By Michele Gillis, Staff Writer
Some things didn’t go as planned, yet everything worked out for the best, at this year’s Realtor Builder Tradeshow last month at the University of North Florida.
Best of all, there was more of everything for the beach-themed event titled “Ride the Wave.”
“More energy, for sure,” said Dennis Ginder of Landon Homes, the NEFBA president who changed into hula-dancer attire to pose on a surfboard at one off the booths. “More people and more booths. But the main thing, I think, is the attitude. We can talk about the market coming back, and look at all sorts of numbers, but one of the best indicators is the feeling you get.”
The tradeshow certainly advanced over last year. Attendance was about 650, according to Celeta McClamma of NEFAR, who was in charge of ticket sales. Last year’s show, also at the University Center at UNF, drew about 400. The main parking lot was full by 10:30 a.m., long after the show opened, and a little-used back lot was full by noon.
Booth sales were up, too, said Corey Hacker of NEFBA. There were 67 this year and about 50 last year.
Part of the attendance rise could be attributed to holding the show immediately after the Sales and Marketing Council’s monthly breakfast across the hall. More than 100 attended the breakfast but it’s unknown how many would have attended the show anyway.
Now, the show organizers face a good problem: it’s almost overflowing. Booths once fit into the main exhibition room; this year, they took over the main hallway.
“We’re new, so we’ll take anything,” said Donald Sitterson, a mortgage banker with Chase whose booth was in the hallway. “We’re visible and that’s what counts. This is a very inexpensive way of reaching the exact people we want to reach, and that’s what counts.”
“It’s grown so much that we’ll have to figure some way to fit everyone in next year,” said Jamie Zeitz of Real Estate Mortgage Network, who’s on the show committee. “Having it with the SMC was long overdue.”
People attending the event enjoyed dressing in the beachwear and visiting all the booths while networking to enhance their business.
So much so, that they weren’t very interested in the ancillary activities going on during the show. It seems they really didn’t want to take the time to participate in the Karaoke or costume contests. Nor did they want to attend either of the educational seminars.
“People were more interested in networking and seeing all the new information and products available to them,” said Liz McMahan of Watson Realty, co-chair of the event with Sharon Friedes, formerly of The Florida Times-Union. “There were many more booths to visit this year.”
Carol Zingone, president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, was set to put on a class on the Realtor Builder Accord, but hardly anyone showed up.
“I was not upset at all,” said Zingone. “We had such great momentum at the show that no one wanted to leave.”
McMahan said the event was great and it was the largest turnout in years.
“The theme made the atmosphere fun and relaxed,” she said. “The food vendors were some of the best we have had in recent years and the other industry vendors were pleasantly surprised at the amount of Realtor attendance.”
(Realty/Builder Connection Editor Fred Seely contributed to this story.)