Adam Parks (00:07)
Hello everybody, Adam Parks here with another episode of Receivables Podcast. Today I'm here to talk about just one of my favorite parts of the year. It's time to start planning for the RMAI Annual Conference happening in early February in Las Vegas. So today joining me, I've got Mike Becker, the Executive Director of the Receivables Management Association International, or known as RMAI, here to talk to us about what's new, what's different, and what we should expect in Las Vegas this year. So Mike, thank you so much for joining me. I really do appreciate your insights.
Mike Becker (00:41)
Hey, I always love doing this. appreciate the opportunity. And you're right. It's such an awesome topic to talk about. are just around the corner from the annual conference. It's one of the most favorite things that we do on the staff side to prepare and deploy this annual conference. So we're really excited.
Adam Parks (00:57)
Well, just to set the stage, I'm going to say something that I think most of this audience has heard me say before, but I truly do believe it. The RMAI annual conference is where I go every year to do deals. The executive summit is where I go to further develop those relationships that I built. But for me, the RMAI annual conference is that place every year where I'm going to do 40 or 50 meetings every half hour for like the entire time I'm in Las Vegas because it's so rare to have all of these key people together in the same building at the same time with the decision makers, not just the operators, but those C-suite executives that are driving decision making across organizations. So it's a great opportunity to engage with peers, and it's a phenomenal opportunity to develop relationships with the different vendors, technologies, and services.
You know, we've been doing it at the Aria for a long time, my personal favorite hotel in Las Vegas. And I feel like now I know the ins and outs after 19 years of attending the RMAI all the way back to its days at the Mirage. And it does change a little bit every year, right? The association is always tweaking things, trying new things. I'm really excited to hear what you're working on this year.
Mike Becker (02:09)
Well, if I were to put a theme around this, it's how do we even further enhance the networking and the connections that the attendees are able to make? And some of that's logistical. Hey, where can you sit down and talk? And some of that's just creating the opportunities to meet people and to talk. But I tell you that those opportunities start today.
You know, our early bird pricing is about to end and we'll go to standard pricing, but if you are attending our conference, you're planning to attend our conference, now is the perfect time to start reaching out to those that are also attending the conference and setting up meetings, looking at our exhibitors and so forth. But what we want to do is when you get to Las Vegas is we want to make sure from the association side that we're creating as many opportunities as possible. So some things, whether you have never been to the RMAI annual conference or if you're knocking out the door of within a year or so of Adam doing 20 of these, these are some new things that you can expect to see. First off, we're going to have a lot more meeting space. In the exhibit hall alone, we'll have additional set of tables that are going to be new this year that are kind of free for all tables. On a first come first serve basis, we're going to have a. New executive lounge setup area, private lounge, private meeting space, setup. And then we're going to have a fast track lounge. This is a free meeting space. They're going to – this particular fast track lounge is designed for, can we do a quick cup of coffee? Do have 15 minutes for a demo? And we'll make sure that we're moving people through so everybody's got an opportunity to use these. And on top of that, we're going have an entire new space of private tables that are set up that you can reserve for the entire length of the annual conference. So we're to have lots of new meeting space opportunity. And in addition to that, we're going to have expanded exhibit hall hours. So opportunities to go in, to meet with our exhibitors, but also to meet your peers. Anyone that you're looking to do a deal with, make an introduction to, you will have that entire space open for more hours than we have in the past. That's just some of what we're doing. But really, All of these changes are with the attendee in mind, with the focus of creating opportunities for networking and as you said, Adam, for putting deals together and making new connections and seeing old friends.
Adam Parks (04:28)
So many so much to unpack their Mike. So let me start with the logistical seating because I think that is such a mission critical opportunity for those that are right. It's far to get to the hotel from the conference area. So being able to spend more time in that conference area with the registered guests for me is important because then I don't have to go check my list against who actually is registered because I refuse to meet with anyone that is not registered for any conference. Just to be clear, always looking for the badge. We do a pre-check before every show just to double check. executive lounge is something that's been a great tool for years for me and my team, right? Having those tables together. Is that kind of what the private table setting is gonna be like? Because you have the private rooms, you've got the executive lounge, and now you've got some additional seating options for people to come together.
Mike Becker (04:56)
Yes, good for the badge. See you later. We are lounged out because we have the VIP lounge. We have the Fast Track lounge. Yeah, so we will have the executive lounge is actually moving. It's going to be across the hallway, but it'll be one of the larger rooms and we'll have a lot more space in there. So we'll have more opportunities to have space in the executive lounge. I'm going to call it the old executive lounge space is the VIP lounge. It's just going to be a different type of setup in there. So right, there's so we're going to have a mix of
Mike Becker (05:47)
free meeting tables and private. So if you are a sponsor or a company that's attending and you want to have just private reserved space, we're making that available as well. this is something that attendees ask for. so a special thank you to those that not only attend the annual conference, but complete our post-conference survey. And this is a direct action to let you know that we hear you.
Mike Becker (06:14)
When you want these opportunities, you want more engagement, you want areas to sit and to meet, that's what we're trying to deliver this year. So we will have a mix of space. If you want a private reserve space, you can reach out to us, specifically Sylvia Done and our staff, but you can reach out, go right to our website, rmaintl.org, and all of our contact information is on there. You can reach out to me specifically if you'd like, I'll put you in touch with the right person. But that is, so it's limited.So get in early, get in fast if it's still available here. ⁓ But also we will have open tables that are not, you cannot reserve them. So as part of that, we'll make sure that many of those tables are turning as well to make sure that everyone's getting opportunity there. But yeah, we want you to come to this conference and leave better, more successful, more opportunities and itching to come back
Adam Parks (06:43)
So get in early, get in fast, get the tool available here.
Mike Becker (07:11)
next year. We want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to make sure that you have that experience.
Adam Parks (07:15)
Well, as one of the exhibitors, I'm very excited to hear that we're going to be able to spend some more time in the exhibit hall and driving some more traffic. I know that's something that we've always talked about through the years. And I love the way that in order to get to education, everybody is coming through the exhibit hall. And I think that creates some interesting organic opportunities for people to engage. You when we start thinking about these types of opportunities, now that we're in December, I'm sure that the majority of the exhibit hall is already sold here, but there's gotta be some additional opportunities for those that are last minute planners, I guess we could call them, that wanna try and make a splash at the show. What's their next step of action for someone who has not been to the show before and wants to try and get engaged this late in the game?
Mike Becker (08:04)
I always say the very first thing is to take a step forward and to reach out to us and reach out. Like I said, you can reach out to myself directly or talk to Sylvia. We have lots of opportunities and they've become increasingly limited, but we have some that are we have larger capacities for. So everything on one end of the spectrum from bag drops when those register and check in at the conference, you get a bag full of really great goodies from any of our sponsors. Often those are still available.
Depending on the sessions that – and the spots that we saw available, table drops. So as people come into education sessions, you can have material in front of them. But there's often larger sponsorship opportunities as well. And the very best thing to do is to take action and take that first step. Reach out to us. And when I talk to potential sponsors, I always ask, what do you want to accomplish? We don't want to just – we just don't want to sell you a sponsorship. We want to help you have a good experience and reach your goals because, selfishly, Adam, that's how we get you to come back. We want you to have an engaging, positive experience. So I hope – if you haven't sponsored, I hope you'd consider it, and we would love to entertain a conversation of how we can help you reach those goals.
Mike Becker (09:19)
And we can then work backwards into, maybe sponsorship would be a good opportunity for you. And this is what it could look like.
Adam Parks (09:26)
At the very least, I highly suggest that everybody attend. And I believe it's December 12th when the early bird registration ends. What does that look like? How much are people saving by getting registered now?
Mike Becker (09:37)
You are correct. It's December 12th is the early bird deadline. That's when it ends. It depends on the type of category of membership. If you're a member, you're a non-member or not, but you're generally going to save about one to $200. So we're right around the corner from that. So if you have not registered, whether you've never attended, like I said, or you've attended 10 or 20 times, if you plan it on it, make sure you get that registration in now if you want to save a few extra dollars.
Adam Parks (10:04)
Yeah, I get that registration in so that you're on the list and you get the right people reaching out to you to set up meetings because that process has already begun. I know my calendar is already starting to fill up here in early December, so I highly suggest that if you're trying to engage with C-suite executives across the space that you engage sooner rather than later.
I know people, especially at the beginning of the year, like to try and push things off. I'll do it after the holidays, but this is an opportunity to engage early. And I definitely suggest it for those that are participating. Now, one of the other things I was reading through the website earlier and starting to plan my calendar for RMAI, sounds like golf is a little bit different this year and has changed. Talk to me about the changes for the golf tournament.
Mike Becker (10:44)
You know, that's another thing where you spoke and we listened, for those of you golfers out there. Golf has always been an outstanding event. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of networking. But we have heard, hey, can we try some different courses, maybe some nicer courses? Let's see what's out there. And we have been able to do it. to tell you why. We've had two of our longtime golf sponsors, Trak America and Crown Asset Management have stepped up and said, hey, let's make this happen. So in 2026 for the upcoming conference, we're going to be at TPC Summerlin for those golfers out there. You're to recognize this course. It's a PGA course. They've held tour events there.
Mike Becker (11:22)
for the past several decades, it seems. So it's beautiful course. It's gonna be just an overall enhanced experience. We'll have a little more food opportunities there, some networking as you come and get checked in. And one of the things that we started doing is not just registering yourself, you can actually purchase foursomes. So if you really say, hey, I wanna guarantee I'm able to go off with these people.
Mike Becker (11:45)
You can purchase a foursome with us, identify those golfers, let us know who they are, register yourself together and we'll make sure that you're paired together. But if you, if you aren't in a position to do that, or if you just want to put yourself out there, I can assure you firsthand that we look at the individual, the single golfers and to the best of our ability. think we do a pretty good job with it as we make sure that you're, you're with a group that is.
Adam Parks (11:53)
Love that.
Mike Becker (12:11)
That's mixed throughout – of different industry representatives and different industry channels. So even if you don't know anyone or maybe you do know everyone there, like Adam. Adam golfs in this event every year, and we still put you with new people, Adam.
Adam Parks (12:26)
every single time I get new people. But tell you what, that's four hours that I get to spend building a new relationship and every single time I step onto the golf course with RMAI, I walk out with new friends. I mean, we're always taking pictures on the course, we're texting each other, we've got new modes of communication open between people that I had never met before, and they've become integral parts of my personal network. So I love that. Yeah.
Mike Becker (12:48)
And that's the point of this, right? ⁓
Adam Parks (12:51)
I look, I don't want to just golf with my friends. I want to golf with people that I've never met before. I want to make new friends.
Mike Becker (12:55)
Right, that's exactly right. And if you have not done RMAI's annual conference golf outing, it's turnkey. We will pick you up at the front door of the Aria, we'll shuttle you to the course. If you want to bring your clubs, you're welcome to do so, but we'll have rentals available. You'll leave them at the course when you're done and we'll shuttle you right back after you get lunch. So it's a completely, it's not a big extra burden or a lift. It's turnkey. So look for that right on the registration. If you have already registered and you did not register for golf, you can go back in and add it. And if you don't know how to do that, again, just reach right out to us, we'll help you, but it can always be added to your registration. Golf, we're really excited about the changes there, because it's gonna be some big enhancements, and I think our golfers are really gonna enjoy that.
Adam Parks (13:39)
Well, I'm very excited for this entire event. I will be coming from South America in 20 hours each direction, I think demonstrates the level of commitment that I have not only to the association, but to attending these events because that face to face interaction time at the beginning of the year for me is one of the most powerful things. There was a point in my career where I was doing 90 % of my business for the entire year at the RMAI annual conference because that's where people are in the deal mindset. I don't even take meetings at summit or a lot of other conferences throughout the year. I think the RMAI conference is where I really like to hyper focus that get everybody prepared for the year meet with my existing clients, make new friends, make new contacts and ultimately it's been worked out really well for me I found a couple of great hires there as well that are currently executives on our team. So I think a lot of this is a great opportunity for anybody who's in debt collection and regardless of the discipline that you're focused on debt buyers, agencies, law firms, the creditors. This for me is that collections conference during the year in which you're going to see the most originating creditors in the room as compared to any other time of the year. Like this is part of their schedule and when you have those opportunities to try and develop those new relationships.
Mike Becker (15:00)
Yeah, and it's, you know, I'm new to the industry, one of the newer ones. And I know this is a special message to those of you that. You're new to the industry. You've never come to the conference, and there's a lot of people. Last year we had nearly 1,600 people at the conference, and it's overwhelming. And I understand that. And especially for first-time attendees or new RMAI members, we're going to have something special for you on Monday afternoon. It's towards the end of the day.
Mike Becker (15:31)
And it's going to be a session just for you where we're going to introduce you to each other. We're going to introduce you to all sorts of leadership throughout the industry and throughout the organization, have a reception there. And we want to make sure that when you come to the RMAI Conference – if you don't know anyone in the industry, by the end of that very first day, once you register, I can assure you, you will, because we want to make sure that – like I said, if you don't know the first thing about this, that you leave with a network full of folks, and it starts on Monday afternoon. So you can add that on your registration. Make sure you're to attend that event, and we'll make sure that you meet the right people on the very first day.
Adam Parks (16:06)
It sounds like an incredible opportunity for those of us that have continued to come back for decades and for anybody who's walking through the door for the first time. And if you are walking through the door for the first time, let me tell you, I still remember my first time. And the first thing that happened to me was some industry veterans grabbed me by the arm, said, come on, let's go meet some people.
In all of the industries in which I've ever worked or engaged, I've never quite had an experience like I've had with RMAI through the years in terms of competitors collaborating and just the environment of the people that underlie the association itself, the members that actively move the association forward are all very open and interested in conversations and engaging with new people.
If you're feeling really scared, reach out to RMAI. Send me a message on LinkedIn. We'll make sure that you are going to have a positive first experience with the RMAI. As a past president, I consider that to be a personal mission and as someone who was helped through the years, I see it as my responsibility to continue to help the next generation start to engage with the association.
Mike Becker (17:14)
Well, I love to hear that and I would tell anyone that Adam's one of our biggest advocates and he's not alone in that. Any of our current and our past leadership and anyone like myself or on our staff team are ready and willing to help you whether you're an industry veteran or not. So reach out to any of us. Our contact information is right on our website, rmaintl.org and reach out to us and we'll help you with anything through the registration process or onsite or anything in between.
Adam Parks (17:40)
Well, we'll put the links down here below in the description as well to make sure that people are getting over there and getting that early bird registration, which is going to end on December 12th. But Mike, is there anything else that I'm missing that I didn't cover that we need to talk about today as it relates to the annual conference?
Mike Becker (17:57)
Yeah, this is the part where I take the podcast mic and ask you a question Adam as the as the veteran the conference attendee What is your the number one advice that you would give to any attendee whether they're a veteran or not when you are at that conference What is the one thing you've got to do?
Adam Parks (18:14)
start early, start early and follow up because when you go to a conference of this size and you meet so many people, one, meetings start booking early. Like I said, my calendar is already partially booked for this conference. And I think that happens to a lot of C-suite executives in the space. Be there, prepare early Be there actively engaged and make sure that you follow up because the conversations that you have there are critical and provide significant opportunity for the remainder of your year. And if you don't follow up with those conversations, they die on the vine in Las Vegas. You have to be able to carry those out. And for those of you that know me well, you know that I always have a red notebook in my back pocket so that I can take notes from the discussions that are happening, I don't do it on a phone because if I do it on the phone, you're gonna think I'm texting somebody else instead of paying attention to you, which is what I'm doing. And by taking my notes in a notebook, I'm able to go through that process of having the meetings, documenting what my follow-up actions are. And then when I get back to my office, I sit there and I go through page by page and move each one of those notes into an action plan. What's that next best action? Is it an email follow-up? Is it I gotta connect with them on LinkedIn? Is it that we're doing something, I got to send them an invoice or a contract or whatever the case may be. I need to know what those next actions are because planning early to make sure you have a great conference engaging in any and everything that there is to offer. Don't go hide in your room, go engage in everything. Go walk to the bar because it's going to be mostly RMAI if not, let's call it 95 % RMAI related people in the Aria. So if you go to the bar, you go to breakfast, say hi, be friendly with everybody, because you never know who you're standing next to.
Mike Becker (19:59)
As expected, outstanding advice. I love that. Every piece of it. That's great advice.
Adam Parks (20:04)
I think it's a great fit for how people can take this opportunity for that in-person connection and actually turn it into some sort of intelligence that you can carry forward because my first years, I made that mistake and I didn't take notes the same way and I'd go back through my calendar and think that I would remember everything and after 60 meetings and five days, I remembered nothing and it was always about trying to remember again. So documenting it as I'm going through the process is kind of mission critical for me. I know everybody's got that maybe you want to take pictures or everybody's got their own methodology for how they want to activate it. But for me, nothing beats the notebook. I've got a hundred of these little notebooks sitting in a drawer over here and I guarantee you it will be in my pocket at the conference.
Mike Becker (20:52)
That's great. Good advice. Great advice.
Adam Parks (20:55)
I think it'll work out for people that are going to actively engage. But Mike, thank you so much for coming on, joining me today, sharing all your insights, telling us what's gonna be new at the conference I'm very much looking forward to the 2026 annual.
Mike Becker (21:08)
And we're looking forward to seeing you, Adam, and everyone else listening. Thanks, Adam.
Adam Parks (21:11)
Absolutely, for everybody watching, you have additional questions you'd like to ask Mike or myself, you can leave those in the comments on LinkedIn and YouTube. We'll be responding to those. I'll also put the direct link so that you can go get your early bird registration before December 12th, and I look forward to seeing you all in Las Vegas. Thank you everybody for your time and attention. We'll see y'all again soon.
