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The infamous Firstmac afterparty — responsible for many a sore head at industry functions over the years — has decided to cut ties with the MFAA and move the festivities to the FBAA.
The Adviser can confirm the Firstmac bash will kick off this year at the FBAA National Industry Conference on the Gold Coast in November.
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Speaking with The Adviser, Firstmac founder Kim Cannon explained his main reasons for moving the party, which has been a staple on the broker calendar and associated with the MFAA for many years.
“My biggest frustration with the MFAA is that they held annual conferences but they didn’t suit brokers. The brokers never came anyway. It was an industry event, and this is where I think the MFAA lost the plot a bit over the last couple of years,” he said. “This is an industry, not just a broker club.
“We saw that the MFAA were breaking up their events into state based things. I basically lost interest, and they didn’t seem to be interested in us either.
“I saw that the FBAA had a conference on and figured we’d move the whole thing over there.”
The non-bank lender threw its first afterparty in 1989, following the first ever MBAA (Mortgage Bankers Association of Australia) conference in Queensland.
“We went down the road to the pub and bought a bunch of tequila, lime juice and triple sec and mixed margaritas all night. That was it. That was our first afterparty,” Mr Cannon recalls.
“We have done many others with the MIAA and then the MFAA. We stopped them for a bit but then kicked off again in the early 2000s,” he said.
A permanent fixture at the parties over the years has been “The Firstmac Band” as Mr Cannon calls them, known for their Pink Floyd covers and epic solos (Cannon is a serious Floyd fan).
“They are a bunch of musos who play gigs in different places during the week. They come together to do some private stuff for me.”
The FBAA’s Peter White welcomed the Firstmac soirée and said he is excited about the numbers anticipated at the association’s conference on 24 November.
“We expect that this year’s conference will attract around 1,200 to 1,300 brokers,” he said. “A big thanks to Firstmac for their support,” he said.
[Related: Is the MFAA in crisis?]
