In June I attended a conference in my hometown of Las Vegas. It was a Real Estate Educators Association (REEA) conference. One of my clients taught me how to best approach a conference like this to get the most out of your time there. I used to simply show up to conferences and attend the training sessions, then head home. I learned the conferences aren’t for training. They’re for networking.

Here’s what you want to do:

1. Obtain a roster of all the attendees
2. Assess which attendees would be beneficial to reach out to BEFORE the conference
   1. For my client and I we looked for real estate regulators, and schools that we could partner with
3. Write a personalized email to each attendee you want to contact. In the email schedule a time to meet at the conference…grab a cup of coffee or dinner
4. Note which attendees you want to look for at the conference
   1. You don’t have to set up a meeting with them. It’s good to match a name to a face.
   2. I made note of regulators in each state that were attending, the ARELLO person, people we’ve collaborated with in the past
5. Introduce yourself to the people you noted on your roster list and anybody else you meet. Pass out business cards and collect business cards.
   1. This was the hardest step for me. I don’t like butting myself into a conversation and introducing myself. I also don’t like small talk. I like to get-to-the-point and work out a deal. I’m figuring out how to network still. I’ll let you know when I learn more!
6. After the conference email the people you got contact information from. Ask to schedule a virutal meeting to get to know one another better and discuss how to help each other.