WELL THAT WAS FUN: The 2021 TCPA Summit In Review… (If you weren’t there, here’s what you missed.)

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Yeah. The sunsets were amazing.

So I know TCPA.World has been a bit slim on content the last couple of weeks. Truthfully I have been working like mad to clear the decks and prepare for the huge TCPA Summit this week. And it was well worth the effort.

This year’s Summit was the biggest yet. Extremely well attended with representatives from fantastic brands, platforms, servicers, marketers and outside counsel looking to learn more about the law.

And from what I heard, no one was disappointed. The line up of speakers was fantastic and hundreds of hours of preparation went into the event and the presentations that were delivered to a watchful crowd.

Plus, the two day event offered ample time for networking–including nighttime golf cart rides, karaoke, a comedic dinner with a famous personality and an unforgettable midnight foray onto a foggy white-sand beach. (We’ll get to all of that in a moment.)

Michelle Shuster opened the summit with a great privacy gameshow to inform and warm everyone up.

Then I took the stage and offered up the “Ten Commandments of Telecom Law.”

You really want these slides. But you can’t have them! Only for attendees. Probably.

In any event, after lunch Queenie took the stage and gave what appears to have been the highest-rated presentation of the Conference– how to assure TCPA compliance from an in house perspective.

Then we moved into a panel on using technology to avoid TCPA class litigation. For this one Puja was joined by Peggy Daley of Charles River Associates and Aaron Weiss–partner at Cartlon Field. This was a GREAT panel (I mediated) with lots of tips and tricks provided on how to leverage technology to defend yourself in class cases.

Then we moved to a call deliverability panel when I was joined by Michele and Ryan Thurman of Contact Center Compliance to discuss all the things the carriers are doing to block your calls and texts and the maze of labeling issues callers need to navigate to assure that consumers pick up their calls these days.

The day concluded with an hour long question and answer session–assisted by an open bar being wheeled into the room. Lots of folks received very valuable insight from the entire panel on specific questions they had regarding the content they’d been absorbing all day.

Then it was on to networking–and laughter.

First, a really nice outdoor dinner beneath string lights and a spooky December mist sponsored by the good folks at Convoso.

And we had a remarkable dinner speaker. Government consultant Dr. Alexander Pain–who actually turned out to be Candid Camera star Mr. Doubletalk.

The guy was hilarious, and he may or may not have tricked Queenie and in a famous bit.

After dinner, the REAL fun started. A TCPAWorld AfterDark session that featured one-on-one fireside chats with conference speakers.

And all of that lead to a midnight trip to the ocean in a dense fog for the hardiest of conference attendees. Now that’s networking.

The second day opened with Aaron Weiss breaking down the huge new Florida mini-TCPA.

Then Michelle and I provided our top predictions for regulatory and litigation developments moving into 2022. (Her number 1 was a real reach–but I loved it!)

Then Peggy Daley took the stage and served as the “metaphorical rug that ties the whole thing together”–breaking down critical data and litigation tactics to keep defendants safe in TCPA class litigation.

Finally, I completed our discussion on federal telecom law and the nuances of the TCPA and the CFR before the speakers all took the stage one last time for a final question and answer session.

The second evening featured more networking opportunities, with a golf cart ride to a local karaoke bar.

Yes, many of us sang. No, there is no additional video. Don’t ask anyone for it. Because it doesn’t exist.

And there might have been a midnight chess game where I defeated (in a manner of speaking) one of the world’s best chess players. (Literally the guy is one of the 2,500 best players in the world–below is the moment he realized I had “bested” him. Again, sort of.)

The Czar is a crafty fellow.

Over all it was a fantastic event. Lots of new friends and tons of critical information. Everyone loved the two day format–again the networking opportunities were as valuable as anything else– and I am grateful to Michelle, Peggy, Arron and Puja for delivering such incredible presentations. Really was an honor to be counted among these talented folks.

Also the Marchioness attended, but no photographic evidence of her presence exists.

The next Summit is in July, 2022 in Huntington Beach. More info on that soon.

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Published by Eric J. Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

1 Comment

  1. Yes the slides are only for attendees! Great show, Eric. So glad to have you.

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