Around the World With AMBA

Roughly 325 mortgage brokerage industry professionals and over 150 exhibitors in 58 trade show booths enjoyed the annual AMBA Conference & Trade Show last week in Red Deer, Alberta. RECA was among the attendees and was once again impressed with the quality of the event organization, the program and, above all, the enthusiastic support of the industry professionals and stakeholders.

During breakfast Friday morning, Gary Siegle presented an overview of RECA’s 2011-2016 Strategic Plan. Among many other highlights, Gary spoke of RECA’s vision of creating a greater awareness of individual accountability and responsibility for professional conduct, putting the “self” back in self-regulation, and how it applies equally to the practitioner’s conduct and conduct observed in other practitioners.

George Bernard Shaw was quoted as saying, “If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.” The Economic Panel consisting of Todd Hirsch from ATB Financial, Lai Sing Louie from CMHC and Katherine White from Alberta Finance and Enterprise would have given Mr. Shaw pause for reflection. The panel was well informed, articulate, entertaining and decisive. Not only that, they agreed on the mostly positive economic outlook for Alberta.

Darren Jacklin presented the Morning Business Seminar in which he provided some fresh thoughts on building business through relationships. Darren reiterated time and time again that you must show others how much you care before they will care about you.

During lunch, Warren MacDonald treated attendees to an inspirational presentation about how his life completely changed in a freak hiking accident that resulted in the loss of both legs above the knees. Warren said, “When you change the way you see the world, you change the world.” Within ten months of the double amputation, Warren had participated in a 1.2 km ocean swim race and climbed a mountain. Since then, he has successfully reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak. Warren continues to find opportunity in adversity and encourages others to do the same.

The theme for the afternoon trade show was “Around the World with AMBA,” during which exhibitors decorated their booths and dressed in the tradition of a specific region or country. We saw everything from kilts to lederhosen originating from Mexico to India and many other countries around the world. The trade show was a wonderful opportunity for networking and socializing.

What did you think of the 2011 AMBA Conference?