Powering Potential: How ICBA LIVE Is Crafted for Community Bankers

ICBA LIVE is the premier event for community bankers who want to educate themselves, network and keep up with the latest banking trends. Attendees can connect with possible vendors (including marketers, core providers and security professionals), meet with their state associations and hear from subject matter experts on hot topics like artificial intelligence.

Each conference is carefully crafted based on years of experience and attendee feedback. By analyzing what works, what needs to be tweaked and what bankers want more of, ICBA ensures each annual conference meets the evolving needs of community bankers nationwide.

Opportunities for learning and innovation

During the months following the prior year’s LIVE, the ICBA events team collaborates with other committees and segments of ICBA to understand what bankers should hear and learn about during the next LIVE. This input translates into the event’s signature learning labs, roundtables, vendor presentations and more.

“The great thing about ICBA LIVE is the event includes more than 60 learning labs featuring the education and topics that community bankers are searching for, in addition to half a dozen roundtable sessions that get bankers talking with one another about the real-world issues currently facing their banks,” says Jim Mastey, ICBA’s executive vice president of meetings and events. 

“We don’t want LIVE to ever be seen as a listen-only event,” he adds. “Some of the best experiences at LIVE are created when bankers are connecting with one another, with subject matter experts and with solution providers. It all provides opportunities for learnings that they can bring back to their banks.”  

Roundtables provide bankers with valuable opportunities to network and exchange ideas with peers. For example, the family-owned bank and large community bank roundtables allow attendees to discuss shared challenges and strategies specific to their institutions. 

Community bankers can also connect with more than 200 vendors in the Expo Hall, where companies gather at their booths to answer questions about their areas of expertise. Some of these vendors include ICBA Preferred Service Providers and ThinkTECH Accelerator alumni, meaning they’ve been thoroughly vetted and are trusted by community bankers and industry experts. 

“The Expo is always a wonderful opportunity to experience a full marketplace of solutions for community banks,” says Mastey. “Often, we see that bankers visit the Expo multiple times during LIVE, as they look forward to the one-on-one conversations with the wide variety of vendors they have a chance to connect with during the event. Plus, we close out the Expo each year with more than $3,000 in prizes awarded during its final minutes, which is always an exciting way to wrap up the trade show portion of LIVE.”

Feedback fuels future success

While locations and general outlines are set well in advance, planning for the next LIVE ramps up right after the previous one ends. ICBA’s events team conducts debriefs right after LIVE to summarize takeaways from that year and inform the planning for next year’s event.

“Following ICBA LIVE, community bankers head back to their banks energized to put into action what they’ve learned,” Mastey says. “Within the ICBA events team, we do the same, taking what we’ve learned from the event and collecting feedback to make the following year’s event even better.” 

The ICBA team also sends out a survey requesting feedback from attendees. According to Mastey, the survey asks what the attendees liked, what challenges they faced (if any) and what they’d like to see improved for next year. Similarly, each learning lab has its own feedback request presented within the event’s mobile app. Questions include rating each session’s speakers and topics.  

ICBA takes every bit of attendee feedback to continually improve the conference experience, whether it’s about the Expo, the overall schedule, keynote speakers or learning labs.

“We appreciate all the feedback and data we receive,” Mastey says, “as we want to improve upon every ICBA event we hold, to ensure community bankers in attendance have the best experience possible.”