Hot off the success of this summer’s in-person Connecting Leaders Conference in Grapevine, the Independent Bankers Association of Texas is eager to continue its post-Zoom live-and-in-person gatherings with the organization’s annual IBAT Convention, September 18–21 at the Omni Barton Creek Resort in Austin. The newly renovated 4,000-acre resort in the Texas Hill Country will host four days of education, networking, entertainment and business enrichment for community bankers from across the state. Here is a preview of IBAT’s 2021 Convention. Click here for more information or to register for the event. To download a brochure of the event, click here.

Business Enrichment

IBAT’s Convention will present one-and-a-half days of education featuring a wide variety of in-the-know professionals offering innovations and business boosters to take back to your bank. The convention will also include an Attorney Panel with Sanford Brown, Alston & Bird;  Chet Fenimore, Fenimore, Kay, Harrison & Ford; Karen Neeley, IBAT general counsel; Bruce Toppin, Langley & Banack; and Peter Weinstock, Hunton Andrews Kurth.

Amanda Brinkman will deliver a keynote address during one of the general sessions. Brinkman is chief brand officer at Deluxe and creator, producer and host of the company’s hit TV series, Small Business Revolution, which streams on Hulu and Prime Video and was named among Inc. magazine’s top shows for entrepreneurs. The show, now in its fourth season, has been nominated for a 2020 Emmy in the category of “Outstanding Lifestyle Series.” In this inspirational reality show, Brinkman and the team at Deluxe spearhead efforts to revitalize entire communities through small-business makeovers. She demonstrates how both companies and individuals can make a meaningful and positive difference in people’s lives while fostering their own success in the process. Brinkman believes that companies must not only identify their brand’s purpose, but put that purpose into action.

IBAT Chairman’s Jam Session

IBAT’s events are known for showcasing live music from some of the nation’s most successful performing songwriters—and the 2021 Convention is no exception, featuring two evenings of great music and entertainment.

The IBAT Chairman’s Jam Session will kick things off during the Saturday night opening party and feature the music of William Clark Green. Between two acclaimed albums, 2012’s Rose Queen and 2015’s Ringling Road, and a decade of dogged road work, Green has established himself as one of the most important voices of his genre. It’s a voice that pipes up again on his new album, Hebert Island. With roots scattered across Texas—childhood in Tyler, high school in College Station, college at Texas Tech University, early music career in Eastland and his current urban digs in Fort Worth—Green’s music evokes the Lone Star State, but also hints at Cajun roots common in East Texas. His latest album, Hebert Island, is named after his camp house on a hilltop in Beaumont.

Songwriters’ Showcase

The following evening, Sunday, September 19, will feature the Songwriters’ Showcase, featuring three tunesmiths whose songs have been performed by dozens of top recording artists.

In 1993 at a songwriting seminar in Austin, Tom Douglas played his song Little Rock for producer Paul Worley. The following year, it was a hit for country star Collin Raye and was nominated for the Country Music Association’s (CMA) “Song of the Year.” His songwriting credits also include I Run To You by Lady Antebellum, which earned the 2009 CMA “Single of the Year”; The House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert, which earned the 2010 Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) “Song of the Year,” 2010 CMA “Song of the Year” and 2011 Academy of Country Music’s “Song of the Year” and “Single of the Year.”

A Texas native, Jim Beavers has been a valued member of the Nashville songwriters community for many years. In addition to his musical talent, he has served as director of marketing for both Capitol Records and Virgin Records, as well as being a professor at Middle Tennessee State University. His songwriting credits include Luke Bryan’s Drink A Beer, Dierks Bentley’s 5-1-5-0 and Am I the Only One? and Toby Keith’s Red Solo Cup, as well as singles by Faith Hill, Easton Corbin, Tim McGraw, Josh Turner, Billy Currington and Gary Allan. Beavers’ compositions have earned him multiple NSAI “Ten Songs I Wish I’d Written” Awards and BMI Awards.

Jon Nite is a CMA and ACM award-winning singer/songwriter who has written more than a dozen top-10 country hits, including Whatever She’s Got by David Nail, Smoke by A Thousand Horses, We Were Us by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert, Beachin’ by Jake Owen and more. He has received two CMA “Triple Play” awards for writing three No. 1 songs in a year. Recently, Nite co-wrote Cole Swindell’s No. 1 single, Break Up in the End, which earned a Grammy nomination for the 2019 “Best Country Song of the Year.”