Above: Featherston with Terrie O’Connor (Terrie O’Connor REALTORS®), Helen Hanna Casey (Howard Hanna Real Estate Services) and York Baur (MoxiWorks).
Coming off a year when virtual conferences were the norm, as the world continues to open up, real estate professionals across the board are itching for the opportunity to be face to face with their peers.
But what do real estate conferences of the future look like?
For Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE), it’s all about reimagining the experience. And that’s exactly what they did at this year’s Annual Conference—an in-person event that took place May 23 – 27 at Wynn Las Vegas. The event provided attendees the opportunity to come together, recharge and reconnect all while exploring what’s next in real estate.
Chock-full of content that balanced information with inspiration, the agenda was crafted to bring real estate professionals exactly what they need to focus on growth, success and wellness in a post-pandemic world while reimagining how culture, attitude and mindset play a central role in one’s success.
A star-studded lineup of speakers took the stage to provide strategies to improve performance through the lens of self-belief and offer their perspective regarding the current state of the real estate landscape, emerging models and consumer shifts.
“We addressed all of the changes impacting the industry, from new models to new competitors to new technologies,” says LeadingRE President and CEO Paul Boomsma. “We also explored the importance of wellness and balance, with the understanding that good health is also good for business.”
RISMedia’s John Featherston with Long & Foster’s Jeff Detwiler.
“LeadingRE’s Annual Conference was an outstanding educational and networking event,” says RISMedia President and CEO John Featherston. “This year, the conference was once again held at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, the same venue as 2020, which, for many attendees, proved to be their last in-person meeting that year. I was fortunate to experience this year’s event, as well as last year’s, which ended under the threat of the COVID virus. Like everyone, I was apprehensive as to what lay ahead for the real estate industry.”
While expanded meeting spaces, less attendee movement, colored ribbons that indicated a person’s comfort level with closeness and less paper than normal were hallmarks of the event, Boomsma notes that there was a palpable energy throughout.
“The energy was great, and I think that everyone felt as though we had turned a corner,” says Boomsma, who goes on to explain that leading up to the conference, the team was vigilant about monitoring trends related to the pandemic as well as all health and safety guidelines.
“It’s not surprising that many of the changes we implemented were so well-received,” adds Boomsma, who expects that they will become the new norm moving forward.
Numerous awards were also presented to honor top-performing member firms and individuals. Awards were presented in key areas, including marketing excellence, referral performance and business leadership.
“Not only were our members thrilled to see each other, share ideas and get back to business, but it was also a time to reflect on what we all learned. New processes, new operations and new technology were all implemented during COVID, and much of that progress will benefit all of us going forward,” says Boomsma.
“Special congratulations to the hundreds of real estate leaders who attended the 2021 LeadingRE conference, demonstrating the resilience of the leaders who make up our real estate industry. Paul Boomsma, Diane Ramirez, Chris Dietz, Jessica Edgerton, Kate Reisinger and the entire LeadingRE team hosted a tremendous event. Many of the industry’s luminaries, including Ron Peltier, Helen Hanna Casey, Mike Pappas, Michael Saunders, Anthony Lamacchia, Terrie O’Connor, Vanessa Bergmark, Harold Crye, Jeff Detwiler—and all the other incredible professionals who are members of LeadingRE—are to be commended. It was a tremendous event!”
Tune in for a virtual re-broadcast of the event through June 11.
For more information, please visit https://conference.leadingre.com/annualconference#link_agenda.
Paige Tepping is RISMedia’s managing editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at paige@rismedia.com.
