Every Las Vegas flight I’ve ever been on is full of excitement and anticipation.  As soon as the Vegas skylight is in view, you can feel the energy ripple through the airplane.  Several folks may be pretty loaded, but you can feel the energy.  For whatever reason, people are heading to Vegas; most seem to be running there for drinks, gambling, debauchery, and good times.  However, some of us are heading there to attend our 17th conference.  It is a legacy practice.  Of course, we look forward to seeing old friends and enjoying some of Las Vegas’s pleasures.  Since the beginning of our mortgage career, we have been conditioned to head to mortgage conferences to learn something new and close a deal.

For lenders, the reasons for attending a conference are becoming challenging.  Back in the day, lenders sent entire departments to seek out new vendors and resources.  Today, lenders are barely sending one representative, if any at all. The main reason is simple.  It is expensive.  As the old saying goes, price is only an issue in the absence of value.  Mortgage media must rethink how they can provide more value not only to the mortgage lending industry but to the technology and service providers that rely on them to drive their sales.

Of course, this movement is of great importance to Mortgage Advisor Tools – because we often promote the platform as a digital mortgage conference online 24/7. Nonetheless, we attend a lot of these shows too.  We receive the same benefits from in-person connections and new vendor discovery.  So here are three things we would like to see mortgage conferences do in 2023 and 2024 to ensure that the mortgage industry will continue to show up and receive the benefits of these events.

So, this is more complicated than just lowering the price.  Not only do the tickets have to be more affordable for lenders, but submissions to show must come down for technology and service providers.  Easier said than done; these shows cost enormous amounts of money to put on, but the entire industry is scaling down its budget.

The industry continues to overlook a massive segment of the mortgage lending industry.  Mortgage lenders and banks with volumes less than $500M need more love.  These lenders are the lifeblood of the entire industry, and most would be shocked at how little they are solicited, leaving them with mostly legacy technology and outdated processes.

We go to Vegas a lot.  Vegas is cheap to fly to but expensive to stay.  I can’t help but think dozens of big and small cities may be fascinating.  The perceived craziness of Vegas that attracts many likely also causes many to turn away.  So Atlantic City – here we come!

All these things are challenging.  The companies that put these together do a great job, even when they don’t.  There are a lot of moving parts.  The companies that pay to participate in these events deserve new audiences and opportunities.  It is a massive investment for all parties involved.

These three changes are literally what Mortgage Advisor Tools is built on.  Free for Lenders, economical for mortgage technology companies and service providers, and available all the time.  We are invested in helping the mortgage industry truly innovate.  Enterprise lenders, banks, brokers, credit unions, and independent mortgage lenders.  There are hundreds of resources in the mortgage industry and likely a dozen options for whatever challenge a lender may have.  So, it is okay if you aren’t hitting a conference this year.  We got you covered.