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Mega Handouts are available. E-mail Chris Bennett to receive a pdf copy of any Mega handout.
After the volatility of 2009 and the uncertainty of 2010, I couldn’t come up with a more fitting theme for this year’s Mega Conference than “The Spirit of Adventure.” Banking has been, and will continue to be an adventure! This year representatives from 98 Indiana banks gathered in Indianapolis for the 2010 Mega Conference to network, increase their knowledge and learn about where our industry is heading.
This year’s conference began with a golf outing at the beautiful Country Club of Indianapolis. The weather was warn, but few complained about a fabulous May day! There were many contests, including a hole in for a car, but no one was able to make the shot. Thanks to all our golf sponsors and to the members of the Future Leadership Division Board who sold mulligans to raise money for BankPac.
Tuesday began the educational sessions and, as always, the Director Track led the way with more than 300 bank directors attending. Other tracks included Operations and Technology, Human Resources, Sales and Customer Service and Trust. Both days of the conference featured the Associate Member Showcase, which gave attendees the opportunity to learn about a new product or service an IBA Associate Member has to offer.
This year’s trade show featured 64 different IBA members who really appreciate that you take the time to stop by their booth during the conference. Many of them were promoting a new product or service and see the Mega Conference as a good way to get the word out.
In an effort to make this year’s conference more interactive, we employed an Audience Response System in each of the educational tracks. Handheld keypads were used in sessions to measure attendee opinions and awareness ideas and also to evaluate our speakers. Utilization increased as the conference progressed and attendees better understood how the system worked.
Tuesday’s keynote speaker Bruce Kirkby shared stories and videos from his real-life adventures and inspired us all to waste no opportunity. Tuesday’s lunch also featured our five-star awards. The five-star awards recognize the IBA’s best members in the areas of IBA in the areas of political awareness, issue advocacy, life-long learning, volunteerism and utilization of IBA Preferred Service Providers.
Wednesday tracks included Business Lending, Retail Lending, Financial Management, Compliance and Marketing. Marketing was also recognized through the annual MAXI awards and I want to extend a special thanks to Tade Powell, who once again served as the master of ceremonies for the Maxis. Congratulations to all the Maxi winners, but especially to the Monroe Bank Marketing Department for Howl-O-Ween, which was named Best of Show.
Our Wednesday keynote, Dan Clark, shared ideas for living a high performance life and received a standing ovation. I always say my bankers are a tough audience, but I don’t recall any speaker in my history with Mega who received such recognition from you – I’m glad you liked him!
Thank you so much to our sponsors of the 2010 Mega Conference. We would not have the resources to put on such a huge event and keep the costs reasonable if it weren’t for you. Also, I’d like to thank the Mega planning committees. The ideas for sessions originate with them. I may be able to bring it together, but they are the experts who have incredible knowledge of day-to-day by changes and trends in the industry. Without those planning committees, I’d be lost! IBA extends sincere thanks to all attendees who made Mega a success.
Please mark your calendars for Mega 2011, set for May 23-25 in Indianapolis.
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