Editors Note: As those of you who follow my blog regularly know, I try to limit my posts to something that can be read in a minute or less, giving an update on current market conditions and other pertinent information; this post is going to be longer than a minute but I really wanted to take some time and share my experiences with you. So, without further adieu, let's roll...
One week ago today, I arrived in Atlanta for the Mortgage Revolution Conference. At the outset, I knew this was going to be a different experience than my previous seminar visits. When I considered whether or not to come in the first place, I had a long heart to heart with Mark Green, one of the event organizers, about why this was going to be different than anything I had ever previously experienced. Then Mark was so gracious enough to put my name in the hat as a volunteer coordinator for the Midwest Region, to help stir attendance and really drive the MRev theme home down the stretch. Well that sealed it for me, because anyone who knows me will tell you that my implementation skills are top of the line. Give me a project and ask me to take initiative to see it through, and it will be done right -- the first time. So in the weeks leading up to the event, I was on the phone and on email with the other VOLUNTEER regional coordinators sizing up what needed to be done and implementing the items to bring us to the conference in full stride.
Then Saturday comes, and I fly into Atlanta and arrive late that evening and catch a 45 minute van ride to the hotel. I really didn't think much of it at first, just a simple shuttle ride over. In the van with me, though, happens to be Robert Mahaffey, President of 3rd Street Financial Corporation in West Chester, OH and another MREV attendee. So, we get to talking right away, first a little bit about our families and then we start talking shop, what's working, where the struggles are for each us and our unique perspectives coming from opposite sides of the origination fence, me from one of the world's largest financial services institution and Robert from a smaller independent origination firm -- all of this before the conference even starts! Robert shares ideas with me of things that he has done to be successful in his marketplace and offers unselfish advice for where he has found success. One thing I learned right away -- Mark Green was right along -- this was a true revolution I was going to experience and having Robert in the van ride over was just the start of it.
When day One came, I jumped right in helping organize Name Tags and other small jobs that needed to be done prior to the start of the conference. Robert was there too, lending a hand. Our First Day saw main stage talks by Ric Edelman, #1 Independent Financial Advisor in the Nation as Ranked by Barron's and Dave Savage. The afternoon found breakout sessions, smaller group settings that allowed us to really dig deep in smaller track lines -- Sales and Marketing, Internet and Social Media, and Finding your Niche.
In each session, I was totally amazed by so many items, now where to begin... First, Mortgage Revolution was a NON PROFIT event, there was no selling from the stage whatsoever. The event had sponsors, with booths outside the meeting hall, but through it all not a word was mentioned about anything for sale. Second, all of the presenters were producing mortgage originators or branch managers on the front lines, sharing their success stories of what was working for them in their marketplace. Third, the speakers came out a love for our industry and a goal to bring the professionalism back to our industry, something we lost a few years ago and are continually striving to regain. The speakers were not compensated. They simply came to share what was working for them IN their business, so that we, as Revolutionaries, could work ON our business. Finally, with all of the changes to mortgage regulations and disclosure requirements over the past year, one might think the tone of the event could turn bad really quick. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Our challenges were mentioned, but then so were opportunities that have been made available to overcome those same challenges.
Day Two came and greeted me with Main Stage presentations by Sue Woodard, leading a terrific discussion on becoming an expert in the marketplace, helping us understand the fundamentals to mortgage lending and pricing and Stewart Hunter and Jim McMahan, leading a great discussion on values based lending, something that had been neglected in our industry for quite some time. One interesting item of note, in small groups as well as the main stage events, whenever a presenter would ask a question about who is doing this or implementing that, so many of the attendees hands would go up. You see, yes we were only 300 strong, but we were 300 of the best and brightest in our industry. 300 mortgage professionals who took time out of our business to work ON our business. We invested the time and money to make a difference for the people we partner with and help our clients achieve their dreams of home ownership sharing a smorgasbord of strategies that can work really well in all of our respective markets.
The Evening of Day Two brought the "un"conference -- the World Domination event. While the title may sound intimidating, it was anything but that. I came back to the optional evening session, energized from the day's speakers and ready to learn more, in a casual, relaxed environment. We took over one of the breakout rooms and ended going around the room passing the microphone and sharing one or two ideas that are working in our market or one thing that we are particularly proud of. It was so intense, 4 hours of continual, extra learning, time that could have been spent relaxing in the hotel, was instead spent trying to gleam yet another idea that I might want to implement for my practice.
Day Three, the finale, arrived and man was I pumped!! Two intense days of training were behind me and now the capstone, the culmination of it all - it was somewhat bittersweet, for I knew the end was near for this conference, but it was just the beginning of the Revolution process, more events are being planned for later in this year around the country.
Day Three gave us a terrific presentation by Frank Garay and Brian Stevens, on video marketing as well as a passionate discussion by Roberto Monaco on the power of storytelling in our presentations and businesses. Wow! What a tremendous way to capstone that event. After a couple more breakout sessions, Tim Davis ended the event by reminding us that Goals are For Soccer Players. Take one idea of the many learned and apply it and then when you are done, apply it some more. Apply it until you know in your gut that the idea is something that will stay with you in your business. Tim's humor and his down to earth style really reminded me that we are all professionals in this business, with a story to tell, hands to hold and we are part of an industry we need to bring back to the highest levels. I know I can do it and I have 300 of the top originators in the country with me every step of the way to help right my ship should I ever deviate from the prescribed path.
