Conferences are More than Swapping Business Cards

Mike Ginsberg

This week, many of us from the ARM industry will converge on Red Rock Las Vegas for DCS 2011.  Like most of you who will be there, I am looking forward to networking with clients and prospective clients.  Conferences are a great place to “press the flesh” and not break the travel budget doing so.  Unfortunately, some of you will limit your days to client meeting and I believe you will be short-changing yourselves if you do.

Our industry is under tremendous pressure from the media, regulators, Attorneys General and economic conditions.  We all know it.  Credit grantors, vendors and service providers are all feeling the impact of the greatest recession the industry has ever experienced.  And unfortunately it is not over. Loan originations have not recovered and until they do, placement volumes will be depressed and vendor networks will remain tight. Consumer confidence remains low and unemployment levels remain high which continue to impact recovery efforts significantly.  This will not change in the short term.

I believe that attending conferences is more than networking with clients and prospects.  Participating in sessions enables us to gain valuable insight into other points of view and voice our own perspective.  No, before you ask I will tell you that I am not on Judy’s payroll so this is not a paid endorsement.  I just know that she and her team will be focused on providing valuable content when we need it most.  I hope you take advantage of it.  I certainly will.

One session I strongly recommend attending (personal interests aside) is on Wednesday at 3:30pm, Maximizing Your Marketing Dollar: Online Brand Management Strategies for the ARM Industry conducted by Naveen Hariprasad, Kaulkin Media, & Michael Klozotsky, insideARM.com.  The focus of this session is nurturing, promoting and protecting your company’s brand in a digital world.  Most of us are only beginning to grasp the power of social and other new media and this session will open your eyes to ways you can use new technology to advance your business.

I will be speaking about economic challenges and legislative changes impacting our industry on Tuesday at 3:15 during the Professional Women in the Collections Industry Network session.  Please stop by and say hello.