Gaining Forward Momentum at the NEXT Mortgage Conference

Last month, leading female mortgage professionals from the country’s top mortgage lenders, GSEs, as well as technology and service providers participated in the inaugural NEXTTM Mortgage Technology Conference for Women in Dallas. NEXT challenges traditional mortgage industry conferences by being the only tech-focused event for women executives who are serious about driving optimal business outcomes.

 According to Molly Dowdy, Co-Founder of NEXT Mortgage Events, more than 200 women attended – including Docutech’s own President and newly appointed CEO, Amy Brandt and Executive Vice President of eStrategies, Harry Gardner – with 90 percent holding the title of vice president or above. “These are the primary decision makers for technology in the enterprise,” she said.

 

 

First Year Excitement

In this inaugural year of the conference, organizers did an impressive job attracting leading female executives to connect, collaborate and share their expert insights on the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of the mortgage industry. As Dowdy put it, “There is a lot of demand for this type of conference, not only from a content perspective, but also because of the networking opportunities that it presents.”

 

Valuable Content

A good conference is built around valuable content, and the NEXT team did a great job of assembling panel discussions on the industry’s hottest technology topics. Panel topics ranged from implementing technology for increased borrower satisfaction, to emerging Fintech trends, to reaching new consumers in a purchase money market.

 

Additionally, Amy Brandt was joined by Kara Lamphere, COO of MidAmerica Mortgage, Diana McKeever, VP, Technology Product Manager at Prime Lending, and Meggan Midbo, Corporate Product Owner at United Wholesale Mortgage for a panel discussion on avoiding eClosing bumps and bruises. Feedback on the session was very positive with attendees gaining insights on how to implement eClosing solutions while avoiding the mistakes of those who’ve already made the transition.

 

Building Partnerships

In addition to the sessions, conference planners allowed time for companies to provide information and demonstrations of their new technologies. Leading brands in the mortgage industry, such as Lender Price, Blend, Notarize and Docutech took to the stage to demo their latest solutions. Harry Gardner provided a live demonstration of the Solex Integrated eClosing platform, a joint offering of Docutech and Simplifile. With the industry evolution toward electronic loan closings, the Docutech demo attracted a good deal of attention. According to Dowdy, this comes as no surprise. “Lenders are investing in technology and are coming together to share what they are learning.”

 

Community

By all accounts, this inaugural conference was a great success not only due to the content in the sessions and demos but also because of the networking opportunities. The mortgage leaders in attendance felt the intimate environment of this show fostered great conversations. As a result, Dowdy states that they’d like to keep these events to 250 attendees or less to maximize the networking opportunities.

 

While the conference organizers are still gathering feedback on the show, the initial responses from attendees have been so positive that another NEXT conference is already in the planning stages.

 

 

To find out more about the next NEXT Conference, visit the website at https://www.nextmortgageconference.com/. To learn how Solex eClosing can help streamline your operations and elevate your borrower’s experience, download our solution brief.