On Oct. 11-14, nearly 200 luxury property experts met in Philadelphia for the 13th Annual Luxury Real Estate (LRE) Fall Conference at the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia. In addition to the discussions of successful strategies and reports on current market conditions, more than a dozen LuxuryRealEstate.com members were honored with awards during a banquet on the final evening of the event.
It was the first LRE event I've attended and along with Carolynn Ozar Diakon, Broker/Owner of Resources Real Estate, I was very pleased to have met some of the most influential brokers nationwide, along with a few from the international real estate community.
There was much to be impressed with at this conference -- stellar marketing expertise, extraordinary properties, and huge production volume -- but most impressive was the generosity exhibited by many presenters who shared in-depth views into their business activities. This was not your typical real estate crowd.
My biggest regret was to not have been able to attend all of the workshops due to overlapping schedules but some of the highlights included a branding & marketing session conducted by Jacky Teplitzky, one of NYC's top brokers (Prudential Douglas Elliman); a group-hosted workshop on best marketing ideas which included a very thorough presentation by James Retz (Daniel Gale Sotheby's Int'l/Long Island.)
What struck me most was the utter lack of competition in the room; instead the conference attendees exhibited cooperation & goodwill, even among direct competitors. A centerpiece to the conference was the awards dinner with recognition ranging for everything from "Rookie of the Year" (awarded to Simon Turner & Michael Marquette of Marquette Turner, Sydney Australia, far left & right above, respectively) to "Biggest Sale 2007" ($19+million) to the latest inductees to the "Billionaire's Club" (individuals who have each sold more than $1 billion worth of property.
A special honor was presented to Lois Schneider of Lois Schneider Realtors of Summit, NJ, for lifetime achievement.
(from left: Shaun Dalton, Royal Realty, Naples FL, Diakon, and Jane Poppelreiter, Paragon Real Estate, San Francisco, CA.)
(McCormack and Maggee Miggins, Keller Williams, Maplewood, NJ.)
Lots of high points but perhaps what I'll remember most is a long chat I had in the Ritz Carlton lounge with Tim Murray of Alain Pinel Realtors (San Francisco) who had been acknowledged with the "Extraordinary Philanthropist" award... a truly inspirational man with a wonderful story to tell.
I look forward to incorporating many of the professional (and personal) insights I gained into my own practice.
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