Adam Parks (00:00)
Hello everybody, Adam Parks here with an episode of the Why We Go series. In 2026, we're changing the way that we talk about events and we're re-birthing the series that we used to film on-site at conferences to help us better prepare and select the conferences and events throughout the year that best fit each organization. Today, as I love to do with my initial episodes, I'm filming with one of my best friends, Mr. Mark Naiman who owns both the CRS or Collection Recovery Solutions Conference and the Debt Connection Symposium. And Mark has been an avid speaker across the industry, but very excited to have him on here today telling us what's hot at CRS. I'm still recording from down here in South America and literally coming back to the United States specifically to attend the CRS conference in early May at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas because it is one of my favorite events of the year. The quality of the content is unparalleled and it's one of those truly creditor focused events throughout the year in which I really get to engage and understand what's happening upstream from the debt collection industry. So thank you, Mark, for joining me today. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your insight.

Mark Naiman (01:15)
Thank you as always, Adam. It's fun to be here. It's part of that kind of recurring conversation you and I have about how to maximize your potential at every conference, whether you're a bank, whether you're an agency, whether you're a debt buyer or a law firm. Having been in this industry for so long and understanding the importance of these events, I'm honored to be able to kind of share some new and different and exciting things that we've got coming up at CRS.

Adam Parks (01:38)
So talk to me, I'm excited to be headed out to Las Vegas again. What is new that's happening at CRS this year and what are some of the hot button topics we're gonna be speaking about?

Mark Naiman (01:48)
Great question. As you know, we really try to stay ahead of the curve a little bit. As most of the industry knows right now, we've got a lot of topicality regarding auto. Defaulted auto repossessions, reconditioning, remarketing, huge topic. And a lot of ⁓ auto lenders are looking forward, of course, to the lenders only auto finance peer group that we host each year. On top of that, for those that have seen, I think that the FCC notification that came out last week is something that I've been talking about with a lot of friends at banks over the last month or so, really staying one step ahead of the curve, presenting topics on things that that are in the past or things like the CFPB. And again, I hope that doesn't throw shade on anyone that has these sessions, but it's important for me to ensure that the content that we're providing at these conferences is A, most relevant to the creditor perspective. And then secondarily, it's content that's not available at other places and whether that's a webinar, whether that's another trade show, but really finding thought leaders within the space that are willing to share some of the challenges that they're faced with leads to a more organic conversation overall. And it's probably the hardest part of putting these conferences on, Adam, is really finding not just ⁓ content that is interesting and new, but finding speakers that are charismatic and aren't really just going through the motions. And so we really try to focus in on providing that in an comfortable, balanced environment. We don't try to oversell. We only sell 500 tickets. It's an invite-only event, and we cherish that because I think in many ways it allows for more organic networking opportunities. You can only force so many people together in one place at one time, and I think that the more people you get in attendance, the harder that becomes.

Adam Parks (03:38)
What's the shared experience that is created in that type of an environment? It's the pool party or the pool networking event where we're all getting together, creating that shared experience at the beginning, the timing of some of those social engagements and interactions. Cause the people I meet in that social environment are the same people that I find myself talking with in between the sessions about what is happening and interpreting what we've heard on stage and how it ultimately applies to our businesses.

Mark Naiman (04:08)
I'm glad you bring that up. Again, big thanks again this year to the pool sponsor, DRN. They've sponsored the pool event this year. What's so important about that is that before the conference even starts, before the opening reception, we have the opportunity for the people that are in the space to get together in a single location, sharing a little sunshine, maybe a couple of little vegetable crudités platters, and a cocktail. And. For those that are in the space, they realize that there are so limited opportunities within the receivables management space to really sit down and have a conversation with someone. And as many of these people that everyone in the space has known, the truth of the matter is, is a lot of these people are friends. And so by hosting the pool party first, it allows almost for kind of catching up.

And it's not always business. know, it's just seeing someone being able to shake the hand and and being able to maybe find a couple of new faces in the crowd without having to run from one side of a conference hall to the other. So by by allowing the pool party to take place before the conference, I consider it kind of a casual icebreaker that allows the the old timers to kind of sit around in the in the sewing circle and catch up and and some of the new faces to find, you know, some of the people in the crowd that they're looking to talk to and form a new relationship with.

Adam Parks (05:25)
So speaking of those people who are attending for the first time or are newer to the industry, what advice do you have for them and what items should they be attending throughout the conference in order to maximize the value of their attendance?

Mark Naiman (05:39)
Yeah, great question. So the first and foremost, the first thing that I highly recommend any first timer to CRS do is make sure you're there for the first timer ⁓ orientation. You get me in the center of a room with some self-deprecating humor. I try to kind of form relationships by asking silly, unrelated to the industry questions that allow for relationships to kind of build naturally. I also provide a tour of the conference space to all first timers so they know, you know, where is the content being held? Where's the exhibit hall? Where are the bars located? Where is their place to sit down and have a private meeting? We do that right in advance of the opening reception and we've got some some giveaways that those are willing to participate in it and it always lends itself to you always find something really interesting about someone you didn't know. And like I said, these are very basic questions. Name a life skill you have that nobody would think you ever have. Name a hobby you have. What's the best dish you can make in the kitchen? These types of questions have absolutely nothing to do with collections, but we're all people at the end of the day and you'd be shocked at some of these similarities leading to those longstanding relationships over time.

Adam Parks (06:47)
And that's where that shared experience comes in. When we can share an experience, we can start to build the foundation of a new relationship. Now you mentioned a place to sit down and talk. That's one of my favorite things about the Four Seasons in Las Vegas is right outside of that education area and exhibit hall. There is plenty of seating to actually sit down, have a conversation, and it's a very social kind of an environment.

Mark Naiman (07:10)
Look, it's. My challenge for 20 years, Adam, was running around a conference trying to find the few targets in a room that we didn't already have a pre-existing relationship with. And so, as you know, oftentimes that comes with trying to cover a lot of ground or trying to find somebody else that knows the person that you're trying to get a hold of. Look, we intentionally throw CRS at a much smaller location. We take over most of the hotel. If you're in an elevator, there's a 50% chance that the person that's in the elevator with you is somebody you're to do business with and all of this is intentional and very much a core tenet of not just why I attended CRS as an exhibitor or a sponsor in the past but is one of the main I call it cornerstones of the reason why CRS is different is maintaining that smaller group allows for more of these organic networking connections. It's really hard. Some people are extroverted, some people are introverted. And so, you know, I could think of solutions for both of these things, both of those things. But really, at the end of the day, it's about kind of finding that middle road where You don't have the half of the room that's hiding in a private room, right? They're mingling. They're at the receptions. They're in the education. And I think that that's a huge difference from a lot of the other conferences out there.

Adam Parks (08:25)
I'm really looking forward to being out there myself for anyone who wants to because it is an invite only event for anyone who's trying to engage. What does that process look like in our final?

Mark Naiman (08:36)
Great question, Adam, real easy. Jump online, go right to collectionandrecoverysolutions.com on the webpage or CRS2026.com. There's a request and invitation button all the way over at the right under get more info, fill that section out. Someone from our team will reach back out to you with a copy of the conference prospectus. You know, it's one of the other things I think that makes us very unique, Adam, in the sense that we do a tremendous amount of filtering. To us, this is not perhaps the show to go to if you simply showed up in the space and you've got AI at the end of your name and a webpage, but no one in the recovery space that you're actually doing business with. That's more of a trade show type situation. We really work on establishing those that are in the space doing business with the banks that are providing solutions, that are providing new technologies or new opportunities and try to bring as many of those people together as possible.

Adam Parks (09:32)
Well, Mark, think that's why it is such a great event. And I really am looking forward to being there that first week of May. So for those of you that are watching, if you have additional questions, go check it out. Go request your prospectus for the Collection Recovery Solutions Conference. And Mark, thank you so much for sharing your insights. I really do appreciate you.

Mark Naiman (09:52)
Thank you as always, Adam.

Adam Parks (09:53)
Thank you everybody for watching. We'll see you all again soon. Bye everyone.