This year’s ABA Bank Marketing Conference is right around the corner, and we couldn’t be more excited.

We genuinely love bank marketing—we’d do something else if we didn’t—but we talk about bank marketing at the office all day, and our friends are tired of hearing it. The ABA conference is our opportunity to talk to people from all over the country about deposits, share of wallet, mergers—you know, the fun stuff.

Tom Goodwin’s talk is going to be interesting. That guy’s a real powerhouse online, so it will be a treat to hear from him in person.

Personally, I can’t wait to catch Hunter Young’s breakout session Monday afternoon. Yes, I’m biased, but he’s talking about the most overlooked platform in bank marketing—text message marketing. Hunter’s pitched some pretty cool ideas around text lately, and most of them are so seamless I wonder how our industry has overlooked them this long.

But if I’m being honest (and I am), I’m most looking forward to those in-between session times. I’m looking forward to talking about the best TV spots in banking, measuring real ROI on digital ads, email automation, building products that drive deposits, and commiserating over core systems and leadership teams that just don’t understand brand.

Three of us Mabus Agency folk will be in attendance, Hunter, myself, and our fearless leader, Josh Mabus. Come catch us in the halls or out on the town. We’re curious to hear about what other bank marketers are doing—what’s been working and what you’re still trying to figure out. Don’t worry, we won’t try to sell you our services.

And while we’re being honest, I’m also looking forward to talking brand narrative over a beer at The Horse You Came In On Saloon (where Edgar Allan Poe drank his final drink).