{"id":17198,"date":"2021-02-15T10:27:58","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T16:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/?p=17198"},"modified":"2021-02-17T09:34:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T15:34:56","slug":"your-conference-needs-to-be-virtual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/editorials\/your-conference-needs-to-be-virtual\/","title":{"rendered":"“Next year” is now: Why your conference still needs to be virtual"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember last year when we started looking at this whole… Pandemic thing as very temporary for some reason? All the jokes about mutant sourdough starters taking over the planet, and toilet paper forts before the very real toll set in and settled in?<\/p>\n

\"Toilet<\/p>\n

(These<\/a> are still cool, I don\u2019t care what anyone else says.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not 100% our fault for being optimistic. Humans straight up aren\u2019t wired to be on high alert for extended periods of time<\/a>, and burning all our clothes after every outing is cost prohibitive anyway. So the hosts, organizers, and venue overlords amongst us figured: \u201cRun extra cleaning crews, close an hour early, watch out for the few elderly we care to acknowledge, apply for that sweet sweet assistance grant money, and we\u2019ll be all set in… 6 weeks maybe\u201d. It had all the simplicity of a Simon Pegg zombie survival plan, if less of the fun.<\/p>\n

And then time marched on, and we weren\u2019t set in the least.<\/p>\n

Now everyone who placed their multi-attendee, in-person event bets on \u2018This time next year\u2019, is about to see why the house always wins. But the National Association of Realtors gambled correctly… Or rather, they checked their history and hedged their bets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of NAR\u2019s core values is to put members first, and with that the health and safety of America\u2019s 1.4 million Realtors\u00ae remains our top priority,\u201d says NAR president Charles Oppler. Lovely sentiment.<\/p>\n

But this is what pricked up my \u2018heartless pragmatist\u2019 ears:<\/p>\n

\u201cNAR leadership and staff had hoped we could gather in person for our 2021 Legislative Meetings, but after the success and record registration<\/strong><\/em> we witnessed last May, we are confident that more Realtors\u00ae will be better served by holding this year\u2019s conference virtually.\u201d Emphasis mine, as usual.<\/p>\n

The takeaway here is that heavy investment in the digital infrastructure and spreadsheet-savvy personnel so instrumental to online conference migration wasn\u2019t just a dumpster fire 2020 contingency plan\u2014 this is officially the soundest strategy for the next year<\/em>. At least<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For everyone with planned showings, conferences, \u2018Eyes Wide Shut\u2019 shenanigans, and so forth that you thought<\/em> would be happening in Q3 and 4 of this year… You\u2019ll want to follow NAR\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re going to want:<\/p>\n