The American Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (AACFB) wrapped up its virtual Commercial Financing Expo on May 7. The annual Expo is designed to be fast paced with a wide variety of educational programming that range from 20-45 minutes each as well as a trade show component allowing the over 175 attendees and 33 exhibitors to network and connect.
The three-day event featured 15 educational sessions, a speed dating program, an hour of exhibit time each day, a trivia match and a happy hour. Thanks to the hard work of the planning committee, attendees were able to listen and learn about everything from marketing to legal issues. The 2021 AACFB Virtual Commercial Financing Expo Planning Committee included Dan Casanta, Cardinal Business Financing, Inc.; Cindy Downs, Heartland Capital Group, LLC; Laura Estrada, Preferred Capital Funding Inc.; Steve Felt, Creative Business Finance, LLC; John Igo, NewLane Finance; Wally Keane, American Lease Insurance; Charles Peterson, Calvert Commercial Financing; Carrie Radloff, American Financial Partners; Vickie Rocco, Entegra Capital, LLC; Anne Roslin, First Business Growth Funding; Kalah Sprabeary, HUB Funding Solutions, Brian Trebels, Equipment Leasing Group of America; and Amanda Zeken, Smarter Finance USA.
Those who participated in the speed dating session got a sneak peek at plans for the 2021 AACFB Annual Conference. The conference will be the first live event for the association since September 2019 and will be held at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, TN, on Sept. 8-10.
Expo attendee Chet Zeken, shared, “I was able to get some much-needed face time with my current lenders and meet some great new contacts. The platform you all chose was amazingly easy to use and navigate. It was all very well put together.”
AACFB Executive Director Monica Harper stated, “While we can’t wait to get back to in-person events, the virtual Expo was a great opportunity for our members to learn and touch base. The ‘90s trivia game was a fun way for us to continue celebrating the association’s 30th anniversary and the happy hour was quite entertaining as our guest bartender Hamilton Gilberg demonstrated how to make signature cocktails. Gilberg is the brother of happy hour host, Mae Philpott with Quality Leasing Co., Inc., so the atmosphere was casual and inviting with a lot of laughter. It was great to see so many familiar faces and welcome new ones.”