There are several ways you can provide value to remote locations and make sure that everyone in your chapter area is served. As more and more time is demanded from our jobs, traveling to major cities and locations for chapter events has become increasingly difficult. “Bringing your chapter out to the membership” is a great way to ensure that your entire chapter demographic is covered and that all members are provided with value. Involving local community bank professionals and conducting local round tables are just two ways in which you can expand your current services to everyone within the demographic.
Conducting local round tables
A round table discussion’s main goal is to provide the chance to exchange ideas on selected topics that a moderator introduces. They are great way to involve community banks that may be rurally located and a terrific way to let nonmember banks see the value of RMA. Round tables are also very inexpensive to run, and they don’t require mass marketing because the event is by invitation only.
The first step is to identify and invite your target audience—for example, CEOs, senior credit officers, senior risk officers. Lists of senior executives at both member and nonmember banks can be provided by your local Regional Manager.
Some suggested guidelines
- Generally, invite more experienced and high-level credit officers, lenders, or CEOs.
- Make these events “by invitation only.” Do not market the event to the population at large.
- Limit your round table discussions to a specific number of participants. Too large a group will not be effective. The ideal number is 15 or fewer participants.
- Before inviting participants, set a desired asset-size range for each bank that will be attending (and keep it specific). Too great of an asset-size range may disrupt the flow of the conversation.
- Make sure that no more than two participants from a given bank participate. Too many participants from one bank can lead to conversation hijacking.
- If you have too many banks to invite, you might want to hold two separate round tables: one for community banks and one for larger banks.
- Invite nonmembers to attend! Round tables are a great way to get nonmembers to join RMA.
Identify topics to be discussed
- If you disclose the topics in advance, consider including them on your invitation. Here are a few suggestions:
- “Things that keep you up at night”
- Current regulatory issues
- Emerging credit or lending issues
- Regional concerns or issues
- Commercial real estate
- Hiring practices
- Training issues
- You can also decide to ask participants for their “hot button issues” as you go around the room for introductions. You can use these hot buttons as your list of topics.
- Your Regional Manager can also help you identify some of the latest hot topics
Ask a peer to serve as moderator or facilitator
- The role of the moderator/facilitator is to frame the topic, keep an exchange of ideas going, and summarize at the end of each segment.
- Make sure your facilitator is on the same professional level as the participants.
Arrange for a suitable facility
- Two hours is more than enough time for a round table discussion.
- Ensure you have comfortable surroundings.
- The size and arrangement of the table(s) must be comfortable.
- Provide appropriate refreshments.
On the day of the event (if applicable):
- Set up a registration table.
- Supply name tags or name tents.
- Provide easels, writing boards, or other visual aids for use in summarizing key points.
- Provide agenda and writing materials to each participant.
Moderator should welcome participants, make introductions, and review RMA’s Antitrust Guidelines
- Make sure that you read a list of RMA’s antitrust guidelines prior to starting your round table. These guidelines outline what subjects are unacceptable for conversation.
- Introduce each topic and encourage discussion.
- Ensure that time is monitored and the agenda followed.
- Summarize key findings at the end of each segment and at the end of the program.
Find out more about the participants during the round table (if developing the area for future events)
- Find out what other events would be of interest to community banks in the area.
- Find out if any of the attending individuals would like to act as regional board members for the local chapter so that other events can be brought to the area.
- Be sure to gather all contact information so that attendees can be invited to future events and added to the chapter marketing list.
Follow up by surveying the participants
- It’s important to find out what participants thought of the round table.
- It’s also important to know how you can improve on future events.
- Be sure to survey the participants using a quick and easy survey.
Sample Agenda, Invitation Letter and Critique (Word)
CREDIT POLICY ROUND TABLES KEEP SENIOR OFFICERS INVOLVED
The Birmingham Chapter's Credit Policy Luncheon has thrived for a decade by keeping things simple and easy.
Fifteen years ago, RMA members in Birmingham, Alabama began talking shop over lunch once a quarter, because they saw the need for, and benefits of, exchanging commercial credit policy information.
"We had a lot to learn from each other," recalls Bob deBuys, senior vice president of SouthTrust Bank and chairman of the credit policy luncheons, "and we had to eat lunch sometime during the day, so why not eat lunch and talk about current issues with each other?"
Birmingham is the headquarters for several major bank holding companies. The luncheons usually draw 10 to 12 commercial credit bank officers from seven to eight institutions. Half of the attendees have participated in the luncheons for the past 10 years. The affairs are held, on a rotating basis, in the executive or customer dining rooms of participating banks, with the host bank covering the cost of the luncheon. The attendees are not charged.
All of the banks are centrally located, so getting to the luncheon involves just a short walk. That's just one of the keys to making such a program a longtime success. According to deBuys, you must:
- Find a dedicated chairman: "You need a sponsorship person who wants to make it work," says deBuys, describing his role.
- Make it easy: "The main thing is that it requires virtually no effort on the part of the other members," says deBuys.
- Schedule well in advance, before calendars fill up: The credit policy luncheon dates and sites are set a year ahead of time.
- Make it topical: deBuys begins calling members two to three weeks ahead of time to solicit suggestions for luncheon topics. "It reminds people of the meeting," he says, "and ensures that what we'll cover will be relevant to the moment."
Topics suggested by members and covered during the 10th anniversary meeting in October 1999 included: Are Banks Moving Too Far Away from the Customer via Credit Scoring? Is Excess Market Liquidity Causing Underwriting Standards to Weaken Too Much? and Are Our Customers Y2K Savvy?
In reviewing the list, deBuys and others were struck by how similar many of the topics were to those covered during their first luncheons in 1987. But while many of the subjects endure, such as occupancy rates in multi-family dwellings and retail, the nuances are always changing.
"There's always a regulator who comes up with a new idea that requires a response, and we share ideas about how to respond," says deBuys. "We're not sharing proprietary information, but sharing different perspectives and concepts on how to approach various problems."
At the beginning of the 90-minute luncheons, bankers gather in groups of twos and threes for informal chats. Once the salad arrives, they begin to formally address the agenda topics.
"If you get someone to initiate a luncheon and get people sitting down at the same table, it will feed off itself," says deBuys, who serves as the luncheon moderator. "Once you have an initial meeting with at least one agenda item and you agree to meet again, it will carry itself off."
Target the Banks in Your Area
- Ask RMA HQ for the list of member and nonmember banks in your area.
- Focus on specific asset sizes and ranges.
- Divide up potential new community bank members among your board and have a board member call them directly.
- Ask board members if anyone has a specific contact for each bank prospect.
- If you can’t locate a specific contact person, target your call to the bank’s president, senior lender, or senior credit officer.
Nonmember Involvement
- Ask the staff of a nonmember community bank to participate in a round table session, so they can see firsthand the value of the RMA local chapter!
- Invite nonmember community banks to local round tables and ask them what types of local programming they would like to see.
- Call nonmember community banks to poll them on various local topics and issues.
Board Involvement
- Designate a Community Bank RT Committee.
- Contact your local RM for the names of local community bankers who may already be members of RMA but are not currently involved with the chapter.
- Appoint rural members to the board so they can help you with programming outside of urban or centralized settings.
- Recognize new community bank members at meetings.
Why bring round tables to remote locations?
- Because there are often pockets of community banks located outside the chapter’s central activity area. These banks are either underserved or not served at all.
- Because serving an underserved segment of your financial services community is an effective way to increase chapter membership and provide value to all RMA members.
- Because it will help you serve your entire chapter demographic, as stated in your bylaws.
- Because as Credit Risk Certification (CRC) becomes better known and widely accepted, bankers in remote locations will need continuing education credit hours and chapter programming to maintain their certification.
- Because reaching out to members and prospects in remote locations is an effective way to increase chapter participation from both members and nonmembers.
- Because one of the biggest reasons banks do not join RMA is either distance from the nearest local chapter or lack of a chapter.
- Because local activities provide added value to a bank’s RMA membership!
- Because it’s a great way to program around regional topics specific to your own area.
- Because, today, people don’t have the time they once did to travel an hour or two to get to an event.
- Because members shouldn’t have to seek out RMA chapters. Chapters should seek out the members.
- Because time out of the bank—especially at community banks—is a major reason both members and nonmembers do not attend an educational event.
- Because it’s an effective way to widen the reach of your programming and provide value to your entire RMA chapter membership!
Ideas Worth Considering
- Community bank round tables are often better supported in the suburbs.
- Asset size is key to a good round table. It is highly recommended that you do not allow too large of a range in asset size to participate. Generally, banks with assets below $1B can participate in the same round table.
- Don’t overreach and saturate your market. Hold just a few events each year to satisfy your more distant members.
- Local colleges, SBDCs, Economic Development Centers, and other regional providers are often very helpful when it comes to programs, educational events, and suitable and affordable facilities.
A Few Suggestions
- Consult with your neighboring RMA chapters about the possibility of sharing the responsibility in certain remote locations—perhaps even undertaking a joint venture.
- Try joint ventures with other associations that may already have a presence in the more remote locations.
- Use a regional bank with offices in remote locations for help in finding a local professional who can suggest relevant programs, facilities, and interests.
- Establish one or two “foot soldiers” in the remote location. They should be able to help organize open enrollment courses or offer other relevant programs. Offer them a place on your board of directors and make them responsible for organizing one or two events per year. You should still require that they request board approval and support for all events.
Survey a sample of community banks that fit your targeted demographic. Find out what programs interest them and their employees. Research whether their markets have more credit or business banker staff members.
For more information and for additional resources, please contact the Regional Manager for your area.