Letter from America

From our correspondent in New York, Troy Stanley gives Resource Techniques a firsthand account of the Inman Estate Connect Conference.

'I shouldn't be, but I am astounded by the energy and passion of the attendees at the Inman Estate Connect Conference. Every year more and more property professionals seem to be increasingly clued up on technology and how it affects them in the Estate Agent industry. This year was no exception.

The three day Conference was at New York's Marriott hotel in Times Square and the quality of the speakers was second to none. A whole range of industry experts from Google, Zillow, Craigslist, Trulia and many more presented captivating speeches that gave insight into widely debated topics.

Bradley Inman, Founder and publisher of Inman news, opened the conference with a welcome address on 'How instant and live is changing your world'. This presentation set the tone for the rest of the conference - the notion of real-time and its effect on the Estate Agency industry.

Real-time can manifest itself in many different forms, such as social media, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), mobile, and online blogs. Each one of those forms provides a different benefit and attraction to the end user, which is why they have become mainstream and no longer something for the "technology geek".

Over the next coming articles I will share my experiences of the Inman Connect Conference in New York and how our fellow property professionals across the pond predict what is around the next corner.