Takeaways from Nashville

Contributed by: Jennie Bauder Jennie Bauder

Music City, USA (aka Nashville, TN) hosted the Raymond James National Conference during the last week of April. We have made it a point the last few year to get as many Center team members to this conference as possible, and this year was no exception -- all but one Center team member made the trip for at least a portion of the event to take part in the unique learning, networking and team building opportunities. We find it to be a great use of resources for everyone to brush up on new technology, get new ideas and sharpen our skills to continue to do the best job we can to serve our clients.

There were so many great sessions and takeaways from our time at the RJ National Conference that it would take pages to write them all down. 

Here is a summary of our top takeaways from this year’s conference:

  • We were proud to be represented by Melissa Joy, CFP®, who served on a panel of top advisors speaking on how to maintain clients during market ups and downs. The panel turned into a high level discussion for best practices and was a great experience to see one of our own planners leading the discussion.
  • We learned about new technology called Client Onboarding – a process that will help to simplify processes, streamline documentation, and improve the experience we provide our clients. We are very excited to implement this technology to better serve all of you!
  • Many of our team attended sessions on leadership and teambuilding. Such sessions were focused on helping us work more efficiently, get more out of our work days, etc., all in an effort to serve our internal and external clients (and ourselves) better.
  • We heard from Sally Hogshead, author of Fascinate, who spoke on the power of fascination. Sally emphasized focused on finding your fascination factor and that being different is better than being better. Being back in the office, we’ve all taken part in fascination quizzes and workshops and have begun to implement our personal  advantages that emphasize what makes us unique.

The conference was a lot of long days and a lot of intense learning, but we did take some time for some fun and bonding as well. Each night, for those who didn’t have other obligations, it was an opportunity to gather together, to meet new people or hang out with one another, and see some of the sites around the Nashville area. 

Overall, the conference was filled with opportunities to expand our connections and networks, to learn not only about technology to better serve our clients but also about ourselves, and most importantly, an opportunity to connect with our fellow Center employees and enjoy each other’s company outside of the office. We’re grateful to be able to participate in the Raymond James National Conference each year and, I speak for the staff as a whole when I say, we’re refueled and ready to continue to serve our clients in the best manner possible.

Jennie Bauder is the Client Service Manager at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.


Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of Sally Hogshead.