National convention roundup: Why can’t they all be like this?

On Monday, Feb. 21 we kicked off our first annual convention in Las Vegas, and for three days, hosted some 700 of our closest friends. While this first-of-its-kind event was quite an undertaking, we tapped into the wealth of exeprience we've accumulated from our popular seminar events – plus the efforts of over 70 employees – to put on the kind of convention that appraisers want and deserve.

First and foremost, it was great to get together with so many of our customers. Our support, marketing, sales, and senior executives all got to meet hundreds of you face to face. Plus, there were plenty of opportunities for attendees to ask questions, provide suggestions and even air complaints during two dedicated Q & A sessions with our CEO, Dave Biggers. That, combined with three industry panel discussions, two social events and over 20 hours of exposure in our exhibit hall booth ensured that attendees were active particiapants in the event.

We've seen (as have a lot of you) appraisal conferences go from thousands strong in attendance to much (much!) smaller events, centered on Continuing Education – which makes you want to "put up with" the classes and sessions so you can get that ce

rtificate. What's worse, the sessions that aren't CE-centered are just commercials for some new product or service, in the guise of an informative presentation.

In other words, many conference organizers center their sessions around whether they can get them approved in the biggest states and whether they can sell you something – which is often a far cry from what you'll find most useful and interesting.

We tried to do it differently, focusing on technology, and talking about concrete, achievable ways you can be more productive and efficient. Real-world solutions to your daily problems beat three credits for a divisible interests lecture any day.

Copyrighting reports to break open the data market
In addition to intensive training, tips and hands-on sessions with some of our programmers, we also put together panels on the most important topics in the profession today.

Our panel discussion on copyrighting appraisal reports was an eye opener. The analysis, descriptions and conclusions in your appraisal reports are being misappropriated today, and you're not being compensated for the re-use of your intellectual property. Even though it's often going toward building or feeding a competing product. Our in-house counsel, an attorney-advisor with the U.S. Copyright Office, and an intellectual property law professor were among the panelists who explained that you don't sign your rights away when you deliver your report to your client.

We want to help you create and control a new market for appraisal data, which you and every appraiser can choose to participate in. Look for much more on this topic in an e-mail from Dave Biggers this week.

At last, a balanced AVM panel
We're infamous – or nefarious, depending on who you ask – for our outspoken opinions on Automated Valuation Models (AVMs). So when we were planning a panel discussion on AVMs, a lot of people expected us to put on an "anti-AVM" panel. But proselytizing wasn't going to do anyone any good, and our customers were investing valuable time, money and effort into their attendance. We believed you deserve more than the one-sided AVM presentation you normally get at "valuation" conferences.

We were fortunate to be joined by two leading AVM experts: Vicky Cassens-Zillioux, Managing Director, Real Estate and Lending Practice for Strategic Development Worldwide, a consulting practice that focuses on organizational strategy and development, and Jim Kirchmeyer, President/CEO of Real-Info, Inc. and author of the recent book AVMs: 101, A Guide to Automated Valuation Models. Dave Biggers joined them on the panel. We heard a lot of agreement on what AVMs are, what they can and can't do, and obstacles they face in gaining market share in first mortgages. Where the panelists differed was in their conclusions about how – and whether – appraisers should be involved in feeding, using or otherwise helping them gain that market share. In our next newsletter edition, we'll give you a great overview of the presentations and discussion from this panel.

A roadmap for the next 10 years
Last but not least, we had a roundtable discussion on what the next 10 years holds for the appraisal profession. Our own Dave Biggers talked about marketing and technology. Conrad North, Vice President of Appraisal Retail, QA, and Special Projects with Aurora Loan Services had a lot of great information and discussion about the future from a client perspective. And Frank Gregoire, Vice Chairman and immediate past Chairman of the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board (FREAB) was a hit talking about a range of issues including AQB changes, trainees, appraisal regulation and governance, and the trend toward private companies and organizations putting on appraisal conferences.

Visit our post-convention website by clicking here. There you can access video, pictures, testimonials, and some information about our mid-year technology conference coming up in July.