You know that feeling you get after completing a big task or event—physical and/or mental—when you’re exhausted yet elated, happy it’s over yet anticipating the opportunity to do it again? That’s been how my alien body and cranium have felt all week after successfully completing The Amazing Mortgage Race. If you were in attendance of last week’s Partner Conference—either in-person or virtual—I’m sure you’re feeling a little like me as well.
The event delivered the largest, most robust agenda at a Partner Conference ever, not to mention providing a wealth of networking opportunities, a sponsor expo and a brand-new demo room. My eyestalks got tangled on more than one occasion as I looked around to see the bustle of activity as well as new and familiar faces. (That sounds like one of the holiday carols I’ve heard on your Hallmark Channel! Speaking of which, no pressure but there are only about 8 shopping weeks left—send me a message in the comment box below and I’ll provide you my wish list of Moon Pies, Mars bars and more.)
Today, I want to put my laser-like focus on what we learned during the Partner Conference. This was by far the greatest agenda in the 16-year history of the event, and we had an EXCELLENT leader to guide us through The Amazing Mortgage Race in Tonya Coon, myCUmortgage President. I have to say that she was everywhere during the conference: she was on stage sharing her wealth of mortgage expertise; presenting awards to deserving partners; visiting the sponsors; and most importantly, talking with our partner credit unions in attendance. We couldn’t have run this race without her leadership, knowledge and support!
Whether or not you were able to attend these valuable and educational sessions, I’d like to share an overview from the upper stratosphere of the speakers and sessions.
- Robyn Benincasa: I wrote about the inspiration Robyn delivered with a single telephone call in my previous post. Click Here to check it out if you haven’t already. And let me tell you, her keynote presentation at the conference was spot on to the credit union mortgage industry and left everyone in the room seeking their next adventure and challenge.
- Michael Christians: Always one of the favorite and most anticipated participants in the annual conference, Michael delivered Racing Rules: Avoiding Compliance Roadblocks which looked at everything from Reg Z to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. He is THAT GUY who makes compliance interesting and, dare I say, fun.
- Ask the Experts: Equally anticipated by Partner Conference attendees is the Ask the Experts session where myCUmortgage experts provide answers to some of the most common questions they receive every day. This year, we had panels representing Operations and Servicing—the credit union mortgage knowledge on that stage was equivalent to a lunar landing. Simply out of this world.
- What’s Ahead in the Mortgage Industry: myCUmortgage assembled a panel of industry leaders to provide their insights on what they see on the horizon in the credit union mortgage space. Led by myCUmortgage VP of Finance Steve Scheid, attendees learned what the future has in store around credit scoring, forbearances, moving from refinances to a purchase market and so much more.
- Your Express Pass to Loan Origination: After a successful showing during last year’s Virtual Partner Event, myCUmortgage again held a session dedicated to our CU Select partnership level. Attendees received an inside look at how our loan origination experts are helping get more of your members into homes.
- Mapping Out a Successful Partnership: Another carryover from last year’s event was an invitation-only session for credit unions considering a partnership with myCUmortgage. Frankly, myCUmortgage offers so much as part of their partnership that this 45-minute discussion only hit on a fraction of the possibilities we can help deliver to credit unions and their members.
- What’s New at myCU: This session always draws a crowd, and the 2021 edition was no exception. Attendees received first-hand insights and knowledge on several major technological upgrades they and their members will benefit from in the coming year. You could hear the audible “ooooh’s” and “aaaah’s” from the audience!
- Bill Marklein: The final day of the Partner Conference was kicked off by Bill who dove into the importance and relevance of emotional intelligence, what it is and how we can tap into it to succeed on both a personal and professional level.
- Diversity in Credit Union Mortgages: Highly requested and anticipated, Gail Cox of AC&M Group and Ron Wiley from Self-Help Credit Union successfully showed us how deeply diversity runs into every part of the mortgage process. Through some eye-opening statistics, Gail and Ron helped attendees see that diversity is more than just something you do or implement into your business process but rather a way of life—past, present and future.
- Real Estate Technology: The world has gone digital, even more so since the pandemic. This panel of industry tech experts looked at some of the tools available to credit unions for growing Realtor relationships and getting more of your members into homes.
- Digital Demo Depot & Product Showcase: Brand new to the Partner Conference, in-person attendees received in-depth demonstrations of every facet of the newest technologies myCUmortgage will be providing to its partner credit unions. That room was always buzzing with activity, so much so that I thought a swarm of stinglides was creeping its way through the halls of the Marriott.
Chances are, you didn’t have an opportunity to see all these presentations, but don’t worry—the Partner Conference virtual website will remain open through November 20. You can watch (or re-watch) all the sessions, download the slides (including the Digital Demo Depot presentations) and so much more. If you are a registered attendee of the event, you already have your login information; however, if you misplaced it, don’t hesitate to contact [email protected].
If you couldn’t be a part of this year’s event, we certainly missed you and sincerely hope to see you next year. Planning for 2022 is already underway—if you think this year’s event was AMAZING, just wait until next year! Great race, everyone!