Joe and I had the great pleasure of attending RISMedia’s 18th Annual Leadership Conference at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan today - as blogger press. That’s right, as Press. Many thanks to RISMedia for granting us the honor.
In true blogger form, we snapped pictures and talked to as many people as we could. Those in attendance were the cream of the real estate crop.
John Featherston, President and CEO of RISMedia welcomed all to the event’s opening panel - “Critical Issues Facing the Real Estate Industry” - which was superb. Ed Krafchow, President, Prudential CA/NV/TX, did a fantastic job of moderating this star studded cast, which included Sherry Chris, Dottie Herman, Brenda Shipplett, Howard “Hoddy” Hanna III, J. Lennox Scott, Ron Peltier, Alex Perriello and Merle Whitehead.
When the tide goes out, you can see who’s swimming naked. (Warren Buffett).
There was a consensus that when the bad wind blows, the wheat is separated from the chaff. Those who got into the business to make a quick fortune and the “bad actors” have to leave the stage. And while the internet has created greater transparency and access to information, the true real estate professional still brings value to the table: qualities such as knowledge (how to use information), negotiation and communication skills, integrity, and a network of others necessary to get through the transaction smoothly are highly desired by the consumer.
Some takeaways included:
Alex Periello - Promote Your Success - Let people know your homes are selling. Allocate 20% of your ad space to sold properties and scramble them with active listings on a page.
Dottie Herman - Joe asked the panel their thoughts on the new wave of Real Estate Bloggers. Blogging takes dedication and is not for everyone. It helps if you’re a good writer and blogging can help you develop and differentiate yourself as an agent.
Brenda Shipplett - Agents are working more remotely and are not spending as much time in the office. Offices can cut overhead by downsizing their office space.
J. Lennox Scott - One of the next areas of evolution in real estate includes what he called lifestyle and social networking. The next big phase of the video evolution will include “emotional” video— real people in the videos expressing the history and qualities of the home. The new CRM (Client Relationship Management) includes blogging and sites like Twitter and Facebook. Lennox sees the value of the mobile office to accommodate the mobile consumer. The 3 ways to reach 100% of all buyers, says Lennox: MLS, Internet, and Signage.
Merle Whitehead - Agents need to come to the office more to become better agents and build a sense of teamwork and camaraderie.
Hoddy Hanna - Great speaker! A question to the local newspaper press - Why do the newspapers still call the real estate sections classifieds? Get with the times guys. Oh yeah, his daughter asked why he doesn’t have a blog yet. Hoddy said he would get right on it.
Sherry Chris - When the market slows, see it as a time for opportunity. Find your untapped assets.
Ron Peltier - Wrote a fantastic piece about the state of the industry in some newspaper which I can’t quite remember at the moment. It will come to me….or someone will remind me 
Today’s Real Life experience - In a sea of expensive suits, I thought I’d stand out from the crowd and attend the event in shorts, a polo, sandals and a visor. I guess it worked because after the panel, the Founder and CEO of RIS Media, John E. Featherston, walked up to me looked at my event badge and in essence asked, “Who the heck are you?” I quickly responded that I was a writer for the Sellsius Real Estate Blog. He said something like, Oh, OK. Joe then added that he was the person who asked the question about blogging and Mr. Featherston acknowledged he knew who we were. I then kindly asked him for a photograph which he generously agreed to. Thanks Mr. Featherston!
John E. Featherston and Joe
Hmmm? Do you think Mr. Featherston would have even noticed me if I had a suit on? Hint hint to all you agents out there - figure out a way to stand out from your peers so consumers can notice you.
Here are some pics of the event thus far:
Ed moderating the star panel - check out the full house.
Rudy and Brendan King of Point 2
Audience settling in.
Our friends from IncredibleAgent.com - Damon Pace and Tom Wolf - Always great to see you guys!
John E. Featherston on the mic
Kara Todd of RIS Media and Rudy
Leaders of the pack
Laura Breit of Homescape.com and Rudy
LLoyd Frink from Zillow on the right. Where’s David G?
Matt Lombardi from The National Association of Realtors - NAR
NAR - required reading?
Online Walkthrough marketing materials
The Real Estate Book
Refreshments are served
Rentals.com
Wow! That’s a lot of sponsors.
Zillow.com
See everyone in the A.M………
Technorati Tags: RIS Media, Leadership Conference, real estate, real estate marketing
Great stuff. I’m definitely jealous.
Rudy…you’re alive!!! Man you guys have been busy! PRESS??? Nice!
We have always been fans of RISMedia and long time subscribers to their magazine. Their Leadership Conference is a must event for us. It’s not every day you can bend the ear of a CEO.
Thanks for attending and thanks for the great coverage, guys! And yes, John wanted to know, “Who is the guy in the front row in shorts with the camera?” Ron’s article appeared in USA Today, btw. Thanks again and hope to see you at our next event (RISMedia’s 12th Annual Power Broker Forum at NAR Annual).
It was our pleasure Maria. Thank you for allowing us the access. We have been longtime subscribers to RISMedia Real Estate and the Leadership Conference is a must event for us.