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New York is always teeming with energy and excitement. Every corner, every street, every person contributes to the hum of the city. There was extra buzz in the air with FinTech Week taking over New York last week with multiple events. I’m now sitting back home in Charlotte, reflecting on my time at the FinXTech Annual Summit and at Empire Startups’ FinTech Conference, and I thought it was important to share some takeaways with you—particularly if you couldn’t make it.

Meeting in Person is Always Valuable
We communicate in so many different ways with our customers, colleagues and friends so it’s easy to think we’re in constant contact, that a rapport is building. Additionally, we send most of our digital communications when we decide—we can pause, think, or not respond at all! We secretly like this control of the conversation. But no matter how many e-mails, phone calls, or text messages you exchange there remains no substitute for meeting someone face to face. Conversations are fluid, you must be in the moment. You can form relationships quickly and you learn a lot more about the person from the minute you say hello. That is incredibly valuable.

What I enjoyed about FinTech Week, and particularly the FinXTech Summit, was the smaller, focused audience. It wasn’t overwhelmed with booths, swag, and marketing; it was hundreds of people, not thousands. I think large conferences and gatherings have their place but when you look back at all the events you attend, how many enable you to meet most of the attendees?

Reader takeaway: Look at the second half of 2017 and search for some more focused events to add to your calendar that enable you to learn and meaningfully connect with the presenters and attendees.

We’re Just Getting Started
Fintech is still figuring out the best path forward, which is a good thing! There is so much activity happening here and around the world (which you shouldn’t ignore). Inevitably, some people are just trying to ride the fintech wave. The crowd at FinTech Week was genuine in its desire to bring fintech innovation to market and to consumers.

There is a common tension in the fintech community and last week was no different. Everyone is excited and understands the potential. Many I met already are working towards the future. The big industry change is always tomorrow, not today. Well, that’s OK. Doing something hard, like changing the financial service industry, takes time.

Most of the 5,000-plus banks in the U.S. are just beginning their journey to digital transformation. Industrywide change doesn’t happen overnight-particularly in financial services. While some may find that frustrating, I find it exciting. It means that every financial institution getting started today has more products, services and industry knowledge from which to leverage and learn. The financial services ecosystem is only going to get better-and that is exciting!

Reader takeaway: If you think you’ve missed the fintech opportunity, you haven’t. We’re all experimenting with how to better serve our customers and there is plenty of room for improvement.

The Need for Action
Do something. Take the first step. Get involved and start implementing new ideas to improve the lives of your customers and employees. The initial stages of learning or doing something new make you feel dumber, not smarter. It makes you realize there is so much you don’t know. This is particularly acute if you’ve been in the industry for a long time. Don’t worry; this phase passes as you continue to familiarize yourself with the technology, new ideas and potential of fintech.

Financial services and banks enable people to invest for the future, buy a house, start a business and get an education. Fintech’s promise is to enable financial services to continue to meet the needs of their customers with a secure, delightful experience that fits in their daily lives-not takes them away from it.

Reader takeaway: Get to it. Next time, you can teach the audience what you’ve learned from fintech.

A week after FinTech Week, I am excited to get back to work helping people discover and engage with fintech. I implore you to go meet some people, find a customer problem to solve, and do something about it.

Patrick Rivenbark