The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) is encouraged after a productive Annual Meeting last month in Nashville, Tenn., owing to a well-received programming schedule and enthusiasm among attendees for the event’s venue city. This is according to NRMLA’s recently-promoted President, Steve Irwin, in an interview with RMD.
“Overall, the response to our recent annual meeting and expo down in Nashville has been overwhelmingly positive,” Irwin told RMD. “The general sense has been very positive. Nashville proved to be a wonderful destination for our attendees, I think a good time was had by all and the programming feedback has also been very, very good.”
With a programming schedule aimed at providing reverse mortgage loan officers with information they can take out into their daily course of work, the tenor of the schedule over the course of the event was was well-received, Irwin said.
“We had a lot of sessions devoted to providing strong content for loan officers who are out on the street,” Irwin said. “We also were able to provide a lot of good information sessions regarding building relationships with affiliates. I don’t know if you saw the ‘reframing the approach to financial professionals’ session, that was very well received. So, it’s been positive and we’re now decompressing and digesting.”
At the end of the day, the goal of the NRMLA Annual Meeting is to provide opportunities for people at all levels of the reverse mortgage industry to learn something that can then be taken to their individual businesses, and hopefully have a little fun along the way, Irwin said.
“We want our attendees to walk away with a sense that they learned something,” he said. “We want to be able to help the attendees elevate their game and be able to do their jobs better, and I hope that the attendees walked away with that sense. At the same time, this is the largest gathering of reverse mortgage professionals. The networking opportunities, the opportunities to share experiences and share learnings with each other in a setting like this is very important for our attendees, and I hope that was a success. This is also an industry where each and every participant works really, really hard day in and day out. So, we hope that there was a chance to blow off a little steam, too.”
Echoing Irwin’s sentiments is Scott Norman, VP field retail and director of government relations at Finance of America Reverse (FAR) and NRMLA co-chair, who feels strongly about the recent meeting and what it means for the industry.
“I thought it was the most energized and informative annual meeting I’ve attended in ten years,” Norman tells RMD in an email. “While there are multiple signs that volume is up across the country, there is no question that the overall trajectory of the industry is heading in the right direction. These are incredibly exciting times to be in the reverse mortgage space.”
The event could not be possible without the support of those who both participated in the programming schedule, along with the association and event sponsors, Irwin adds.
“I really want to thank all the panelists and moderators,” Irwin says. “If we put together a strong program, it can’t be done without the support and participation of our moderators and panelists, and they put in a huge amount of time. We’re just very, very grateful for all that effort. I also want to call out all of our sponsors, as it’s a heavy lift in these times, but we can’t put together a quality program without the support of our exhibitors and sponsors. So we’re also very grateful for them.”
