Planning a significant commercial real estate event—like the 14th Annual Forecast Conference—is a lot like developing a multi-tenant spec project.
Building it so they will come; building it so you will come on Wednesday, January 20, 2016.
- There is a market for it: the CRE industry, like so many others, loves to network and kibitz with one another over coffee. That’s especially true in mid January when everyone is working to get back into the groove.
- There is precedent for it: after 14 years, it is the largest, longest running event of its kind in Chicago and perhaps the entire Midwest (even the US?).
- There is demand for it: some 75 companies sponsor the event that features 50 plus speakers and draws about 1,000 people.
It all makes sense; the pro forma works! But until the keynote speaker commits, it’s kind of like building an office tower with no anchor tenant; it’s nerve-racking, to say the least.
The good news for the 14th Annual Commercial Real Estate Forecast Conference is that we’ve secured our “lead tenant”. Headlining this year’s event is Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. He’ll be interviewed by David Kahnweiler from Colliers International.
So now it’s full steam ahead!
We’re building great momentum with the announcement of even more tenants (speakers) for the conference. Among some of the additional names we’ve secured include: Collete English-Dixon, Prudential Real Estate Investors; Danny Nikitas, Avison Young; Andy Hochberg, Next Realty; Tony Pricco, Bridge Development; John Przybyla, Marcus & Millichap; Drew Nieman, CBRE; Dave Trumpy, GlenStar; Michael Drew, Structured Development; and George Raitu, National Association of REALTORS; Bob Chodos, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank; and Matt Carolan, JLL.
We’re not 100 percent yet; still a couple of speaking and exhibitor spaces to fill. And then, we’ve got a few more seats to fill. After all, we are building it so you will come. If we need more chairs, more coffee and more Danish, we’ll have them! Don’t worry.
To register or learn more, click here.
