furtado, Dir., M&A, Tyco Electronics Corp.; Chris Gebelein, Principal, Private Equity Growth Advisors; Allen Kohan, Managing Dir., Mast Advisors; Mitch Koppelman, VP Strategic Planning, Minerals Technologies, Inc.; George Koutsaftes, VP M&A, Honeywell Specialty Materials; Mark Kuehn, Pres., ACG NJ; Dave Losch, Exec. Dir. M&A, Sealed Air Corp.; Ramesh Nuggihalli, Dir./Strategy & Bus. Dev., Tyco Flow Control; Koshi Okamoto, Exec. Dir./Corp. Bus. Dev., Hitachi Metals America, Ltd.; Mike Perna, Head of Corp. Dev., ConEdison Solutions, Inc.; Ted Pettijohn, SVP Corporate Growth & Development, Evonik Degussa Corp.; Michael Probst, Assoc. Dir. Bus. Dev., ConvaTec; Vince Roux, VP, Head of M&A, Broadridge Financial Solutions; Chris Schulitz, Sr. Exec., Corp. Dev.; Ted Stone, CFO, B2B Technology Cos.; Rick Surett, SVP, Financial Planning & Analysis, Ports America.