Wisdom in the Desert
The 2022 Independent Conference & Expo officially kicked off today in Palm Springs. Attendees participated in committee meetings and networking events beginning with the AFSAPAC President’s Club event on Monday. AFSA members stepped up BIG time to support the AFSAPAC and AFSA Education Foundation during the Fiesta Celebration and PAC Auction.
Wednesday saw plenty of informative sessions that tackled issues from federal and state activities to cultivating a rock star attitude. Conference Keynote, “Marvelless” Mark Kamp, gave our attendees the four Rockstar Principles (Chords) that would help improve business performance: Dreams, Change, Band, and Action.
The Policy Power Hour with AFSA’s Senior Vice Presidents Danielle Arlowe and Celia Winslow gave us insightful views on the goings on in Washington and in capitals around the country, drilling down on federal, state, and legal issues affecting the consumer credit marketplace.
AFSA’s Chief Economist, Perc Pineda, and Professor Tom Miller, Jr., of Mississippi State University outlined new data on the Illinois rate cap and consumer credit trends that have been shaping the national economy. A notable stat: personal savings rates from 2015 to 2021 increased from 7.6% to 12.0% despite an economic turndown.
We closed Wednesday with a stacked CEO panel featuring Rex Ellison, President and CEO of Republic Finance, LLC, Ginger Herring, President and CEO of 1st Franklin Financial and Dan Walters, CEO of Credit Central, LLC,. AFSA President & CEO Bill Himpler, President and CEO moderated the discussion.
These industry leaders shared their insights on how they’ve adapted their management and operations within the past year due to the changing consumer and economic environments.
The ultimate responsibility of a leadership team is to provide a sense of calm during a time of uncertainty to both the customer and team members.
We’ll review Thursday’s sessions and go deep on each in the AFSA Blog and Capital Notes over the next few weeks.
Didn’t get to attend the conference? Session recordings and materials will be available for purchase in the next few weeks. Keep an eye on Capital Notes and the blog for more detail.
May 4th, 2022
