Don’t Skip the Sessions

For years, I could tell you whether a mortgage conference had a good lobby. I couldn’t tell you much about what happened on stage. I spent much of my career as a correspondent investor or wholesale lender, and conferences gave me an opportunity to meet with current and prospective clients at scale. A few days in one location could replace weeks of travel. My calendar was full, the conversations mattered, and I went home feeling that I had made good use of the trip.

There were stretches of years when I barely set foot in a ballroom or breakout session. I was belly to belly with clients. At the time, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. Looking back, I probably missed more than I realized.

We are in fall conference season, and I honestly don’t remember this many events competing for space on the calendar. Every invitation requires a decision about time away from home, the office, travel costs, and what we expect to bring back. I’ve been thinking about how much my own definition of a worthwhile conference has changed.

In recent years, I’ve made an intentional effort to sit in on as much of the prepared content as possible. I want to hear how industry peers are managing through this market. I want to understand the challenges they’re facing, where they’re making progress, and what they’re still trying to figure out. Some of that learning comes from the people holding the microphones. A surprising amount comes from sitting alongside everyone else.

Pay attention to the room during a session. Watch the facial expressions when a speaker describes a problem or proposes a solution. Listen carefully to the questions. Notice which comments get people nodding and which leave them looking at one another. Those reactions can tell you where an idea connects with people’s experience and where it needs more discussion.

A nod doesn’t tell you everything someone thinks, of course. Neither does a raised eyebrow. But both can give you a reason to ask a better question afterward. That’s where the breakfasts, lunches, and receptions take on a different value. You’ve heard the same presentation, but you may have walked away with very different conclusions. Asking someone what they thought can open a conversation you never would have put on a meeting agenda.

You can debate whether an approach would work at a smaller lender. You can ask what would prevent a company from adopting it. You can disagree with a speaker’s premise and learn why someone else found it useful. Sometimes finding common ground requires understanding why you started in different places.

In my role at MISMO, those conversations have become particularly valuable. They help me discover or validate the industry’s priorities and understand the practical concerns behind them. A topic can sound straightforward from the stage, then become considerably more complicated when someone explains what implementing it would require inside their company.

I need to hear that perspective. I also need to hear from people I wouldn’t necessarily have scheduled a meeting with. If my entire day is booked with familiar contacts, I limit the range of experiences and opinions I’m exposed to. Being in the sessions gives me a broader starting point.

I still believe in the value of individual meetings. I spent too many years building relationships that way to suggest otherwise. And I understand the pressure to justify a conference trip with a full appointment calendar. But I’d encourage anyone planning their next event to reserve time for the content with the same intention they bring to booking client meetings.

Choose a session that speaks to a challenge your company is facing. Consider another that falls outside your usual responsibilities. Stay for the questions, and leave yourself enough time afterward to talk with someone about what you heard. Bring those observations home and discuss them with your team. Ask whether something you learned should change a decision you’re making or a question you haven’t yet asked a partner.

A full calendar can make it easy to leave with only the perspectives you arrived expecting to hear.

As conference season hits its peak over the next several weeks, you’ll find me in the sessions, often toward the front of the room, notepad in hand. Then find me in the hallway. I’m looking forward to hearing what you took away, where you disagree, and what you think our industry needs to work on next.

Has your conference strategy changed over the years?

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