Was the RealWorld 2017 Conference Really “A Sign of Good Things to Come”

The Real-World Conference has established itself as the go-to conference for the real-estate industry, attended by a host of industry leaders, resource persons, and key movers and shakers in the real estate and property management space. The latest edition of this premier realty and property meet, which took place between 16th July and 18th July 2017 at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, USA, lived up to its tagline of “a sign of good things to come.” The host of informative sessions, roundtables, and training workshops on offer, by industry leaders and topic specialists, enriched participants with rich insights on the latest industry trends, training on valuable skill-sets, and exposure to practical case studies applicable to real properties.

Enriching Sessions Keep Participants Up-to-Date

The RealWorld conference is noted for its host of innovative sessions, and RealWorld 2017 was no different. Several sessions, dealing with customer experience, marketing, internal processes, leasing, risk management, and more, offered a host of valuable resources for those in the property business.

A session on “Accounting & Asset Investment Management, Financial Solutions to Run Your Business” offered insights on the tools required to support relationships, effective reporting, and diverse technology unique to the business. It reviews a host of solutions designed specifically for real estate investment firms and asset management professionals, including what’s new.

Another intuitive session “The Latest in Commercial Property Management and Portfolio Asset Management Solutions” offered insight on the right tools and techniques to make sense of the wealth of incoming data every day, how to collect the most relevant data, how to consolidate and analyze the information in shared reports, and more.

The latest trends such as daily pricing, complex floor plans, and internet listing services make the time-honoured practice of keeping track of competition a very complex task. The “session on Tracking Your Comps” offered valuable information on the most relevant best practices and methods, and overview of the new tools which allows coping with new challenges, how to use data efficiently, and much more.

Another session, “Splitting the Atom: Using Data Science to Delineate and Turbocharge Marketing & Sales” offered rich insights on how to evaluate the quality of leads, how to use business intelligence in decision-making the right way, and more.

Yet another session which stood out was an educational session, where multi-family panelists interacted with apartment residents from the greater Las Vegas area. Property managers gained valuable insights on real-world scenarios related to what renters want, the impact of communication and reviews have on leasing and renewal decisions, and much more. Another standout session brought together residents and managers, discussing the issues related to safety, noise, parking and social interaction in property spaces.

These sessions, apart from providing property managers and other stakeholders with rich insights on real life practical issues and grouses of apartment residents, also drives home a point of how a community portal, used the right way, could strengthen the bond between landlord and renter. Today’s residents expect real-time conversations and instant decisions related to critical issues that matter, in the communication mode of choice. The speed and nature of the property management’s response to such issues and requests can have a big say in rental renewals and even new referrals. In such a scenario, a platform that allows identifying and tackling critical issues in a much more systematic and coherent manner, as opposed to public grumbling in social media sites, is invaluable.

Exhibitions Help Participants Stay Aware and Use New Technologies

Apart from a host of informative sessions, RealWorld2017 also features several top exhibitors, offering insights on new ways of doing things, path breaking innovations in the industry, products, and solutions to improve productivity and save money, and overall become more efficient. The exhibition connected to the event offers a ready source of access to the latest and the most advanced products and providers in the real estate space.

Networking in the Name of the Success Game

Apart from enriching themselves with the latest knowledge, insights, trends, and best practices, participants also gain through networking with the top industry leaders, peers, service providers, and other stakeholders in the industry. Participants get a valuable break to kick-start a fruitful relationship with key contacts that matter and sustain the engagement through social media and other industry portals. The RealWorld conference also offers valuable opportunity to build on existing relationships. Smart participants use the time to reconnect with their previous contacts over a cup of coffee.

Most conferences run for a couple of days, and participants with a goal to introduce themselves to, say 10 people each day, providing some encouragement to speakers and presenters when running into them outside of the sessions, and connect with big shorts during the social events connected with the conference, when they are in a more relaxed setting.

However, amid all the potential is the danger of going overboard. The sheer volume of sessions makes it physically impossible for participants to attend all sessions, and participate in all events. Participants would gain maximum value by researching each event, to pick and choose the events and sessions that really matter to their line of business and position in the industry. Participants have the luxury of checking out the social media presence of the key speakers, identify their strengths, and attend the break-out sessions with the most relevant speakers.

Networking and keeping oneself updated is the name of the game when it comes to success in real estate. Attending conferences such as RealWorld is worth its weight in gold for real estate agents, managers, and other key stakeholders. Regardless of whether you attended or missed out on the 2017 session, reserve your seat for RealWorld 2018, scheduled between July 15 and July 17, 2018, at the Wynn Las Vegas.

In the meantime, real estate players would do well to translate the insights gained into action. A big part of such action is implementing state-of-the-art digital and mobility solutions to offer a better experience for customers, and making internal processes transparent and seamless.

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About the Author

Ajay Basant

Ajay works in the Project management office at Fingent and has conceptualized and delivered multiple products in the real estate domain specifically for residential property management and maintenance management. He has been successfully conceptualizing and deploying IT solutions for over 7 years and has spent over half a decade working with the Real Estate industry. He has core Business Analyst experience within the Information Technology sector working with global clients to create and deploy complex Web, Desktop & Mobile applications with cutting edge technology.