Technobabble.

Writing news releases is tricky business. You have to package your news (and hopefully you actually have some) as though it is an exciting breakthrough. That's understood. But getting too breathy about it is terribly ill-advised. We have some examples, in case you were wondering.

Typically you don't want to use words like "delighted" or "stellar" or "boldly" or "exemplary," but then again, "leading" can be bad as well, unless it's convincingly backed up with facts.

For example, saying that "eMortgage Logic is delighted to endorse BPO Standards and Guidelines recently introduced by the BPO Standards Board" may be a bit too much. Is "delighted" really the right word there? I don't know.

And then there is a release from BigBidder.com--the auction marketplace for notes. The opening line states that "the first-ever online auction marketplace of individual Notes, Big-Bidder.com[R] boldly enters the scene." Sounds more like a Star Trek preview than a news release. They kept going with the whole intergalactic vocabulary in this release. The very next sentence talks about how "BigBidder.com spent two years in development led by a stellar team of mortgage industry professionals." My dictionary defines "stellar" as "1. of the stars or a star; 2. like a star, as in shape. ..." Well, you get the point.

Another tricky thing is naming institutes so that they sound like studious places where important things are learned. So the first choice is, do you go with "academy" or do you go with "institute?" One release we got decided to go with institute, but the full official name doesn't exactly call to mind a place of higher learning. The name of the degree one can earn falls a bit short as well. So you think you might want to go to Harvard? Well, think again. How about matriculating instead at The Distressed Property Institute and getting a Certified Distressed Property Expert[R] designation? (Probably a lot cheaper.)

It's probably also good advice not to outright say in a release that some technology product or service made you a lot of money. Even if you're endorsing the product, if you are a mortgage lender in today's political climate boasting about how much money you made, it is a bit indelicate to say the least. One release we saw quoted M. Benson, of Urban Financial Group, saying positive things about a reverse-mortgage lead-generation tool. "I can say that their leads have been most profitable and their system has made me the most money." he (or she) said. OK, but you had better be taking care of those seniors.

We often wonder if there is a limit on the number of versions you can go up to without having to rename your software product. Could you come out with a Version 500.0, for example, or is that not cool?

Teaser press releases are an art form unto themselves. We found a perfect example that leaves you right on the edge of your chair. And that's the point, right? Here's what it says: "Several other exciting new Web services and features currently in development will be announced very soon." Makes me want to call them up and beg for more information. A few sentences further down, it reads: "We feel this new feature will be a welcome relief to our clients and the industry," (I'm feeling better already.)

And just when you thought there were sufficient places for people to vent about things, there's a new one. BetterBorrowers.com bills itself as a site "where visitors share their stories and vent about their experiences with lenders and loan servicers." Oh, and I thought that was Congress, my bad.

Finally, we got a real kick out of this last one. The company, in its About (insert firm name) section of its release, says its software is "supported by select employees with backgrounds in the financial and computer science industry, along with additional legal counsel and data processing departments to keep up with necessary changes of legislature. ..." OK, are they saying we should throw the Democrats out or what? I don't understand. What exactly are the "necessary changes of legislature" of which they speak--do they have someone specific in mind?

Someone, also, please tell me: Are there more than 50 service providers in the mortgage technology space? Because if there aren't, would it still be an "award" to be on the list of "Top 50 Service Providers?" (Just curious.)

RELATED ARTICLE: Techy People

Harry Gardner has been named chief strategy officer for Dallas-based SigniaDocs.

Tim Grace has been appointed senior vice president of fraud analytics for First American CoreLogic in Santa Ana, California.

Robert Lung and Matthew Fiore have been promoted to vice presidents with Updata Advisors Inc., dually headquartered in New York and Reston, Virginia.

Peter M. Buffone has been named vice president of sales I and channels for Fl Compliance Solutions in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Mike Myatt, chief strategy officer with N2Growth, has become a blogger for New York-based GlobeSt.com.

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