Now "I’m Seein’ Why" People Always Talk About ICNY

Last week I was honored to be invited to attend the Inman Real Estate Connect event in New York City (also known as ICNY). Real Estate Connect® is a must-attend conference that brings together the biggest names in the real estate and technology industries.
 Each year, thousands of influential leaders gather at Real Estate Connect to discover emerging trends and technology, to network and make deals and to learn how to leverage the change that surrounds the real estate industry. The theme for Real Estate Connect NYC 2012 was Leading the Way: Innovation in Action and the program featured top thinkers and innovators from around the world.


It also featured 10 of my newest “close friends” in real estate – The Inman Connect Ambassador Team.

Katie Lance, Director of Social Media for Inman wanted to bring in some people from around the real estate industry who could help share, capture and enhance the experiences of ICNY with real estate agents, brokers and owners and others in the real estate industry around the globe who couldn’t attend. Among the team of 11 Ambassadors, there were 4 live bloggers, 3 people capturing video, 2 live “tweeters,” a photographer and one person dedicated to sharing the experience via Instagram.


Katie was busy as the event Co-Emcee along with Chief Evangelist for Inman, Chris Smith so my fellow ambassadors and I were watching and listening for any idea, sound bite, tip or technique that might be shared by anyone who took the stage, the numerous vendors who were sharing their services and products or the 1000+ attendees from around the globe.


From the opening session of Agent Reboot (a one day fast-paced session of workshops and presentations that travels the country) on Tuesday to the last “curtain call” of the Inman Staff on Friday, we were all sitting front row with iPhones, Mac Books, Flip Videos and Steve Pacinelli’s awesome camera equipment in hand. (Click here to read my article from Agent Reboot Columbus to see what this event is all about)


After the general session of each day, there were four different “tracks” of workshops, panels and breakout sessions on various topics so it was impossible to attend them all. That’s where the beauty of the Ambassador team comes into play as well as the power of the #ICNY hash tag.


You could be enjoying one session while still keeping an “ear to the ground” in other sessions because of the fast fingers of those people who were tweeting the “nuggets of wisdom” by searching for any tweet sharing the #ICNY hash tag (basically keeping a “log” of all the comments) or people would look back later and see what was said and who said it.

Of course there was a lot of social fun as well as the jam-packed schedule of events and the Ambassadors did their best to capture that in spirit, tweets, texts and video as well. In the largest city in the world, it wasn’t easy to stick together but when we did, we certainly took the establishments by storm. From Stout NYC for the BCS Championship game to Tonic for karaoke, Junior’s or The Shake Shack for lunch or The Hourglass Tavern in Hell’s Kitchen or the R Lounge in Times Square for parties, it was a memorable event.

If you’re looking for some really smart people to connect with, friend or follow in the real estate space, you might want to start here:

• Lisa Archer (@LisaArcherRE)
• Teri Conrad (@TeriConrad)
• Janie Coffey (JanieC)
• Laurie Davis (@LaurieWDavis)
• Maura Neill (@MauraNeill)
• Chris Nichols (@UtahREPro)
• Steve Pacinelli (@StevePacinelli)
· Debra Trappen (@Debra11)
• Tucker Wannamaker (@TuckerWanna)
• Julie Ziemelis (@JulieZemelis)

Of course there are way more people who attended the event and texted, tweeted, Facebooked, captured video and contributed to the awesomeness of ICNY. There’s no way I would attempt to name even one because it wouldn’t be fair to the one’s I left off. Just know that I am honored and proud to be in the same industry as you all. Your skills, passion and pride to be the best you can be makes our industry better.

Thanks to Brad Inman and his incredible team. Your hard work and vision for this event was all worth the tremendous effort you put forth.

Thanks to all attendees and vendors because through your technology skills and dedication to the event and industry, the ideas, concepts and sound bites will last a while longer.

Thanks to the team of Ambassadors and all of the other great attendees and people who made this event happen, the memories will last a lifetime.

Until the next time we may “connect,” continue to build relationships, solve problems and have fun.