Sold-out National Media Credit Conference Tackles Range of Topics Relevant to Credit & Collections Pros

The National Media Credit Conference was cosponsored by MFM and the National Media Credit Professionals NMCP and attracted a record number of attendees from across the media landscape Hereamp8217s why you need to plan for it next yearEconomist Richard Hastings set the stage for the dayamp8217s discussions with an overview of the positive and negative economic factors likely to affect credit risk particularly to small businesses in the US Hastings a frequent guest on CNBC Bloomberg and other business networks pointed to an escalation of the Ukraine war climate change the deteriorating relationship between the US and China and the political battle over the debt ceiling as looming negative factorsOn the positive side he highlighted the optimization of artificial intelligence progress toward renewable energy and enhanced productivity through improved learning skills for workers Hastingsamp8217 overriding message was that credit professionals need to be aware of all these moving parts and be able to assess their potential impact on the businesses that comprise the ad marketamp8220Richard Hastings got the crowd immediately engaged with his risk scorecards and thoughts on the economy looking back at historical trends and looking forward to new trendsamp8221 said Ellen Lehr Senior Director of Accounts Receivable Finance at Audacy amp8220He spoke about the impact of WFH on both commercial and residential real estateamp8221 added Tonya Sorrells Director Credit ampamp Collections at Hearst Television amp8220That was a fascinating analysisamp8221Bankruptcy experts Bruce Nathan and Andrew Behlmann updated attendees on the surge in bankruptcies across the US They pointed out that the injection of cash into the economy by the government during the Covid pandemic amp8220brought bankruptcies to a haltamp8221 because it allowed struggling companies to amp8220kick the canamp8221 and ignore financial weaknesses for two yearsNow however with government funding running dry and inflation increasing prices for virtually every good and service companies are filing for bankruptcy protection at a record pace Moreover Nathan and Behlmann indicated that Chapter 11 procedures have fundamentally changed so that they are no longer a way to provide management the time to amp8220fixamp8221 the company but rather they are now often prepackaged deals to sell what remaining assets failing companies haveExpounding on one of the most popular topics at MFMamp8217s Annual Conference in May Scott Garger of Creditsafe explored the potential efficiencies artificial intelligence could bring to the credit assessment and collections processes and a panel composed of representatives from Edenred Pay and Mastercard followed that up with a detailed discussion around digital payment trends that increase efficiency and boost profitabilitySeveral attendees commented that they gained valuable new information theyamp8217d not gotten anywhere else amp8220One thing I learned was that there are many companies out there that have payment portals for customers to accessamp8221 said Ed Ienner Executive Director Credit ampamp Collections at Dotdash Meredith amp8220I didn39t know so many had themamp8221Jen Hartman and Victor Kao of RSM closed the dayamp8217s program with a fascinating review of amp8220Generational IQamp8221 amp8211 the knowledge organizations need to effectively manage and leverage the strengths of employees from diverse generations now working together in complex environment that mixes inoffice with workfromhome employees Said Sorrells amp8220The GENIQ presentation by RSM was also a nice change in pace and very interesting It was a good way to close out the dayamp8221 Lehr agreed amp8220I plan on using what I learned from this session to help manage and lead my teamamp8221The highpoint of the day may have been the 90minute roundtable discussion in which attendees had the opportunity to share knowledge about the reallife challenges they and their colleagues face in the workplace Topics ranged from the value of credit reports to digital payments to performance metrics the conversation among attendees highlighted the value of establishing a network of professional peers and creating forums where those network members can share ideas and solve problemsIn short the session demonstrated the value of belonging to MFM Participants agreed amp8220The roundtable is most valuable to me because the attendeespeers are able to participate and collaborateamp8221 said Sorrells who served as a roundtable leader along with Lehr and Ienner who added amp8220There was so much to talk about I think we could have been there an additional houramp8221The day ended with a wellattended cocktail and networking time which allowed attendees to interact with presenters and meet others in the industry who arenamp8217t yet MFM members amp8220The networking opportunity with the attendees and conference sponsors was very valuable It is always refreshing to connect in person with folks who you are used to seeing on Zoom callsamp8221 said Lehramp8220There was lots of content the conference flowed very nicely throughout the day the facilities were topnotch and the food was great Joe Annotti and Mike Denson head of NMCP did a fantastic jobamp8221 Ienner summarized with Lehr adding amp8220I hope this joint conference is the first of manyamp8221Posted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Sold-out National Media Credit Conference Tackles Range of Topics Relevant to Credit & Collections Pros

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Krista Van Lewen

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Sold-out National Media Credit Conference Tackles Range of Topics Relevant to Credit & Collections Pros

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