Your arrival in France

Whether or not you need a visa, entry into the Schengen area of third-country nationals must comply with a certain number of conditions, as provided for by the European and national regulations in force.

Required Documents

Valid Passport or ID Card:

Your passport must be valid for at least three months beyond your planned departure date from the Schengen Area and should contain at least one blank page. 

Visa or ETIAS (if applicable):

Citizens from countries that require a visa to enter the Schengen Area must have one. Citizens from visa-exempt countries will need a pre-approved ETIAS travel authorization to enter. 

Proof of Funds:

You may be asked to show you have sufficient funds for your stay, such as bank statements or cash. 

Proof of Accommodation:

Have your hotel bookings or other accommodation details ready. 

Return or Onward Ticket:

Border officials may request evidence that you intend to leave the Schengen Area within your authorized time limit. 

Travel Insurance:

You may be asked to show proof of travel medical insurance that is valid for the entire Schengen Area. 

Entry Process for First-Time Visitors 

Biometric Registration:

When you first enter the Schengen Area, your fingerprints and a photograph will be taken and recorded as part of the new EU Entry/Exit System. 

Passport and Document Check:

A border officer will verify your passport and ETIAS (please note that ETIAS has been delayed until late next year) or visa, and may ask for the other documents listed above. 

Please review the links below for the suggested pre-reading.  The readings are offered to stimulate thought ahead of our conference.  

HBR allows you to read up to 5 articles per month without registering.

Use GenAI to improve Scenario Planning

It’s Time for CFOs to Rethink Scenario Planning

How to Become a Better Strategic Thinker

Design Your Organization to Match Your Strategy

If you need to print copies of your free read, please see below:

Use GenAI to Improve Scenario Planning

It’s Time for CFOs to Rethink Scenario Planning

How to Become a Better Strategic Thinker

Design Your Organization to Match Your Strategy

Optional Videos

TED Talks: Martin Reeves

BIG THINK+: Thinking Strategically – Ian Bremmer

Many of you are familiar with the upcoming steps in our programming, but there are still several first and second-time attendees scheduled to join us in Cap-Ferrat. The following items should be on your radar as you prepare.

1. Purchase of Airline Tickets:
Yes ~ I have already received at least one full itinerary. The airport for this event is Nice Côte d’Azur (NCE). Once you book your flights, please send me a copy of the full arrival and departure itinerary so I can coordinate your airport transfers. When planning your travel, please consider that the first formal event will be on Sunday evening, October 19th, and the final formal event will be the closing content session on Friday, October 24th, ending at 1:00 pm. Your hotel room is paid through Friday night. See arrival and departure timings below. Ground transfers for arrival and departure will be arranged for you and your guest if travelling together. We will provide more details on arrival planning and instructions for locating your driver as we approach the event.

2. Arrival and Departure Timing:
Our program begins on Sunday night, October 19th, with a group meet-and-greet cocktail event followed by dinner – cocktails begin at 6:00 PM (please note the attire described below). The conference concludes on Saturday morning, October 25th, with check-out at noon. When making travel plans, please allow for 2½-3 hours between your hotel departure and flight departure. I say this primarily for anyone considering an early departure from Nice (NCE). Your airport transfer pickup time will be set by the transfer company based on your itinerary departure time, taking into consideration traffic patterns and peak airport check-in times.

3. Opening Night Attire:
For the welcome cocktail event and dinner, appropriate attire is recommended. Men may opt for a suit, or dress slacks with a jacket (tie is optional). Women typically wear dresses or slacks with a jacket or sweater. Have fun—you’re on the French Riviera in one of France’s most exclusive areas!

4. Hotel Check-in: 

Check-in begins at 3:00 pm. Rooms may be available earlier, but if not, you can check your bags at the front desk and take a walk to the seaside, explore the grounds, or enjoy the sea view with a coffee or a cocktail.

5. Additional Information:
As we get closer to the event, I will provide any pre-reading materials from our facilitator, along with dinner options and allergy notes. You’ll receive a formal request for your dinner choices by September 1st.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Keep the link to this site—it contains details from our earlier notices. Finally, a closing update about our 2026 program. We oversold our Mallorca room block last month and found it necessary to request additional space!

Looking forward to seeing you all soon, and enjoying a fantastic gathering in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat! 

À bientôt ~ Frank (François)

Facilitator: Mr. Roch Parayre

“Strategic Leadership in a Changing World”

“Strategic thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why so few engage in it.” — Henry Ford

We live in an era of unprecedented uncertainty and complexity. Financial services are rapidly changing, with an influx of disruptive technologies, new non-traditional competitors, shifting member needs, and an uncertain political landscape. Against this backdrop, the ability to think and lead strategically has emerged as a critical skill in helping leaders and organizations navigate change, sustain growth, and win the long game. Over the course of the week, and our three highly interactive workshop sessions, we will explore the six disciplines that aim to improve our “strategic IQ” and discuss how we can think and lead more strategically in a changing world.

Day 1: Introduction and “Anticipate”

Introduction of the Six Disciplines:

1 Anticipate: Scan Wider in Order to See Sooner

2 Challenge: Look in the Mirror and Open the Window

3 Interpret: Amplify Weak Signals and Connect the Dots

4 Decide: Seek Multiple Options and Show Courage

5 Align: Rally Key Players and Bridge Differences

6 Learn: Experiment Widely and Delve Deeply.

Discipline #1: Anticipate

In a world of uncertainty and change, it’s natural to want to predict the future and create a strategic plan to address it. Unfortunately, the most confident of predictions are often wrong. How quickly or slowly the landscape will change remains highly uncertain and can evolve in very unpredictable ways. In this session, we will discuss tools and approaches to improve organizational vigilance and build peripheral vision. We will also build alternative futures against which to develop agile, robust strategies and help you navigate this uncertainty.

Day 2: “Challenge” and “Interpret”

Discipline #2: Challenge

In today’s economic climate, most financial institutions fight for market share by playing tried and true strategies – offering slightly better rates, reliable and superior service, or executing more efficiently than others. Yet, we find it hard to move the needle on growth. In this session, we will discuss how we can “Challenge” existing organizational and industry-wide assumptions that others might take for granted and the opportunities and wins we can achieve by letting go of some of these assumptions. We will also explore member-centric innovation and identify new opportunities for your Credit Union to create a defensible, sustainable, and more highly differentiated market position.

Discipline #3: Interpret

Our ability to connect multiple data points is key to understanding complex, dynamic, and ambiguous situations. Yet, we as individuals are not wired to process such signals particularly well. In “Interpret,” we will document a series of cognitive mistakes that impede our ability to properly judge and make sense of new information and how this often leads to faulty conclusions.

Day 3: “Decide”, “Align”, and “Learn”

Discipline #4: Decide

Making strategic decisions under time pressure often involves balancing making rash decisions too quickly against taking too long, leading to “analysis paralysis.”  In this session, we will discuss the importance of leveraging a flexible options portfolio approach to strategic decisions. We will also discuss the insidious problem of throwing good money after bad and reinforce the need to “let go.”  Finally, we will make the case for divergent thinking and devil’s advocacy in making group decisions.

Discipline #5: Align

Aligning your stakeholders is critical to bridging the gap between strategy and execution. Otherwise, even the best strategies will fail. In “Align” we will analyze the organization’s readiness to execute a strategic initiative. We will also illustrate the use of stakeholder mapping to seek out sources of resistance or conflict and create an engagement plan to bridge differences.

Discipline #6: Learn

It’s critical to be able to openly discuss and learn from mistakes so you don’t repeat them.  A culture of learning promotes new patterns of thinking instead of being stuck in old ruts. In this session, we will discuss the importance of conducting small pilots or experiments to try out novel ideas. We will also discuss the value of conducting after-action debriefs as well as pre-mortems to extract insights and the need to develop a more positive relationship between failure and bad news to internalize mistakes and lessons learned.

For this event you will enjoy:

~ 6 nights at our hotel, the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat,

~ Breakfast for two each day,

~ An opening night meet-and-greet cocktail event and dinner with participants and paid guests,

~ Private ground transfers arranged for arrival and departure to the airport (NOTE: the arrival airport is Nice, FR),

~ And of course, our content delivery (3 days of content at approximately 4.5 hours per day),

The daily schedule:

~ Oct 19 Sunday – Day 1 Arrival day, cocktails and dinner

~ Oct 20 Monday – Day 2 Content session I (8-12:30)

~ Oct 21 Tuesday – Day 3 Content session II (8-12:30)

~ Oct 22 Wednesday – Day 4 Open

~ Oct 23 Thursday – Day 5 Open

~ Oct 24 Friday – Day 6 Content session III (8-12:30)

~ Oct 25 Saturday – Day 7 Departure