What Is RETSO, And Why I Return Every Year
This was my fourth RETSO (Real Estate Technology South Conference). The first RETSO conference I attended changed the way I looked at what I was using in my business. Four years ago I was a beginner in the social media field, but fired up about changing my real estate business strategy. At the time I felt I was far behind the curve, I had ignored to talk of video, blogging, website strategies and when the light came on I was absorbed in learning, and building my business toolbox.
RETSO also challenged me to “question” processes, theories, the way things have always been and the future while thinking of customer relationships, of industry standards and broker models. Today keywords like “disruption,” and “culture,” remind me that my business, our profession as Realtors and our Realtor Associations are a constant influx of change, awareness, and adaptation. Disruptions are opportunities, and we will all prosper when we recognize them as such and use them to sustain and to introduce change and implement new ideas and modify our existing strategies. So I ask myself, “Should my business not also change, seek awareness of customer relationships, and adapt to the needs of my customers, my profession and even other Realtors?” It is more likely to slip backwards when you are at a crawl or at a standstill. RETSO is my forward momentum, my fuel for the days, weeks and months ahead, and an annual renewal event. It’s a game changer, a life-event in every sense of the word.
During the early days at RETSO I recall the “heady” discussions, breakout sessions with bloggers, early adopters of social media and technology providers and vendors, all speaking on the use of technology in the real estate space. The RETSO conference is always a surprise, always a purposeful disruption of thought, ideas, strategies and intrigue. Post-RETSO conversations spin in multiple, diverse directions across the web, at Association tables, in mastermind groups and even at other conferences months following the event. It’s not just the individual experience, it’s the shared collaborations of like-minded people – “The Doers” – that breathe the life into RETSO before , during and long after the event itself. The “doers” are successful, dedicated, the kind of Realtors and professionals that are stars in their brokerages, that the public deserves to do business with, that Associations need to engage and and that are changing the face of “business as usual.”
At the end of the day, what any Realtor needs from a conference is that one tool,.. that one idea, that one game-changing action item that will save them money, make them money and help them keep their money. That is what the business model generation tool and all that I learned at this conference is helping me to do. Thanks to RETSO once again!
This may have been a business trip for me, as are most of my travels to real estate events, however, it’s so much more than business. Seeing friends from across the country who believe RETSO is one of the few “essential” conferences out of all that they attend, is a boost to all the many relationships developed at or as a result of, this event. I wouldn’t miss it, or them, for the world. See you next year, at RETSO. Kudos to the team that put this year together for us all!