My CEO Life

Every 6 months i go to the Inman Conference in the US.   The conference is run by Brad Inman - a lead commentator on all things internet and the US real estate market.

There conferences are held in January in New York and in July in San Francisco.  They are a must for anyone who is interested in the online real estate world.  Key attendees to the conference include move.com, Trulia, Zillow, the REA Group, properazzi, and so on.

At the conference a range of topics are covered from which portal sites should be used through to blogging and the real estate agent and even discussions on the US real estate market.

Check out the website (www.inman.com)

Each year we hold a conference for all staff.  This year we are actually holding two - one in Brussels and one in Melbourne.  The main reason we do these conferences is to ensure that everyone is connected with the business.  We want people to understand the culture, to live the culture, to know where we are going and to be fully engaged in what is happening.

We spend a bit on these conferences - including flying people in from around the world.  However after doing 15 of them, i can say that it really does create enormous value for the business.  People walk away from them pumped, happy,engaged and ready for what ever we throw at them. 

The conferences are not heavy on the theory or slides, however there is a consistent message that we are trying to get across. 

I would recommend that every company does these … there is no substitute for people being connected to the business!