Five Reasons I Love the Real Estate Connect Conference
Last week, I attended the annual Real Estate Connect NYC conference put on by Inman News. I go to a lot of industry events and conferences, but I’ve always found that Connect provides the most bang for the buck.
This week, I wrote a piece for Inman News about the “10 Things I Learned at Real Estate Connect NYC,” which sets out my impressions of this year’s conference. You should go check that out, but I also thought it might be helpful to explain why I think more agents should be going to Connect, even though it’s more expensive than the average real estate conference:
1. Diverse Speakers
Brad Inman does a great job of pulling together interesting speakers from both inside and outside the industry — this year, for example, they had Rupert Murdoch from News Corp, real estate expert and Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran plus the heads of Realogy, Re/Max, Keller Williams, Zillow, Trulia, and a bunch of other companies. But unlike other industry conferences, you rarely see those kind of generic talks that national speakers give at conferences, the canned speeches that they deliver day after day to whatever audience they’re speaking to. Indeed, in most cases, the talk is followed by an interview, which tends to create more illuminating and spontaneous conversations.
2. It Moves Quick
The one thing that’s really amazing about Connect is how much gets covered in the time that they have. Brad really keeps things moving — the average on-stage conversation is probably 20 minutes, so people have to get up there, lay out there points, and then get off. Not a lot of winding story-telling, and absolutely no dull slide decks. Indeed, the morning sessions go for three hours without a potty break, which can be a bit trying but speaks to the frenetic pace that they set.
3. Conversations, Not Presentations.
I also get a lot more out of the breakout sessions in the afternoon. For the past three conferences, I’ve been lucky enough to participate as a moderator of the “Broker Track” panels, three hours of conversations with brokers and agents about various industry topics. But that’s what they are — conversations. Too many times, I go to industry conferences where the “panels” are really just three people on stage who are going to deliver a canned presentation for 15 minutes and then yield the floor to the next presentation. I never get anything out of those. At Inman, the panels are real authentic conversations between the panelists, which will be good or bad depending on how well the panelists can actually explain and defend their positions. This year, for example, I had a bunch of really interesting people who talked about 3D walkthroughs, high-end video, building a rental business, and a host of other topics, including a really hot debate about luxury real estate between a startup independent boutique and an established national brand.
The funny thing about Inman is that the experience is different for everyone. Although most people attend the morning general sessions, the afternoon breakouts run on different tracks: broker track, agent track, MLS track, technology track, and a few others. It’s literally impossible to go to the whole conference, because you can’t be in two places at one time, so you see people scurrying in and out of rooms to catch a particular panel on the broker track, say, and then run off to the agent track to see something else that interests them.
4. Networking
And on top of that, the real value of the conference is the networking. Indeed, I know people who never actually step foot into the sessions, but instead spend their time in impromptu or schedule meetings, since Connect is a great gathering spot for people across the industry. It’s one of the few places where you get top-level leadership from most of the brands, big independents, and tech companies all gathered in the same place. The only other time you might see that is the national NAR convention, but the problem with NAR is it attracts thousands and thousands of agents and you can get lost in the crowd. Connect is significantly smaller and more intimate, and easier to get engaged.
5. Technology
Finally, Connect is unique because of its interest in cutting-edge technology, and Brad’s willingness (you could even say eagerness) to tweak the traditional industry by presenting disruptive technologies on stage. I’m a real technophile, so I love the opportunity to see not only what’s out there, but what’s coming down the pike. It’s one of the few conferences that will challenge your perception of the industry, rather than reinforcing it.
Listen, the conference is expensive, something like $1,000 plus travel and hotel and all that. But I really recommend that if you’re interested in the industry, and particularly in technology, you try to attend at least once just to get the flavor of it. Certainly, if you live within driving distance of New York or San Francisco, you should attend the conference near you. It’s really worth it.