The opening session ended with an inspirational presentation from Keynote Speaker Aron Ralston. In 2003, Ralston's extraordinary human drama grabbed headlines around the world. An experienced climber and avid outdoorsman, Ralston was descending a remote Utah canyon alone when an 800-pound boulder broke loose, crushed his right hand and pinned him against the canyon wall. After nearly five days without water and with no hope of escape, Ralston made a life-or-death decision. He chose life by severing his arm below the elbow, rappelling a 65-foot cliff out of the canyon, and trekking seven miles to find his would-be rescuers.
“I stepped out of my grave and into my life again,” Ralston said.
Following these presentations, attendees then had their choice of attending various Concurrent Track Sessions, which were offered Monday and Tuesday. In total, six different tracks comprised of over 40 different sessions provided attendees a wide-range of choices for participation. Sessions included product roadmap reviews, product round-table sessions, peer-to-peer case study presentations from 15 clients and best practice sessions geared to help clients achieve the maximum benefit and functionality from each solution.
During the evening’s special event, San Diego Sunset Dinner, eight distinguished clients, who have leveraged the capabilities of CRIF Lending Solutions’ products in creative ways to solve business challenges and fuel growth, were recognized by receiving the inaugural CRIF Next Level Achievement Awards.
Winners are:
- Anderson Brothers Bank (Achieve)
- Bank of Idaho (BizMark)
- Bank of the West (LoanCenter, CREDICHECK, RapUP and StrategyOne)
- Great Southern Bank (ACTion)
- Interra Credit Union (Select)
- Neighbors Federal Credit Union (ACTion)
- TCM Bank (Mark IV)
- VyStar Credit Union (Select)
“We are extremely proud of these amazing success stories,” said Larry Howell, Chairman, CRIF Lending Solutions. “Our solutions are designed to take our clients’ lending operations to the next level, and these institutions have certainly used them to exceed previous limitations.”
After the award, separate plenary sessions on the compliance and regulatory updates as well as the lending industry’s latest trends were organized. Phillips Gay, Jr., President of Phillips Gay Compliance Services started things with his presentation on regulatory compliance and covered judicial fair lending cases such as Dodd-Frank and Biggert-Waters, just to name a couple. Sam Kilmer, Senior Director of Cornerstone Advisors then followed with his presentation examining the latest trends affecting lending, comparative benchmarks, innovative considerations for ambitious growth and general best practices.
The closing keynote presentation featured Todd Henry, founder and CEO of Accidental Creative and author of “Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day.” His inspirational address focused on a practical process for identifying personal and organizational passion areas. He also examined a framework for applying those passion areas to the work you’re already doing.
The evening wrapped up with a “Whale of an Evening’ as attendees were treated to a reception and dinner at San Diego SeaWorld surrounded by penguins, manta rays, and other aquatic life that energized the evening. The biggest prize of the entire event was also handed out that night as Steve Patterson from Spokane Teachers Credit Union won the drawing for a four-day, three-night trip to Italy. He and his wife, Marci, will visit the Palazzo di Varignana Resort and Spa located in the beautiful countryside near the CRIF corporate headquarters in Bologna, Italy.
The final day of the Forum began with a plenary session presentation on data security by Coby Pennington, CISSP, Area Vice President of Security, Compliance and Audit for CRIF Lending Solutions. One-on-one client consulting sessions also continued from the previous two days.
Overall, the entire event was a complete success, and momentum is already building for the next Forum, see you there!
