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Non-SAFDE Members must receive an invitation to attend the Conference.
Dates
The 37th SAFDE Conference and Business Meeting are scheduled for April 25th through April 26th, 2025 with the Workshop scheduled for the day before, April 24th, 2025. The SAFDE 2025 Meeting Site will be in Peachtree City, Georgia. Please continue to check back for Meeting updates.
Site Information:
HOTEL & MEETING LOCATION
Crowne Plaza Atlanta SW – Peachtree City
Our room block is NOW OPEN and rooms are available to book until March 24, 2025, which is the cut-off. After the cut-off date, our group block will be closed and any remaining rooms will be released into general inventory and sold at the standard rate.
Our group can contact IHG Reservations at 1-877-227-6963 and provide them with the specific dates and the following to make reservations:
GROUP NAME: SAFDE 2025
GROUP CODE: DF6
GROUP DATES: April 23-26, 2025
Our group can use the Booking Link below (only compatible for computers not cell phones):
NOTE: Please be sure to enter the specific dates, since the link does not automatically populate the dates for you. They CANNOT guarantee that this link will work when placed onto a third party site.
Booking Link: SAFDE 2025
Site Chair: Joe Parker
SAFDE 2025 Registration Form
Workshops:
Workshop 1: Notetaking for Forensic Document Examiners
(4 HOURS)
The purpose of creating notes during the forensic examination of documents is to assist another, similarly trained and experienced examiner to repeat the process undertaken by a forensic document examiner. Notes typically take three forms: consecutive (examiner notes each exam/observation as it is made), summary (the observations that relate to one category of opinion are grouped together, regardless of the sequence of exams), checklists (typically accompanied by observational statements), and annotated charts.
This workshop will inform participants on historical and general requirements of notetaking, provide examples, and exercises on notetaking and creating charts.
Workshop 2: Synthetic Signatures – Past, Present and Future
(4 HOURS)
In FDE parlance, signatures were a name or a stylized version of a name placed on a substrate by a person using a writing instrument that marks on the page. Technology has created more options for creating a signature – the substrate can include a surface that can electronically capture information and the writing instrument may be a stylus or a person’s finger. In the old paradigm, fraud (and also legitimate business practices) was undertaken by duplicating existing signatures in some manner, or using a device to create a visual representation of a signature.
This workshop will explore the historical methods of duplicating signatures, the current methods, and include discussions of what the future may bring.
Practical problems will include the assessment of rubber-stamped signatures, signatures added to a document via physical and electronic “cut and paste”, signatures created using crafting equipment, as well as various digital options.
Workshop Chair: Elaine Wooton
Program
Program Chair: McKenzie Weyh
Upcoming SAFDE Conferences:
SAFDE 2026 – Pensacola, Florida
Program Chair is Meg O’Brien
Workshop Chair is Kesha White
Site Co-Chairs are Bonnie Beal and Kate Butler