by Michele Gillis
Staff Writer
Are you surviving?
That’s the theme of this year’s Realtor Builder Tradeshow and, as one of the co-chairs, Janna Thomas of LMH Solutions, explains, “The theme was chosen because we are surviving right now. We want all the tools that we can have in our pockets so that when we go out into that real estate jungle we are prepared to survive.”
This year’s show - drawing from the television hit “Survivor” - is focusing on honoring those surviving in the real estate market. It’s at the University Center of the University of North Florida on Oct. 20 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tickets are $10.
The “Survivor” theme was chosen right after last year’s show.
“Even the best of the best need to stay on their toes and up and current with market trends, technology and how to best serve their customers,” said Thomas.
Her co-chair, David Wakefield of PrimeLending, added, “Every day is a fight in our industry. There is a lot of competition and the pie is only so big. Every day we are fighting tooth and nail to find what is going to put us over the top. Every day we are in the trenches and it is warfare.
“If you are in the real estate industry, you should find a way to be at the show. If you are serious about your job, you should be there. If you are going to be successful in this industry, you have to be at an event like this so you can gain the knowledge, meet the people and shake those hands because it might make the difference between getting a contract accepted or not.”
The show is a major event on the calendar of both the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and the Northeast Florida Builders Association. Thomas represents NEFAR; Wakefield is NEFBA’s chair.
“The beautiful thing about the show is that involves so many organizations,” said Thomas. “You are bringing Realtors and builders together and all of the real estate related professions together so everyone can find everything they need there.
“In addition, it all ties into networking, which is really key right now for today’s professionals. You might want to do a transaction with someone, but it’s hard if you’ve never met them. Once you’ve met them and shook their hand, now you’ve made that extra step to make it a smoother transaction through networking.”
Last year’s show was more about having fun and playing medieval games and networking. This year’s show will still be fun, but will focus more in information, education and surviving.
“We have been able to streamline it and instead of having two educational sessions, this year we are having four sessions which will run every 40 minutes and start early in the morning, rather than into the afternoon,” said Thomas.
As chairs, Thomas and Wakefield have a two-year commitment to the show, so even more improvements are in the works.
“We will continue to refine and tweak it each year,” said Wakefield. “What we did was look at what worked last year, where some of the problems or breakdowns were last year and we are trying to capitalize on our knowledge from being involved in it last year with simple things.”
They started with education.
“People are starved for good information on so many different things out there, so I think that will be a good piece of it,” said Wakefield. “It’s going to be fun, exciting and all the things we can make it, but it will be different obviously with the theme.”
Thomas said they have a nice mix of vendors and sponsors for attendees to visit and get more information.
“I think people are looking for a one-stop shop,” said Thomas. “They want to spend the least amount of time getting the most amount of knowledge and the most benefit out of it.
“Just like we don’t want to get in our car and drive out to five different communities to see five different models and see five different salespeople. We want to go to one place and get it all at one time, have it and be on to our next goal.”
Wakefield said they are ahead of where they were last year with sponsorships and booth sales.
Since the event only costs $10, they have again asked food vendors to come in with appetizer-sized portions for the guests, but this year, they will be there the entire day serving breakfast type food in the morning and lunchtime food in the afternoon.
As in years past, there will be a booth contest, a literature contest and fun quick Survivor-type games. There will not be a live band this year, but a deejay instead providing background music for the event.
The logo
The logo and marketing materials for the Realtor Builder Tradesow are being provided by PrimeLending’s marketing department.
“I said, let me see what I can do,” said the company’s David Wakefield, one of the show’s co-chairs. “I emailed my marketing guys here at PrimeLending and they said they could do it. So, I cut what would have been a big bill out of our budget.
“We are in a professional situation and we are surviving the trials and errors of the industry, so we wanted to dress up the logo a little bit. It was a really fun process coming up with the logo.”
Educational classes
The schedule for the classes offered during the Realtor Builder Tradeshow:
9:30-10:20 a.m.
“Turning a distressed home into a dream home with Renovation Loans.”
10:30-11:20 a.m.
“How to sell a distressed REO or short sale with customized financing.”
11:30 a.m-12:20 p.m.
“All you wanted to know about Nocatee and how CDD’s really work.”
12:30-1:20 p.m.
“Newer alternative ways to help your buyers afford a home with a smaller down payment.”