a la mode’s second annual Summer Convention a wheel hit with appraisers

On display at the Convention is a 2006 Range Rover Sport the company will give away this summer to celebrate its 21st anniversary

ORLANDO, FLA. – Welcoming hundreds of appraisers to a three-day event focused on making their businesses more efficient and profitable, a la mode, one of the most mission critical and influential technology companies in the real estate industry, kicked off its second annual Summer Convention at Disney's Contemporary Resort here today.

Greeting attendees in the convention's exhibit hall was a shiny, new 2006 Range Rover Sport, which a la mode will give away to a lucky appraiser in conjunction with its 21st anniversary this summer.

a la mode's Convention, its fourth in the last two years, features three days of hands on and seminar size classes with instruction provided by a la mode developers, support techs and managers. Appraiser attendees will take advantage of classes on such technology topics as mobile productivity tools, electronic report delivery, workflow management, marketing, customer relations and more.

With 20 years' experience serving appraisers' technology needs, a la mode is approaching its second 20 emphasizing the comprehensive nature of how appraisers run their businesses. Where most software is geared to completing an appraiser's report, only a la mode has solutions for doing everything that goes into "form filling" as well as helping appraisers manage their businesses, including collaboration with colleagues, clients and other information providers.

Appraisers can learn about this new way of looking at things — dubbed "The Wheel" — for better addressing their "report-centric" and "business-centric" needs alike by visiting http://www.alamode.com/appraiser/. After seeing The Wheel, appraisers can enter to win the wheels on display at the Summer Convention.

"There is a sense in the appraisal industry that clients pay for forms to be filled out, so that's what software needs to do," said Chris Low, Executive Vice President of Products with a la mode. "This mindset pervades vendors of other programs as well as, unfortunately, many appraisers.

"It's a fact that formfilling is only a fraction of what appraisers 'do,' when you look at compliance, accounts receivable, marketing, collaboration with others in the mortgage market and time and risk management, among many other things," Low continued. "Appraisers really are called upon today to be ‘SUVs' – they do it all."

Why give away a Range Rover? "Today appraisers have to do it all, ‘off-road' or on, with no excuses," Low remarked. "Also, they sometimes get muddy.

"The Range Rover is the, well, Range Rover of SUVs. And our tools make our customers best-in-class, too."

Other features of the Convention include an important lunch panel discussion tomorrow focusing on strategies for complying with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley financial privacy act. The appraisal industry has been slow to realize that the 2001 federal law applies to it – and that regulators are not shy about enforcement against participants in the mortgage transaction.

Other Convention highlights will include a cocktail reception in the exhibit hall tonight, followed tomorrow night by a night of dinner and dancing.

The Range Rover giveaway is not limited to Convention attendees. Appraisers can enter online by visiting http://www.alamode.com/appraiser/ and learning about The Wheel.

###

About a la mode

Founded in 1985, a la mode develops desktop tools, mobile tools, web sites for real estate professionals, mortgage brokers, and appraisers. a la mode's flagship product, WinTOTAL form-filling software for appraisers leads the residential appraisal industry. a la mode's Mercury Network, a vendor management platform for lenders, provides the most experienced local appraisers in an HVCC-compliant, easy-to-use loan ordering and management application. a la mode's mission-critical products are used by hundreds of thousands of appraisers, agents, inspectors, and lending professionals to complete the nation's real estate transactions. The company's state-of-the-art offices are located in Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, and Washington, DC. To learn more, visit www.alamode.com.