March 26th, 2018

With Winter coming to end, spring has sprung and conference season is in full swing. The Mortgage Bankers Association of New Jersey’s upcoming conference in Atlantic City should be on every Northeast region mortgage professional’s list this spring. MBA conferences allow mortgage industry professionals to connect, learn and ultimately collaborate with other mortgage and financial related individuals. However, we often forget the importance of being in a live face-to-face setting with others from the business community. Being active in your industry’s trade association can provide your company with many benefits. Here are four reasons why you or your company should attend your industry conferences.

Networking

Attending industry conferences provide businesses with many opportunities to network. Most business representatives who attend conferences seek to meet new people who work in the same industry. Connecting with industry professionals at these events allows them to bond with the right people.  It can also assist you in potentially landing a future partnership. For instance, many mortgage conferences host cocktail events which allow company representatives to connect and talk about industry related topics. Recruitment, in terms of networking, can also play an important role in benefiting a company. By meeting new, talented professionals in their field, companies can easily acquire employees that can positively contribute to their business’ growth. Attending a conference opens the doors for this. Networking can also help companies spark inspiration from innovators who are bettering their industry. Connecting on a personal level with business innovators and learning from their experiences allows companies to draw insight and ideas that can ultimately benefit their company as a whole.

Learning

Professional conferences also hold their niche in finding compelling subject matter and respectable speakers for their panels. Learning about the latest trends and how they’re being used in your industry can improve your knowledge base. It can also provide you with beneficial content to bring back, and possibly apply, to your own company’s venture. Many mortgage professionals who attend these conferences expose themselves to industry innovations and new trends. They also allow themselves to learn about their competitors, evaluate their success, and figure out ways to surpass business objectives. No matter how experienced you are in your field of business, everyone has room to learn. Working in a small business environment can often be disengaging. Without exposure to variety of points of view, it is easy to miss new ideas and trend that can impact future results. The educational aspect of a conference can open you to new ways of handling your business and help you explore how to be more productive.

Sharing

Attending an industry conference allows you to share your knowledge and company’s achievements with other professionals. For example, at MBA NJ’s Spring 2018 conference in Atlantic City, NJ, WebMax’s VP of Operations, Siera Smith, will be presenting a panel on how to grow your company’s social media presence. Sharing your own company’s insight and tips can benefit your brand. At the same time, it can positively impact your industry’s community. Attending such conferences also allow you to bring back information you learned that can benefit your business. To make a conference attendance truly valuable, your company’s representative must bring back the information they learned. Then they must share it with team members who couldn’t attend the conference. Having the extra responsibility of bringing something back to share encourages team members to be engaged during the conference.

Having fun

Working in business should be rewarding and fun. All work and no play can grow to be tiring and lead you to lose focus. Industry conferences can add a layer of enjoyment to managing your career growth by mixing a social aspect into your learning and industry branding efforts. Many events host fun activities such as happy hours, golf outings, and tours of the local area where the event takes place. Taking an extra day at the beginning or end of the trip to explore or to even visit friends in the region allows you to maximize your travel investment. While this last reason may not be at the top of the list for your manager, boss or client, people who include fun in their lives tend to be happier, healthier and less stressed.

In fact, MBA NJ’s upcoming conference in Atlantic City will allow mortgage professionals to relax and chat with like-minded individuals. WebMax and Western Technology group will be hosting two cocktail hours on Tuesday and Wednesday of MBA NJ’s Regional Conference. The event looks to be a great opportunity for mortgage and finance professionals to network, learn, share, and, of course, have fun.