Johny Fernandez: Thank you guys so much for joining us today,
Sean, another great day, you know, it's a little cold
outside, but it's sunny. So I'm excited because it just reminds
me that we are just a couple of weeks from our big Miami event.
Sean Murray: That's true.
Johny Fernandez: We're gonna talk about that in just a
moment. But Sean go ahead.
Sean Murray: Sure. I wanted to bring up the fact we have a
story up on our site today. And it's about using Siri and Alexa.
In the financial world.
Johny Fernandez: I read just a little bit of what you posted.
You asked Alexa a very important question.
Sean Murray: I did. So this was unprompted. It wasn't for the
story. Okay, I forget how it came up. Okay. I think what
happened was, I was at home and I asked a question that I did
not think Alexa would be able to answer
Johny Fernandez: What was the question?
Sean Murray: Something. It was something. It was like it was
something complex. Okay. Almost asking in jest. Okay. Right. And
it gave a very detailed, long answer. And I was like, what?
Like, okay, that's way more than I expected out of this device,
which I'm really I really use it for music for the lights. Yeah.
The temperature. Okay. But not a whole lot more. Occasionally. I
have used it for like, online shopping, like getting groceries
to my Amazon fresh cart. But what and so then I said, How
much more did Alexa know here cause that really threw me off.
So I said, Alexa, what is deBanked? And I expected
obviously, to get no answer. Right? Or like sorry, you know,
you know, please try again, or whatever. But instead, it's
instead, Alexa said deBanked is your guide to the non bank
finance universe. And I was like, what? How did it know
that? I had nothing to do with that. No one here in the office
had anything to do with putting that information into the Alexa
knowledge base. And I was just like, whoa.
Johny Fernandez: Do you? Do you talk about work at home?
Sean Murray: Do I talk about work? Yeah. I mean, obviously,
to some extent I talk about work. It's not from that it
wasn't listening. Dude. It's not from that it's not from that
Johny Fernandez: Also, do you like maybe it picked up you
know, things that you've searched on your connected
devices?
Sean Murray: Maybe. But it gave, it gave a very definitive
answer. Okay. And it wasn't like I had no idea where this info
came from. It's clear that they got it from our it's clear that
Alexa got it from our website.
Johny Fernandez: So you're telling me is Alexa goes on
deBanked.com
Sean Murray: It had to have gone they obviously had an internet
spider, go to our site, because it read a line from our About Us
page. That's where that information came from. I'm like
that exact phrase. I think that's a tagline we've certainly
used. It's on our About Us page. So Alexa had an internet crawler
internet spider go on our site, pull that information. And if
you ask Alexa, what is deBanked? Now I'm assuming everyone's
Alexa is giving the same answer. Maybe I'm completely wrong. But
when I asked the question, it read back to me exactly what
deBanked was, as it's defined on our website. That really
surprised me. That was a whole separate thing that I was never
even going to talk about here. The reason that is coming up is
that this company called Smarter Loans, they're a Canadian,
FinTech, loan and directory marketplace. They put out their
annual FinTech report, they conduct a survey every year of
people who have applied for online loans. And one of the
questions that they asked was whether a person who had sought
an online loan had ever asked Siri or Alexa or another voice
assistant for information about financial services, and 25% of
them said, yes, they had. And I was like, whoa, it never
occurred to me to ask a financial service question to
Siri. Yeah, or like do you have do you have Alexa or Siri or
what do you have here? She's right here. Yeah. Oh, Siris oh
Siris listening the whole time. Oh, hi, Siri. Hi.
Johny Fernandez: Hey, Siri, how's it going? What is deBanked
What is deBanked?
Sean Murray: Which funny is that it just brought up my my, my
contact information in his phone. So that was somewhat
somewhat helpful. But Alexa, Alexa's answer, was obviously
better suited for all that we're talking about. It's funny that
it brought me up. I guess I'm in your phone is like Sean deBanked
Which is pretty accurate. It is. But 25% of people have asked
Siri or Alexa, a financial services question. Have you ever
asked Siri Siri has Johnny ever asked you about financial
services before? What would she say?
Johny Fernandez: Hey Siri, what is financial services?
Sean Murray: Financial services are the economic services
provided by the finance industry. Alright, so yeah, it's
one thing to ask about what is financial services? But I think
I think,
Johny Fernandez: Personally, on a personal level, I have never
asked Siri or when I go to my sister's house or my parents
house, they have Alexa. Yeah. And I've never asked
specifically Hey, Alexa, you know, what is? Or like, you
know, what is deBanked? I've never done it. Yeah. I'm, you
know, I'm an old soul. So I kind of just do everything online.
Yeah, I'll type www.google.com. Yeah, and I'll put in my, my,
whatever I'm looking for. Yeah. Or I'll go to I'll go to
deBanked. Yeah, for like,
Sean Murray: I hope so.
Sean Murray: I hope that's where you do all you're searching.
Johny Fernandez: Yeah,
Interestingly enough in that same study, they reported that
50, only 57% of people who discovered the lender they were
looking for bounded through an internet search. Only 57%. So in
the olden days, the olden days, being listed high on Google was
the be all end all. Because if you were going to be found off
off the internet, on the on the internet, it had to be on
Google, right. And nowadays, there's a lot of other aspects
to the internet that people trust. Social media had ranked
actually pretty high, I think it was like 13% of respondents said
they discovered the lender that they ended up working with on
social media. That's incredible.
Johny Fernandez: That is incredible.
Sean Murray: The first time they discovered them or encountered
them was on social media.
Johny Fernandez: So what that means is your social media
presence, your internet presence, your Metaverse
presence is important.
Sean Murray: Yes,
Johny Fernandez: Yes, it is. Well, because that's it. That's
it for me as someone as a millennial. Yeah. Everything we
get is from the internet. Like that's, that's the first place
of reference that we get. Yeah, that I go to. So you might be a
little bit different. But
Sean Murray: No, I mean, I would I do the same. I start on the
internet for basically almost everything. Yeah, yeah. I don't
think that you have to be, you know, young, you have to be Gen
Z to be internet, internet first. Yeah, I know, I know. I
know, you're like, you know, Gen X or Boomer at heart, but Boomer
at heart, Boomer at heart. But I think a lot of people start on
the internet. It also mentioned in this report, that's 60% of
people would feel higher competence in working with a
lender if they had an informational video that they
could watch. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, that it
builds confidence.
Johny Fernandez: It does I can definitely see why. Having a
background in broadcast television, you know, digital
media production. I think everyone's very visual. And the
reality is, I think, from the survey from other places that
I've worked at it the, probably a little bit more than 50% of
people, they have the reading capacity of a sixth grader. And
that means like, just their capacity to like, absorb absorb
knowledge, is usually visual. So that makes a lot of sense. Yeah,
that you know, if you can see it if you can, like, not touch it,
you can't or you kind of can touch the TV screen I guess
Sean Murray: Well, I guess if Yeah.
Johny Fernandez: But if you can see it, it makes it more real,
like, you know, and it's under, like, you can understand it more
versus it's just words yet.
Sean Murray: It didn't it didn't mention or ask whether or not if
there was a person present in the video.
Johny Fernandez: I was just gonna bring that up. Because I
think what's important is the way it's narrated, whether it's
someone on camera, or someone off camera, the the verb, like
the language that they use, you know, the verbiage all that
matters, because people have the attention span of a fifth to
sixth grader. Yeah. So you can't use big words, you have to
really dumb things down and make sure they fully understand it
and use basic English because not everyone's gone to college.
Not everyone knows the fancy finance terms and they want
those things broken down. Yeah. So that's a big piece of advice
that people pay a lot of money for is that if you are making
videos, to use simple language, because that's going to play a
huge role in why people stay and watch your videos and find you
credible and find you trustworthy.
Sean Murray: That's good advice. Yeah, that's really maybe we
should simplify what we're saying. We should. We try to
keep it pretty simple. We do try to try to keep it pretty simple
here. One thing I was a little disappointed in was that they
did not study or did not expand further on the Siri and Alexa
question. I wish we could know more about what type of
financial services they asked about or how they asked the
question. And maybe this kind of feeds into what you were just
saying about simplicity. But I think it's easier for someone to
say say out loud to themselves in a room. Yeah. What are my
loan options? Yeah, versus going on the internet Yeah, having all
these banner ads, you know, if you go onto Google, you're
bombarded with ads, and you're like, landing a lender for my
business. And you get all these links. And you're like, I click
here. I don't know if I can trust this one, right? Yeah. And
everyone's competing for your attention.
Johny Fernandez: But my question is, and it's also your question
is How? How does Alexa, I'm calling her she cause of the
name. Alexa, how does she pick? The information? Like, That's
the million dollar question is like, how does she know that
this person is legitimate? This person is trustworthy. In this
space, like, it's like, hey, I need you know, a lender, like,
Alexa, which lender? Should I use? Or Hey, Siri, what lender
should I use?
Sean Murray: This obviously warrants a much further
investigation. We did not have the opportunity to go and know
and question or query all these things. Siris already giving us
the answer oh that's because she wants to catch up. She heard us
talking so positively about Alexa. She's like, I know, I
know. Check out these, you know, these links on I found on the
internet. But, you know, I would love to know more about exactly
what was asked and think about the power that you could just
have someone asking a question, what are my loan options? Or who
are the best lenders, just saying it out loud is even
easier than go opening taking out your device and typing
something into Google then just thinking about like, what do I
Google that gives me the result I want. And then Google is going
to show you some ads on top of the organic links. You're like,
Hey, I just I'm just asking a question in my own bedroom, and
I can have a voice spoken back to me. I think everyone out
there should be thinking about the potential of this
technology, because we've been talking so much about like, hey,
there's a button in QuickBooks Right? Or, Hey, there's this
button in square. Yeah, hey, there's DoorDash capital, right?
You have all these different pieces of technology that
business owners are working with? You're like, oh, the
button is the be all end all? No, it's if you're working with
the food partner, has to be all end all. But now imagine, it's
the device that the business owner is speaking to, in the
privacy of their own home, they don't even have to go on to
Google, or open up QuickBooks to hit a button. They can just say,
who's the best lender? I don't know what the answer. That's
honestly, that's the part of the part of the fun part about this.
I don't know what the answer would be. But I think it's
important that everyone start to look into it and imagine, yeah,
and think about how do they get? How do they become the answer?
Because I think Alexa is designed to give the answer that
people seek not really to do you know, advertising or rankings,
or I'm not sure how that works. You know, like I said, this is
all this was all a surprise to me. But I think everyone out
there should be thinking about voice assistants. And if people
are querying them to get an answer, are you that answer?
Johny Fernandez: Yeah, it reminds me a lot of there is a
movie that came out in early 2000s, late 90s, early 2000s, it
was on Disney Channel it's a Disney Channel Original Movie,
it was called Smart House, and you can talk to the house and
the house will respond, essentially where we've come.
Except it's not your house. It's this device. But when you ask,
you know, the device, certain questions, it would respond to
you, automatic it was like a crazy. It was like, oh my god,
this is the house of the future. Now we are in the future. This
is 20 years later. And now we have it. But the quiet like the
question that we all want to know you've been saying it is
how do you get her to respond with your Yeah, you know, your
company, your whatever you have to offer? Because if you can
figure that out, I mean, you're pretty much you're in for, you
know, that's like the best type of PR,
Sean Murray: So I'm just taking off the cuff right here. I'm
just thinking off the cuff right now. Okay. That study also said
that, like, I think it was only like 9%. But that 9% of people
decided that when they had questions they asked like a
neighbor or a friend. And there's an entire segment of the
industry that we often talk about that is convinced and has
seen from their own data and experience the value in being
able to talk to the customer when they have questions that
customers or potential customers, they want to talk to
somebody before they go through with something they're like, we
can't all be tech you have to have that. That
Johny Fernandez: That human Yeah, human interaction, but I
want to talk to someone but I think that's that's for
everything. Cause at the end of the day, in my mind, this is
Johnny Fernandez like Boomer millennial mind. You know, the
internet is great. You know, the references or resources that you
can get online is great. But if I had a question, I would love
to talk to you in person, just just like a level of security to
make sure like, hey, like, is this guy really good? Or is this
company really good? And there's something that the internet will
never, like the internet is great, but I think like we've
seen and stories that you've done, anyone can put anything
online. But there's something about like a human connection
that you're like alright
Sean Murray: Alright so hear me out. I didn't get to I didn't
get I'm sorry. I got kind of excited go ahead. Is it the
human element? Or is it the talking to someone? Because what
if that person sees the information or gets the
information now wants to talk to someone about it? And who are
they talking to? They start talking to Alexa about it. And
We are we are in the future. At this point. That's you're
Alexa has given them the answers and feedback. So they're still
talking to someone. The question becomes, is it just about
talking to someone and hearing it verbally and getting the
answers to the information they feel comfortable with? Or do
they actually have to be a physical human being? I think, I
think this is just me talking off the cuff. This could be one
of those things where we place such a high value on the human
connection and customers wanting to talk to someone, I think, and
I would have to bet that Amazon has already thought this through
is that that someone that they could talk to will be Alexa. And
so I want to talk to someone, that's, that's someone is gonna
be the device in their house. And they're gonna provide all
the answers that they want, and you don't need the human
anymore. They will get the human experience, but from the device,
they talked to that with somebody that had a little big
chat with something they trust in the comfort of their own
home. Think about it.
describing that movie smart house.
Oh, is that part of the movie. Okay. Yeah, they have a
relationship with I feel like this sounds like almost like a
2am conversation. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Johny Fernandez: But in the movie, they have this
relationship with the house and like the house like it's just a
very weird movie, but it's not because where we live in now.
Yeah. It's a what we're living in now. It's literally like, you
know, the house takes care of that. They don't have a mom in
the movie The Premises. Yeah, they don't have a mom. So the
house is like their mom. And like they the house cleans up
for them, and the houses everything for them. And the
house isn't real. But something happens and then like the house
becomes real but anyways, but house is real, but it's like it.
Like it takes care of them. Like a human. But it's not it's just
a house. It's a smart house.
Sean Murray: So I think the takeaway here is everyone should
be thinking about voice assistance and the potential
potential of how they can be incorporated into their
business. Yeah, it definitely warrants further study. I
personally plan to look into this further. I would like I
definitely like to know more shout out to smarter loans for
putting together that annual FinTech report. I truly love
that stat just because it played into the fact that I just asked
Alexa, what is deBanked and Alexa knew, so I'm curious to
So let me ask you this. Are you comfortable talking to Alexa?
find out what else Alexa knows. as people become more
comfortable asking more complex questions and getting the answer
they seek the whole idea of I want to talk to someone before I
do something that person could easily be that someone could
easily be Alexa Siri or something else.
Like, we like about recommendations that like do you
So personally, on a personal level,
I believe in really using it for basic things. What is the
temperature? will it rain? Play music, add something to an
online shopping cart, right? Like, like Amazon Fresh or
something? Turn on the lights turn off the lights. For me, I
already thought that was the extent of it. It apparently is
way more complex than I had ever imagined. Right? And I think
that there's a real opportunity for people to to look into
Johny Fernandez: I don't really use Siri to be honest.
Sean Murray: I don't use Siri either. Or I don't think Siri my
personal opinion. Siri is not nearly as good as Alexa.
Johny Fernandez: And I don't have an Alexa. So
Sean Murray: Johnny, you're just very manual.
Johny Fernandez: I just like to copy will be like Hello. Yeah.
Very old fashioned. I am. I'm scared people are gonna take my
identity. But they pretty much have it already.
Sean Murray: Were were just talking you there. Yeah, your
phone was just talking to you.
Johny Fernandez: Oh, gosh, this is weird. The world we're living
in. It's crazy. I don't like it. I love it. I like I like old
school stuff. I like you know, recommendations. I like paper
pencil touch feel like a device. I go crazy. If I just had a
device. I had no friends on a personal level. But anyways,
speaking of
Sean Murray: That was like the three am that was quiet is like,
I just like touching things man. Like being personal.
Johny Fernandez: Alright, it's gonna get weird. Yeah. Alright,
so back to it being 1251. So, let's, the conversation that
we're gonna talk about now. I'm really excited about it's
regarding Miami. So our March 24 deBanked Connect Miami. We are
back in Miami the industries back in May for deBanked Connect
Miami. So Sean, this is going to be taking place at the JW,
Marriott Marquis right? March 24. So let's just start with
some basic stuff. What is this event? Because it's not Broker
Fair, we want to make that, like very well known. What is
connect?
Sean Murray: So deBanked Connect is a networking focused event
it's not called Broker Fair for a reason. Because it is not
Broker Fair, it's deBanked Connect, it's focused on
networking, one of the key differences you will find by
attending this event is that it is a half day, it's not a full
day. So this is not a full day of sessions and panels. Yeah,
there will be some of that there. Yeah. But that is not the
main focus, it is literally about connecting. That is why
Connect is in the name. Yeah. It's also why we've done other
events in other cities like San Diego and Toronto, and those are
also deBanked Connect, similar style half day, focused on the
networking and connecting with other people in the industry, we
have seen tremendous value, and being able to bring people
together in person, in an industry where so much trust can
be gained by forming that in person personal relationship,
it's hard to get that online. It's like, okay, you've met on
say, Daily Funder or LinkedIn or someone cold called you, or
whatever it is, whatever method that you've encountered each
other online. Now, it's important that you connect in
person I cannot. I cannot overstate Yeah, the value of
connecting and networking with people in the industry and
alternative finance in person.
Johny Fernandez: So this is a premier networking event. Let's
talk about the networking lounges that are going to be at
the location at the event.
Sean Murray: Yeah. So I mean, you know, anyone can look up
the, the venue and
Johny Fernandez: Sure, to see dorry.
Sean Murray: Okay, I didn't know I didn't know. Okay. Silence.
Johny Fernandez: Okay. So networking lounges.
Sean Murray: So we'll have two networking lounges, there will
be a space in the middle where the speaker where the speakers
will be, it'll be very easy to navigate. Okay. And it won't be
like a big, confusing layout. The the sponsors will have a
table similar to the ones they had at Broker Fair
Johny Fernandez: Yeah, so it's gonna they will have a table me
a big sponsor showcase room also. Yeah, it's so it's not
gonna be in the lounge it's gonna be separate.
Sean Murray: So I mean, you can, you can visualize it online. So
there's basically like you walk in, and in the middle is the
speaker area with the seating. And on the sides is where you
have the networking spaces, there's actually two of them,
two separate ones each each with tables that are everyone will be
able to figure it out. By the way we have we have an app to
help everyone visualize and figure out exactly what it's
going to look like. Yeah.
Johny Fernandez: So this was a question that came to mind right
now. So if someone that is new to the industry, someone that
you know, lender, broker, whoever you are, what do you
think they should have in this type of event? Like, should it
should they carry business cards? Should they carry their
resume? Should they have everything on like a LinkedIn
profile? You know, on there, like, Well, how should they
prepare for this type of event?
Sean Murray: Alright, so there's a lot of different things that
go into it. I myself have already done three deBanked
Connect Miami's. Okay, so I'm pretty experienced. Yeah.
Johny Fernandez: I'm thinking I should bring my my hardcopy
resume to pass out.
Sean Murray: Okay, if you need a job, and you're there to
connect. Sure. Bring your resume. It's not it's not a job
fair, though. But if you're someone who worked in the
industry, and is looking to get back in it, this would certainly
be the right place for you. Yeah. So if that is why you're
coming. Definitely bring your resume. But let's just start
with the dress code. Yeah, okay, cause we get that question a
lot. Okay. But what should I wear? Yeah, I think it's like a
bit business casual.
Johny Fernandez: Okay. No sandals and shorts and tank
tops.
Sean Murray: Definitely, I definitely no tank tops. Right.
So there's kind of like there's a style that you see at these
events. Yeah. Even though it's Miami you will see a lot of
people wear like a sports like the men the men will wear a
sports jacket. Yeah. Usually with like, no tie. Not everyone
wears a sports jacket you can wear you can wear like a palm
tree button down. Okay, right. You could you could wear a polo
too, I suppose. But I think Polo is a little too dressed down. My
advice would be, you know, buttoned down. Okay. Even though
it sounds old fashioned. Business cards are still
typically the vehicle that are used. Obviously, you can bring,
you know, show people QR codes and everyone's pretty capable of
technology. Yeah. But business cards are an essential you have
to come to the event with business cards. It's highly
expected that there will be an exchange you don't want to be
that person who comes all that way and says, oh, sorry, I don't
have a card, because so many connections formed at the show
will be rekindled after the show. Yeah. And we do get those
emails from people saying, Hey, I met someone there, they looked
like this. If you could just give me their contact info, I
would love to continue the conversation. I'm like, man, you
know, like, who are they talking about? And like, you have to
start going through the pictures. Yeah, to find out who
they are. So definitely bring business cards it's a huge part
of connecting, and networking. If you are a broker, let's talk
about like, if you're a broker, yeah. If you're a broker coming
to this show, do not be shy. If there's a funder you worked with
before, or work with now, feel free to bring actual deal files
with you. I've seen this happen before. This is actually good.
It's good for both sides. Okay, it's good for both sides. If
you're a broker, bring your deal files with you. Talk to the
company that maybe declined your deals, or give you offers that
didn't make sense. You will learn so much from the in person
conversation about why Yeah or how or this or that that's
sometimes lost when you have that communication online. Also,
if you're a broker, and you're meeting a funder for the first
time, every funder's question is in the back of their mind is can
this person really bring me business? Is this a valuable
conversation I should be having? Or is this someone who just
doesn't? who's new to the industry? And I should be
talking to the person there. Yeah, because my time is
limited. If you're someone who literally brings deal files, I
instantly believe that this person has deal files. Yeah. So
it might sound a little weird to show up with like a manila
folder. But I've seen it done. And it helps both sides.
Tremendous.
Johny Fernandez: Yeah. Well, two things I'm gonna say about that.
The first thing is in other deBanked events, I've seen deals
start mid day of like, day one, the next day, they're like,
Yeah, deals done. Like we just, you know, these got like, people
hustle
Sean Murray: People yeah this does happen at Miami too where
you see people kind of leave and go off to the side. Yeah. And
you're like, oh, what's happening there? Some type of
private conversation. Deals are actually getting funded at the
show. Yeah, literally at the show. It's great. If you live in
Miami, and you want to meet the funders in person. Or if you
want to, you want to, you know, take your relationship to the
next level or question things that they've done, and you want
to understand a little more, or even get deals funded. You have
to be at the show. Yeah. And if you come with if you come with
stuff, yeah, it's gonna be to your own benefit.
Johny Fernandez: It is. The other thing is, let's just say
like relationships build. Or if you've had an experience with
someone and it didn't go well, to kind of piggy bounce off of
what you said, I think it's really important to reconnect
with those guys and ask them in person, you know, why did this
not happen? You know, whatever the case is, because I find it
really interesting. I've done deals as a real estate agent
with certain companies. And the experience was not pleasant. It
was a little bit difficult. But then I meet them in person, and
they're great people. And there's just either a loss of
loss and translate, there's certain things that just went
went down that. And it wasn't no, it was no one's fault. But
it was just the situation we were in. Yeah. And in my mind,
I'm like, I did not like that company, or I didn't like the
the experience with this agent. But then you meet them in real
life. And they're not bad people. It's just the situation
was a little bit difficult to maneuver. Yeah. But I think
it's, it's great to kind of get to meet people not only build a
connection, but also expand your business, and maybe do business
with them again, and now understand how they do business.
Because I think that's something really interesting is, when you
understand how people do business, not everyone does it
the same. So you may think everyone does it the way you do
it, or the way you were trained to but in reality, people do
things differently, especially if you're in different states.
So you know, or in the same city, but I don't know, there's
just a number of things that can happen. But I think it's really
interesting, because a lot of people need to learn how other
people do business. So things go smoothly.
Sean Murray: Yeah, these events are not built as just a good
time. Yeah. When we think although you do have a good
time, you do have a good time, but they're not built just for
pleasure and leisure. And relaxation, we're not when we
say you know deBanked Connect Miami. It's not supposed to be
about like, oh, man, we're gonna go out and party. Yeah, we take
this business, this industry very seriously. And it's about
connecting you with the right people in the industry, not just
funders and brokers, right other people within the ecosystem,
lawyers, regenerators software companies, right, all types of
vendors. This is your chance to connect with them and grow your
business my hope for everyone who attends that they will walk
away with something actionable, right? And then and actually
grow afterwards. Yeah, I it's not intended to just be, you
know, a leisure activity, you know, we obviously make it fun.
But we always think about the value that companies and
attendees are going to get by going to the event. That's how
we that's how we build up each individual shelf, what's going
to produce the most value for those that come?
Johny Fernandez: Yeah. The other thing is something that we're
going to put on our, on our social media platforms and
whatnot, is grab list of different things about what
Connect is. The other thing is actual insights, learning. You
know, this is also an experience for you to learn, whether it's
from just connecting with other people seeing how they're
especially new guys, I've met a lot of new people at these
events. They're literally starting from the ground up,
they funded one deal in the last year. And they're like, Hey, how
does this work? What do I do? So learning is a key thing in this
type of environment. But not only from your peers to peers,
but also from, you know, other brokers, other lenders, other
veterans in the industry, that actually bring knowledge to the
table. And it can be very intimidating, because I've been
in this scenario where, you know, you're the new guy, or
that you're the younger guy. And a lot of people are veterans,
and you going up asking questions, or approaching and
being proactive, but something I've learned is that when you
take that approach, and you are proactive, and you talk to these
guys, that you see you network with them, and and not ask a
silly question that's like, hey, how do you how do you make $500
million a year, like, really get to know them? Really ask them
specific, poignant questions. That is, that's how you learn.
That's how you grow. And I think in these scenarios, in these
situations that we're in, for the events, it's a great
opportunity for you to really learn and capture all the
knowledge you can get and learn as much as you can, Sure, go
home, connect with them. And then after that, you know, you
can eventually grow your business and have a mentor, you
know, obviously, it can go a number of different ways. So I
think learning is the key thing. When you go to these events
besides networking.
Sean Murray: Yeah, well, a lot of that obviously comes from the
panel's of the speakers that we have there. Now, I can't reveal
who the panelists are just yet. Yeah, everyone should know that
our approach to the panels, is on the same is, you know, comes
from the same place as the value we want to bring to the event. I
think what can happen with some other conferences, is that the
the speaking portion is almost like a like a sales pitch. Yeah,
like you go into what is it looks like a panel or a speaking
session, but it's kind of like an ad from a company that's like
a sponsor or something. Yeah. And we're, we designed the
panels to, to create the most value for those in attendance,
we always think about what are the current events that are
relevant? Right. So like, know, what's gonna what's going to be
spoken about an event from nine months from now? Yeah, I can't
say, because we really tried to target target the content around
what's happening. Now, what's relevant now? How can we answer
the questions that people have, so that they leave with certain
facts and actionables to go and actually grow their business? So
again, I can't mention who exactly the panelists are going
to be. Now we do have everything set up. But a lot of the
learning of course, it comes from the interaction. Yeah, and
stuff there. But just know that also, in the in the limited
amount of speaking sessions we have at deBanked Connect Miami
or any event, we think very much about what is going to help
those in attendance the most.
Johny Fernandez: Yeah. So to recap, deBanked Connect Miami is
on the 24th. But on the 23rd we have another event going on. So
let's talk about that.
Sean Murray: Yeah, so I'm glad you brought that up, Johnny.
Johny Fernandez: No problem. It's, it's, I don't want to go
ahead.
Sean Murray: Alright. You don't want it you don't. It's not a
surprise. It's not a surprise. So we did put out there on
social media that we will be doing a golf outing the day
before. We will be doing a golf outing at Miami Shores Country
Club, okay, so it's in the neighborhood, it's not too far
away. It's about 20, 20 minutes from the venue. I must stress
that it's not part of the event. So much as if you buy a ticket
to deBanked Connect Miami, you're automatically enrolled in
golf, it is separate.
Johny Fernandez: Okay, separate event, separate price. And it's
not included in your ticket
Sean Murray: It's not included in your ticket. It is separate,
okay. You do have to register through the country club itself.
So if you want to golf on that day, you must call Miami Shores
Country Club and register that way. We do have a group code on
our website at deBankedMiami.com that will help you do that so
that you get registered at the right time and they know exactly
what event that you're there for. It's going to be be a
morning event. It's approximately 10am ish start
time. We will have several foursomes throughout the day.
There's not going to be like a separate cocktail party or
something there. It's purely about the golf. Because so many
people like golf, which I know, because we did a golf outing in
2017. And nobody has stopped talking about it ever since.
Johny Fernandez: Okay, that's exciting. I'm excited for it. So
are you excited for it?
Sean Murray: I am excited. I am excited for it. But you know, my
record as a golfer is kind of tarnished in this with this
particular audience, because of what happened five years ago.
Johny Fernandez: So I don't want to bring it up. But do you want
to share really quick in a quick two sentences?
Sean Murray: Yeah, so if anyone remembers, so we did a golf
outing in 2017. It was in Marine Park, Brooklyn, okay. It was
actually the first event that we'd ever done. We had never
done an event before. 2017. We did a golf outing, Marine Park,
Brooklyn. I don't even golf. So we hosted a golf outing, I don't
even golf. And I was determined to be a part of the event that
we were putting on. So I went to all the trainings I had somebody
helped me I did. I did the simulator. I went to the golf
course, etc. And the week before the event, what happened? I
broke a bone in my foot. And I was on crutches and I had a
gigantic boot.
Johny Fernandez: What a coincidence.
Sean Murray: I had nobody nobody believed nobody believed me. I
especially since when you have like a boot, you can still kind
of walk.
Johny Fernandez: Yeah, right. And when you're like, yeah,
like,
Sean Murray: People will see that like, oh, that's totally
fake. It's definitely just like they'll go have you sprained
your ankle, right? Like, like, you know, get out there and
play. But it was legitimately broken in half, I think is like
my fifth metatarsal or something. So it's pretty
brutal. I was in a lot of pain. But it happened a week before.
And I just rode around on the rode around with the
photographer on the golf cart. That's what I did. That's what I
did for the whole day.
Johny Fernandez: So you, you have to show up at this event
and really bring it you've had five years to recover.
Sean Murray: I've had five years to recover. But I just want to
put out there it's not impossible that I break a bone
right before a few days before. So I will be there. I will be
there. But we'll see how my how my bones are doing.
Johny Fernandez: Alright, I'll play for you. How about that?
Sean Murray: Oh, actually, you're going to be there? Right?
Johny Fernandez: Yeah, I'm going to be there.
Sean Murray: Okay, so it sounds like and from what we've heard,
we will have some people from deBanked. There too. And the way
that the the the event is set up, is that you will have to
build your own foursome, okay, you will have to build your own
foursome. And that's intentional, because there are
good golfers and there are not so good golfers. Yeah, and I
don't want to pair people up with the wrong group. There are
also people who hope to network with someone specific. And it
would be a bummer if you had to spend the whole outing with
someone who didn't add any value either to your day or to your
business, right. Because at the end, at the end of all this,
it's about building value for your company, and network and so
forth. So we will let you create your own team for so that when
you golf, you definitely received the maximum impact and
that we don't, you know, thrust you into something that that
doesn't create what you want out of it. So, March 23, you can
golf at Miami, Miami Shores Country Club, you can go to
deBankedmiami.com. We have a golf tab. You can't buy a ticket
for it on the website, you have to contact the country club
itself, and use the deBanked group code that will allow you
to sign up for the foursomes on the morning of March 23.
Johny Fernandez: All right, I'm excited. This is gonna be a
great couple. I'm super pumped. 23rd 24th. Let's do this. Miami
here we come.
Sean Murray: When we did that virtual event in 2020, we did a
virtual event. And there was a it was so funny. We had a chat
room you could go into like the sessions and watch the videos.
Everyone was remote. And but there was also like a general
chat room was kind of it reminded me like I like an AOL
chat room from back in the day. Because it was just everyone in
there. There was like spamming going on but it was it was it
was everyone from the industry just like in this chat room.
Yeah, we're all working from home. We're all stuck. And you
know, want to know what everyone was talking about. Everyone was
just talking about golfing, really everyone was talking
about golfing, and telling us that we had to do golf again. So
okay, we are we are bringing golf back into the mix. We
understand that so many people out there like golf.
Johny Fernandez: Yeah. And you know what, honestly, if you're
in New York, by March, we're going to get sick of the cold.
So it's a great excuse to just head to Miami. And just enjoy
the nice weather, great activities, great people. These
events Honestly, I never it's it's amazing to me because it's
there was just such a good time. And I'm not just saying it
because I work here but it really is. It's a good time you
meet all these different types of people from different areas
of the country. And everyone's always they always have an
interesting story. It's great. I love it. So I'm excited.
Sean Murray: The Miami events are absolutely great. Like I
said, this is going to be our fourth one. I am a season pro of
the deBanked Connect Miamis highly suggest all of you come
You can do golf the day before too what could be better.
Johny Fernandez: I know can you know what could be better?
Sean Murray: I don't know what we're doing
Johny Fernandez: Hanging out with us getting some pizza.
That's not gonna happen this time around.
Sean Murray: Okay, next year way to get everyone all excited now
hey you know what would be better. Oh, sorry, we don't have
that
Johny Fernandez: No pizza in Miami. Maybe next Broker Fair.
Sean Murray: Maybe we'll get like a Cuban coffee or
something. Okay. Yeah. Cuban sandwhich a Cuban sandwich.
Johny Fernandez: I'm excited. That got me even more excited
Sean Murray: Cuban sandwiches with Johnny deBanked Miami
Johny Fernandez: But, yeah, I think that's that pretty much
does it for today. So again, please, you know, check out the
website. And you know, pretty much hope to hopefully we'll see
you there. So that's, that's it. That's all we got
Sean Murray: deBankedmiami.com deBankedmiami.com
Johny Fernandez: deBankedmiami.com. Alright, that's it. That's it. All right, you guys. Well, thank you guys for joining us today. Again. I'm Johnny Fernandez.
Sean Murray: I'm Sean Murray.
Johny Fernandez: And we'll see you guys next time.