Last month, I wrote about changes in our educational programming including a willingness to experiment with new approaches. So, what’s that mean?
In the listings below, you are seeing a number of seminars and conferences coming in the next several months. These are all programs that we believe will help you be better at your job and give you new tools to support the ongoing health of your company.
In the listings below, you are seeing a number of seminars and conferences coming in the next several months. These are all programs that we believe will help you be better at your job and give you new tools to support the ongoing health of your company.
Do you need to attend every one of them? That’s likely not realistic or necessary, but I do urge you to take a look at what is being offered at the each of them. (There is a link to information about each one.) You might find that you want to try something new in 2019.
You’ll also note that some of the programs are from organizations that are not affiliated with NACM. We think that’s okay. Certainly, conferences that are “officially NACM” – including our own – are excellent and represent what is important about being involved with NACM. At the same time, there are offerings presented by other credit organizations that are very good, too. As an example, our friends at CFRE offer great presentations for senior level credit professionals. We believe it is important for us to help identify the very best professional education possible for you and your company. By branching out a bit, you will likely meet new people and build a larger network for yourself. That’s good for you and NACM.
You may wonder if these experimental approaches are working. Let’s look at some numbers. Over the last year, attendance at our monthly webinars have averaged about 50 of our members each month. Combined with customers from the other sponsoring organizations, the entire group of participants has sometimes reached 200 people. These numbers have FAR exceeded expectations and have remained consistent over the last 18 months. Moreover, in several cases, companies gather multiple people together in a conference room to do the webinars together. We applaud this idea! The more the merrier. It also suggests that the number of actual attendees is higher than we think. That’s pretty cool.
Our new podcast, The Credit Roundtable, debuted last month and has had over 70 downloads in three weeks. Truth be told, that’s about 69 more than we expected for a new program! If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a listen. Episode #3 was just posted. You can take it with you and listen anytime you want.
We are also introducing NC3 – the Northwest Commercial Credit Conference. It’s both a replacement for our former annual seminar and a day long program that is built on the success of our recent Hawaii Winter Credit Forum. While we expect most attendees will come from the greater Puget Sound area, members and customers from Alaska, Hawaii and…well… everywhere are welcome. It will be across the street from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport so you can easily fly in for the conference. Save September 12 th and look for details coming soon.
Finally, take note of the “Trends” special section in our April 2019 eNews. It takes a look at things happening in our economy that we believe are worthy of consideration. The moral of these stories is simple: follow best practices and stay out of trouble. We think you’ll find it interesting.
We appreciate and welcome your feedback on the new things we’re trying. All of this is for your benefit, so if you like it, let us know. If we’re missing the mark, please tell us that, too. Either way, there is always room for improvement.
Here’s to a great Spring, everyone.
