Reverse Mortgage magazine Nov-Dec 2020

team—David Horne, Melody Fennel and Scott Olson— will offer a post-election analysis and projection of how the election results are likely to affect the reverse mortgage and related industries. Additionally, NRMLA will hold its annual business meeting. The Nominating Committee will present its report to the membership for voting to elect a new board of directors for the 2020-2021 term. “While we’d all rather be meeting face-to-face rather than over our computers, you can benefit from these dis- cussions by submitting questions to our speakers, chatting with other guests and virtually networking to gain the best possible experience,” Hicks says. Irwin says he recently attended a virtual equity-re- lease seminar. “Do I miss seeing people standing around and inter- acting with each other? Absolutely,” Irwin says. “There’s no way to replace the one-on-one sidebar conversations, the spontaneous gatherings in hallways or lifting a glass with friends after a tough year. But we are working on innovative ways to create virtual lounges and chat rooms. We’re planning some fun, entertaining items. We’re going to host a virtual golf tournament—video game style—and we’ve planned a virtual cocktail bar. We know it is impossi- ble to duplicate the same experience of all meeting together in person, but we are going to do the best we can.” While this will be the first digital annual meeting, the NRMLA staff has had experience with the format, so the learning curve is not as steep as it might have been. “Essentially, we have had to learn how to go from being event professionals to being broadcast profession- als,” Irwin says. “In other words, how do we engage and motivate our attendees within that new model framework? We’ve been learning on the fly. In some ways, it’s like the classic line about trying to change a tire on a moving car. But we did a virtual summer meeting, which was a huge success, and the feedback we received as far as what partic- ipants learned and how they were able to network through their computers was extremely positive. We’re hoping and expecting to build on that experience.” For Irwin and his staff, the key is adapting—not only to a new meeting format but how the industry as a whole is adapting to the new world of COVID-19. “There are trends and techniques that have been forced upon us by the pandemic,” he notes. “The sales cycle, counseling and compliance, loan servicing, all have had to adapt. But we should also be asking ourselves, why haven’t people been thinking about these issues [of modernization and use of advanced technology] for the last ten years? We will be sharing best practices in all of these realms.” In this regard, the 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting and Expo will be taking a deep dive into projected future of the reverse mortgage industry, from HECMs to the increas- ingly wide range of proprietary products. “In the future, nothing is going to be the same any- more,” Irwin says. “We’re never going to go back to the way we’ve done things in the past. There are opportuni- ties and efficiencies that are being realized as a result of this tragedy, and we will come out the other side with an understanding of new ways of doing things. This conference will be about how to successfully come out that other side we’re all looking forward to, prepared to respond to the new realities and the new normal.” The 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting and Expo will begin each of the three days—Nov. 10, 11 and 12—at 11 a.m. Eastern Time and conclude at 6 p.m. To register, go to the NRMLA website, www. nrmlaonline.org , click on “Events” near the top of the page, which will take you to “2020 Virtual Annual Meeting and Expo.” Click the “Register Now” box and login with your username and pass- word. If you don’t know your username and/or password, email Darryl Hicks at dhicks@dworbell. com. The process is self-explanatory from there. The website also will be updated with more details about the various seminars before the event. Register and Find More Information Online REVERSE MORTGAGE / NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020 27