Sarah & John Rummage

I am on the board of a non-profit, and recently, I helped put on a meeting with an out of state speaker. If you haven't put on a meeting in a while, as I had not, you might want to read my reminders to myself for the next time I do one. BTW, we did not have pre-enrollment, and the meeting was open to the public. We had no idea how many people might show up. All on the board had brainstormed and sent emails, fliers and personal invitations to everyone we could think of who might have an interest.

•1. Prepare an info sheet for the press. They just might show up!

You want the name of the sponsoring organization or business, a little history of the organization, information on the speaker, information on the relationship between the organization and the speaker, and contact information for all (including email and websites).

We were shocked that a TV station reporter showed up at our meeting. He wanted to interview the speaker, but he had forgotten a type of tape he needed, so he skipped that and just filmed a lot of the program. An info sheet would have helped the reporter tremendously! The church, which had graciously allowed us to use a room for the meeting, got credit for the meeting, not our organization. Actually, your host where the meeting is held may NOT want credit for the meeting, especially if it is a controversial subject! Take credit and responsibility for the workshop!
We found that newspapers and TV stations don't always acknowledge receipt of your information and the fact that they will publish the announcement or attend the event. Be prepared for surprises!

•2. Put an info sheet in each chair for the attendees to take home. This can have similar information given to the press. On this sheet, also put the agenda of the meeting. Put yourself in their place. What would you want to know about the 'players' and their motivation for holding this meeting?

•3. Pass around a clipboard during the meeting for those to sign up who want to be put on the mailing list. We made the mistake of putting the clipboard at the back of the room with the brochures and other take home items, and only 3 people out of 65 attendees signed in. We missed a great opportunity to follow-up.

•4. Write a script for the person (if this person is not you) who is opening the meeting and introducing the speaker. This is especially important if your CEO/Manager likes to fly by the seat of his/her pants and has a tendency to forget important details. If your CEO doesn't want to follow the script, then YOU open the meeting. Take charge! You have spent too much time, and probably money, organizing the meeting to not get the information to the attendees. They are your captive audience. Tell them what you want them to know!

•5. It is a good idea to ask for a show of hands as to where they heard about the meeting. This will help you know where to advertise the next time you have a public meeting.

•6. Be assertive, yes, even witchy, in keeping to the plan. For instance, don't let one of your workers move the clipboard to the back of the room if you feel strongly that it should be started around at the front of the room by the introducer.

Do you have other reminders to share to make a meeting more meaningful and profitable? Please share!

Sarah Rummage
American Realty Resources LLC
Nashville TN

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I received the following email today from a lender at Regions Bank. Regions covers a lot of markets in the Southeast, so if you have an orphan loan, give Martin a call. He has done well on several loans we have closed together and I recommend him.

Sarah Rummage in Nashville TN

Effective today, Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker, a large source of mortgage financing for many mortgage brokers throughout the nation, has announced that they "will not be able to complete or fund any mortgage loans in its pipeline of unfinished mortgages." Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker was a large mortgage wholesale operation in Orlando which got much of its financing from Colonial Bank of Montgomery, AL that has recently been taken over by the FDIC.

TBW has been a huge source of mortgage financing for a large amount of mortgage brokers including many mortgage brokers here in Nashville. If you have any current clients affected by the closure, please let me know, and I'll be happy to get them financed with us. While, new regulations do not allow the transfer of a file, Regions management is giving priority in processing to loans that were schedule to close through Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker. If you had an FHA loan in process there, we can transfer the FHA appraisal over to us so that your client does not have to pay for a second appraisal.

Martin T. Harris, Regions Bank, 1604 21st Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212
(615) 748-2440 office, (615) 748-2441 fax
http://www.regionsmortgage.com/martinharris
email; martin.harris@regions.com

The IRS is reporting that it is taking 12 to 14 weeks for first time home buyers to get their $8,000 tax rebate after they file an amended return, according to an article in the Tennessean newspaper.

However, if you filed an extension for 2008, then bought a house, then filed your return with form 5405 included, there does not seem to be the delay.

The problem is that the IRS has received over 1.2 million claims for the first time home buyer tax credit through mid-July and they are behind in processing.

Also, they are checking the requests for fraud, and reportedly have prosecuted 25 people already.

Let's hope the processing speeds up. I understand that the 'cash for clunkers' is instant when you buy a new car and turn in a gas guzzler.

Sarah in Nashville

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Sarah & John in Nashville TN