FROM THE DESK OF THE ‘OM-BOBS-MAN’
Hopin On Board The NMLS Train
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"Om-Bobs-Man" is the nickname Bob Niemi earned while serving as the NMLS Ombudsman in 2014 and 2015. Bob is a former Ohio state regulator and now an expert consultant on NMLS and state regulatory matters. Bob can be reached at BNiemi@Bradley.com.
38 MORTGAGE BANKER | FEBRUARY 2021
he NMLS Annual Conference and Training will be not be held in a location this year, but on a platform. The Hopin platform aims to replicate the same experiences and benefits normally shared by NMLS conference attendees. The virtual conference will provide traditional sessions, networking, share contact information, participant roundtables, attendee chat, and what is being billed as Accidental Networking. Accidental or Speed Networking is meant to simulate the random encounters that typically occur between meetings, during coffee breaks, or just walking the hallways. Networking time is also allocated at the end of each day to recreate one of the best rewards of attending the NMLS Conference. When ready, you can click the Ready Button under the Networking tab to be matched with a random fellow attendee who has also clicked their Ready Button. This video meeting can run up to five minutes, though either attendee can leave the meeting at any time. There will also be opportunities to chat, direct message with other attendees, and invite participants to join you on a video call. The NMLS conference will be held for five hours each day February 23rd through February 25th with sessions, break outs, and networking. On February 26th the focus will be on NMLS User Training and Regulator only workshops. In the world of Remote Supervision, the conference will feature breakout sessions of Networked Supervision, Prudential Standards for Nonbank Mortgage Servicers, State Examination System, and Data Security. The full agenda for the conference was not available and the timing of
the NMLS Ombudsman meeting, only noting that the Ombudsman meeting will occur after the NMLS Conference. The Regulator only sessions include Developing the Regulators of Tomorrow to focus on the lessons learned from the pandemic and skills development to “tackle current and future challenges”. Building Confidence in the Review Process builds on uniform standards and requirements of the networked supervision model. There is also a mid-week session on Challenging the Status Quo of State-Specific Requirements. The SES regulator only sessions include success stories and training workshops to promote using the system, complaint management, and managing the SES library. The heralded Meet Your Regulator session is one of the most attended sessions each year with the opportunities to visit state regulators, get questions answered, and have unscripted discussions with the people making the decisions. While there is a note in the FAQs the session, there is no placeholder in the agenda. The NMLS Conference will require users to register on the Hopin platform before the event. Users must accept and acknowledge the terms when registering for the event and utilize Chrome for best results. The week before the conference, attendees will receive an email and invitation to NMLS 2021. All told, though virtual, this conference looks to be well worth dressing up with a nice shirt and shorts to see who’s on mute, who’s not on mute, and how many kids, pets, and unaware spouses make appearances… BINGO!
