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Jun 28
2009
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The National Apartment Association held their annual convention this last week in Las Vegas at the incredibly accommodating Mandalay Bay resort. While this was not the first national convention of sorts that I had been to, it was my first NAA convention and there were some very impressive happenings going on this week! I learned many lessons this weekend through observation, and conversation with many friends, my coworkers at Career Strategies Inc, and other conference attendees.
- Vegas = PRICEY! Just the price of the food here is off the charts to what you would expect. I remember many time people telling me how cheap a vacation to Vegas was if you weren't the gambling type. These people were either fibbers or have not been here since 1978, but that's certainly not the case now
- A bottle of water in the airport costs $4. I mean, I know we're in a desert, but come on. It's not THAT scarce.
- The best food deal in the airport is on the D concourse at the end of the gate set that ends in D26. There is a Chili's Too restaurant there and you can get a huge bag of chips and big container of salsa for under $4. Plus, they let me refill my water bottle for FREE, thus further proving my point that water isn't all rare out here.
- That if you're chosen to win $1000 keep your cool. One poor guy jumped up on the stage and either he broke his ankle or he dislocated it but either way, a foot shouldn't be facing that way.
- If you want to get people's attention and their business or just their business card, vendors, stop standing behind your booth or being afraid/too lazy to get out there and talk. I thought that part of the prerequisite for being a multifamily vendor was to be "A Good Little Talker," but witnessed all evidence to the contrary this weekend. Learn to Juggle, shoot slingshot cows (Yea to my friends at Ellipse Inc for an awesome trade show booth and team!) or even just say "Hey, Hey you, come here!" They want you to want them.
- The Red8 restaurant in the Winds Casino is some of the best Chinese cuisine I've ever eaten. Ever.
- Multifamily folks can P-A-R-T-Y DOWN! Many of the parties I went to/saw were a whole lot more fun than any party I ever attended while in college. Everyone is full of love for their fellow property management people and it's such an accepting environment! I was impressed at the strong bonds of the groups and how everyone was welcomed. It healed over a couple of those scars from being the outcast in Jr. High.
- The Apartment Guide people can throw a more rockin' party than anyone I've ever met! Their party on Friday night at the House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay was AWESOME: The food- Scrumptious! The band - Very great and so easy to dance to! The open bar - well what really can anyone say about an open bar. Open bar pretty much covers it :)
- To meet a tweeter is to hug. I met a great number of the folks who have been conversing with me over the last year on twitter, and every single one of them, without exception, immediately grabbed me up for a huge hug. As Mark Juleen said, "Twitter buddies don't shake hands; twitter buddies hug!" I witnessed directly this weekend how much "social media" relationships are real. Don't underestimate them.
- Shoes are key. More than your business cards, more than your outfit, if you try to do a conference with out proper foot attire, you will experience a foot centric hell like you cannot imagine. My feet are blistered and bruised and I had to sit down and get off them twice on my way down to my flight gate tonight. In retrospect, I shouldn't have worn the dress sandals, but I'm always much smarter in retrospect than I am in the moment.
- Attendance was down. This is a really sad fact honestly. It was a great conference with some amazing sessions and the vendor expo was awesome, and yet from what I was told, attendance was down by 50% this year. I know it was a tough year out there for everyone in this economy, but those of you who didn't go really missed something remarkable. The more our industry connects at conferences, through twitter and sites like Multifamily Insiders, the stronger we are. I'm hoping that by next year, NAA will have some better advertising and marketing for the event. I was surprised at how little online work was done to promote the conference, and while I know that attendance did suffer due to the economy, I also think that stepping up the marketing a little bit would be advantageous. Please read the comment on the bottom of this post, that number of 50% is NOT correct. It came from several different sources, but none of them were correct. Sometimes as a journalist, checking 3, 4, or even 9 sources isn't enough. My most sincere apologies to both my readers and the great folks at NAA who have informed me that my conference numbers were not correct. "It was actually only down by 20% over the last time we went to Vegas and only 1% over last year's registrations," according to Michelle Childers, who sits on the NSC and was kind enough to share those numbers. Thank you very much, Michelle!
If I didn't get to see you at NAA this year, then let's hold out together for New Orleans next year! I've decided I'll be there. Will you?
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Heather is a speaker, consultant, staffing facilitator, recruiter and trainer in the Seattle area with Career Strategies Inc. Check out more of her property management ideas at www.behindtheleasingdesk.com .
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Comments (12)
Heather - glad you enjoyed Vegas - was this you first visit?
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It was 
I'd been through the airport before, but this was my first time there over any extended period. The conference was really something though! I talked to so many amazing people and found some great new vendor friends. You should go next year
I'd been through the airport before, but this was my first time there over any extended period. The conference was really something though! I talked to so many amazing people and found some great new vendor friends. You should go next year
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I completely agree with the "stop standing behind your booth or being afraid/too lazy to get out there and talk" comment! It amazes me how so many vendors just sit around looking completely bored. At the HAA conference one year, one guy even left his booth entirely and we never saw him again. (We even checked to make sure he wasn't sleeping behind the booth!) Just having someone there as a body to fill a chair is just about pointless and a huge waste of money! Make sure your reps are properly incentivized to actually care!
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Thanks for the run down Heather - one would think that the NAA would be at the forefront of web marketing, social media, etc. Surprising, to say the least
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Hey fellow Tweeter! It was great to finally meet/hug you! Great insights here. Brent - This needs to be re-posted a month before next year's New Orleans NAA Conference as a tutorial for potential attendees and vendors. It pretty much says it all!
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I have always wanted to go to the NAA conference, but with such a small target market, it's dollars we can't justify spending. I do believe people are looking more carefully at their budgets than in the past. I did at least one email a week from NAA with discounted rates on everything, which made me want to go even more.
As for people standing behind the booth, I'm in complete agreement with you there. That's why we have chosen to do an interactive booth whenever we are at Trade Shows. But hey, we are the party people who build relationships, so that comes naturally to us!
As for people standing behind the booth, I'm in complete agreement with you there. That's why we have chosen to do an interactive booth whenever we are at Trade Shows. But hey, we are the party people who build relationships, so that comes naturally to us!
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It was great meeting you in Vegas Heather! I want to add some !!! to your "Shoes are key" I don't think I've walked that much in 4 days ever.
Thanks for the shout out about the slingshot cows! They certainly got a lot of attention.
Thanks for the shout out about the slingshot cows! They certainly got a lot of attention.
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So true...everything in Vegas is just gigantic! NAA was really a great show - beautiful booths, I liked the cows too , interesting people and lots of good conversation. Dana Carvey was hilarious and the educational sessions were actually very educational.
BUT you forgot to mention one of the big highlights. The Otis Spunkmeyer booth baking fresh chocolate chip cookies...does it get better than that? I was nervous that I had chocolate on my mouth after scarfing down one (or more) cookies. Will they be in New Orleans?
, interesting people and lots of good conversation. Dana Carvey was hilarious and the educational sessions were actually very educational. BUT you forgot to mention one of the big highlights. The Otis Spunkmeyer booth baking fresh chocolate chip cookies...does it get better than that? I was nervous that I had chocolate on my mouth after scarfing down one (or more) cookies. Will they be in New Orleans?
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@Brent- It's more than just incentive. If you're going to a trade show and you're going to try to make a splash, then you don't pick your team by seniority (Who "gets" the trip to Vegas) but by passion and enthusiasm for your product or the crowd they're talking to
@Mark- You were fabulous in person! and you hug almost as good as Mike Brewer does
@Trevor- I was really surprised at that actually. Now they had a good presence on twitter, and I got some emails, but I just didn't see as much as I would have expected to see for a national conference.
@Jen - You give awesome hugs as well Next year, you should come for the whole conference. New Orleans is going to be a LOT of fun!
@Kim- Relationships are everything! An interactive booth of some kind helps your connections remember something about you more than that you gave out neat swag.
@Elysa- My feet STILL hurt and I've been taking it easy for the last three days Those cows were the BOMB! I told my boss we need to do slingshot monkeys next year with CSI capes.
@amiee- I was so sorry we didn't get to connect at the conference! I heard that Dana Carvey was awesome to watch in person. Did you attend the Social Media panel? I also hear that session was incredible! And I don't know how I missed the cookies, but I totally did! Our booth must have been out of cookie smell range, or I would have been all over that! I'll bet they'll do New Orleans next year. No one can resist the Otis.
@Mark- You were fabulous in person! and you hug almost as good as Mike Brewer does
@Trevor- I was really surprised at that actually. Now they had a good presence on twitter, and I got some emails, but I just didn't see as much as I would have expected to see for a national conference.
@Jen - You give awesome hugs as well
Next year, you should come for the whole conference. New Orleans is going to be a LOT of fun! @Kim- Relationships are everything! An interactive booth of some kind helps your connections remember something about you more than that you gave out neat swag.
@Elysa- My feet STILL hurt and I've been taking it easy for the last three days
Those cows were the BOMB! I told my boss we need to do slingshot monkeys next year with CSI capes. @amiee- I was so sorry we didn't get to connect at the conference! I heard that Dana Carvey was awesome to watch in person. Did you attend the Social Media panel? I also hear that session was incredible! And I don't know how I missed the cookies, but I totally did! Our booth must have been out of cookie smell range, or I would have been all over that! I'll bet they'll do New Orleans next year. No one can resist the Otis.
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Heather enjoyed your blog.
Just need to clarify a couple of things. I sit on the NSC council and attendance wasn't down by 50%. (I heard a couple of people say the same thing of the coarse of the week) It was actually only down by 20% over the last time we went to Vegas and only 1% over last year's registrations. These numbers were given to the NSC prior to all of the walk up registrations. Most of the classes I attended were full. Many standing room only.
I think our 2010 committee is ahead of the game marketing wise for next year's conference they were already promoting our key note speakers President George W. Bush at the closing session with Steve Forbes. They also had a cute take away from the Closing GALA (Louisianna Hot sauce with date and location).
However, if you are active in your local associations a ton of marketing materials are sent to them to help promote the conference at your meetings. Videos, brochures, flyers, logos to attach to their email signatures,etc. This is OUR conference as members of the NAA we can all pitch in to help market it. The committe and NAA staff also welcome all recommendations. Liz Huh will be happy to forward them to the committee. Her email address is liz@naahq.org.
One more side note you are so right about the energy needed to drive traffic to a booth. A tradeshow and national meeting isn't a free vacation it's work. If you choose to hang out and party all night you better be able to pay the piper the next morning.
Just need to clarify a couple of things. I sit on the NSC council and attendance wasn't down by 50%. (I heard a couple of people say the same thing of the coarse of the week) It was actually only down by 20% over the last time we went to Vegas and only 1% over last year's registrations. These numbers were given to the NSC prior to all of the walk up registrations. Most of the classes I attended were full. Many standing room only.
I think our 2010 committee is ahead of the game marketing wise for next year's conference they were already promoting our key note speakers President George W. Bush at the closing session with Steve Forbes. They also had a cute take away from the Closing GALA (Louisianna Hot sauce with date and location).
However, if you are active in your local associations a ton of marketing materials are sent to them to help promote the conference at your meetings. Videos, brochures, flyers, logos to attach to their email signatures,etc. This is OUR conference as members of the NAA we can all pitch in to help market it. The committe and NAA staff also welcome all recommendations. Liz Huh will be happy to forward them to the committee. Her email address is liz@naahq.org.
One more side note you are so right about the energy needed to drive traffic to a booth. A tradeshow and national meeting isn't a free vacation it's work. If you choose to hang out and party all night you better be able to pay the piper the next morning.
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Michelle-
Thank you SO much for clearing up that number! I have to apologize, I was going off of what several people had told me who had done the conference for years prior. Maybe it was just the perception on the vendor floor that the expo attendance was down.
I also have to wonder if part of the low perceived attendance for the expo might have been because, due to the economy, the vendors weren't all giving away "swag" that got people to want to repeat and come back through again. To get multiple hits to a booth (which is what you want in a market where it's taking us 5 or more contacts to close a lease) you're going to have to have some sort of a replayability factor, just like a good video game.
I would love to do anything I can to help with the promotion of NAA 2010. Please feel free to contact me anytime! I'm very active in my local association, and I'm more than happy to help out anyway that I can. You're absolutely right, It's OUR conference. Once we take some ownership, things can only get even better, and I appreciate you reminding me of that.
My dad always said that if you run with the big dogs at night, you'd better be able to get up in the morning.
May I repost your comment on my home blog to clear up the misconception? I want to make that if I'm sending information out there, it's the right information, and I really do appreciate you taking the time to correct me on it!
Thank you SO much for clearing up that number! I have to apologize, I was going off of what several people had told me who had done the conference for years prior. Maybe it was just the perception on the vendor floor that the expo attendance was down.
I also have to wonder if part of the low perceived attendance for the expo might have been because, due to the economy, the vendors weren't all giving away "swag" that got people to want to repeat and come back through again. To get multiple hits to a booth (which is what you want in a market where it's taking us 5 or more contacts to close a lease) you're going to have to have some sort of a replayability factor, just like a good video game.
I would love to do anything I can to help with the promotion of NAA 2010. Please feel free to contact me anytime! I'm very active in my local association, and I'm more than happy to help out anyway that I can. You're absolutely right, It's OUR conference. Once we take some ownership, things can only get even better, and I appreciate you reminding me of that.
My dad always said that if you run with the big dogs at night, you'd better be able to get up in the morning.
May I repost your comment on my home blog to clear up the misconception? I want to make that if I'm sending information out there, it's the right information, and I really do appreciate you taking the time to correct me on it!
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