Conference half full or half empty?

If the rooms are emptier at mortgage lending conferences this fall, that may be because those bodies have fled to default services or REO events.

A default servicing news publication says this week that its fourth annual conference on the topic has swollen to the largest number of attendees yet. Some 2,200 people are expected to trek to The Fivestar 2007 Default Servicing Conference in Dallas, Sept, 9-12.

What will the crowds be like at the Mortgage Bankers' and National Association of Realtors' annual conferences this fall? Neither group has said they expect low attendance, but slow markets could end up impacting turnout, up or down.

I won't be attending the MBA show in Boston in October -- I'm leaving that up to Matt Carter, who's done a fine job reporting on this mortgage mess. But I imagine the mood will be in stark contrast to the first MBA show I attended in 2003. That year, the underlying theme that emerged at the end of the week was no news is good news and all's well at this national mortgage party.

The most memorable piece of news that year was that the MBA had dropped "of America" from its name (formerly the group was called the Mortgage Bankers Association of America) to convey its mission to target "emerging markets," which was the industry's term for minorities and immigrant buyers. Oh, and they changed their logo.

News was so scarce that Fannie Mae cancelled its usual press conference for lack of anything to talk about. That was a year before Fannie got caught up in an investigation that found dicey accounting practices at the mortgage company.

It was kind of a bummer for a young reporter looking for story leads and exciting news to send back to the office. There wasn't a lot of new innovation because everyone was so buried in business in those days.

I'm certain this year will be quite different. With discussion topics like "What Is the Future of Subprime?" and "The buyback Epidemic: What's Fraud Got to Do With It?" there should be plenty of lively discussions and blog fodder for us to sort out.

Stay tuned for coverage of the event, Oct. 14-17.

And if you're planning to attend and cover in your blog, let us know so we can follow you.

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