Conference call training session paves way

By Gail DeGeorge

SABEW President

The “Mortgage Meltdown” conference training call Aug. 22 was a terrific example of how SABEW can and should function as a forum for members.

The mess in the subprime mortgage market, which the business press has been writing about for months, had spread and reached fever pitch by mid-August. Coverage of the woes in housing markets and spikes in foreclosures took on an added dimension with the travails of the nation’s largest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp., and the stomach churning gyrations in the financial markets.

Board of governor members Greg McCune, Josh Mills and I had talked and e-mailed the morning of Aug. 16 on the need to get a tip sheet or training module posted on our Web site to help members cover this fast-moving story. Later that afternoon, Governor Jill Jorden Spitz of the The Arizona Star sent a message to fellow board members seeking sources to help cover a large mortgage company that had failed in Tucson.

We leaped on that as indicative of the need. We hit on the idea of doing a live conference call training session, a format we hadn’t really tried before. McCune suggested we contact Ilyce Glink, (left) nationally syndicated real estate and personal finance columnist, who has arranged and moderated panels on real estate issues at many SABEW’s events.

She was enthusiastic and we quickly lined up the panelists: Greg Ip, senior special writer for The Wall Street Journal, who covers the Federal Reserve and the economy; Jon Lansner, business columnist and author of a real estate blog for the Orange County Register; and Daniel Wagner, business reporter for Newsday, who led the coverage about the troubles at American Home Mortgage.

The Fed’s move to cut the discount rate on Aug. 17 added to the sense of urgency to hold the call. We had 147 members participate, which was a terrific show of interest and support. Glink did a masterful job as moderator, choosing questions from participants who e-mailed her during the session.

We needed to appeal to the broad spectrum of our members, from specialists, who cover the markets from a national view, to regional members interested in bringing the story home to general readers. But from the feedback, the call provided something useful for members across the spectrum.

We hope to do more of these conference call sessions as SABEW expands its mission of providing training, education and resources for its members. We have some great training and tip sheets on our Web site for members (as well as a replay of the conference call for those who missed it).

Take some time to explore our offerings. Please contact any governor with feedback on other training, tip modules or conference call topics and make SABEW your organization.

Posted Sept. 18, 2007