Make the Most of a Real Estate Conference

Conferences and seminars can be great ways to learn and expand your knowledge, as well as provide networking opportunities with other professionals. Whether this is your very first real estate conference or your 50th, the following tips can help you make the most of it.

Plan your agenda

These days, most real estate conferences hold multiple sessions simultaneously. They load up the conference agenda with a lot of offerings to give people an incentive to attend. The problem with this is that you cannot be in two places at the same time. You'll need to decide what sessions you want to attend and — this is the important part — write them down. Capture your choices in your favorite format and make sure to bring that with you to the conference. If you don't, you'll be at the conference wondering 'what is my next session, where is it, and when does it start?' A little planning goes a long way toward maximizing your conference experience.

Decide who you want to meet

If you're going to a large conference, odds are there will be people there that you know in advance you want to meet. Perhaps it's a particular speaker or a Facebook friend that you've never met face-to-face. That's great! One of the benefits of attending a conference is the opportunity to network. Take advantage of it. Make a list of the people you want to meet. Before you leave arrange as many meetups as you can, because once you're at the conference, things can start to get crazy.

Be flexible

No matter how well the conference is run, no matter how much planning you put into it, something will change. Speakers cancel, speakers talk about something different than was promised, you meet new people, or you want to catch up with old friends. If your conference planning is too rigid, you might miss some great opportunities. Those hallway sessions where three or four people get together and discuss something they just heard? They are golden. Get out there and join some impromptu sessions. If you don't see any, make one happen!

Wear comfortable shoes

This may seem trivial and not much of a tip. Trust me, if you've ever been to a conference with new or uncomfortable shoes, you'll understand. You will be on your feet a LOT. Wear comfortable shoes.

Find the takeaways

At most conferences, things are happening at breakneck speed. Everything flies by, including all the cool ideas you heard and want to implement in your business. It's easy to get overwhelmed. Try not to. One thing that helps is to capture a key takeaway from each session you attended. Instead of trying to do everything a speaker mentions, find that one nugget, that one thing that you think might help. Write that down and plan to do it.

There are a lot of things to do at a real estate conference. To get the most from the experience — and enjoy yourself — prepare, plan, be flexible and take care of yourself.