
Apartmentalize 2021 Schedule
(Subject to change)
Wednesday, June 16
Attendee and Exhibitor Registration Open
Supplier Success Course (Ticketed Event)
You're Only as Valuable as Your Data: Ensuring Asset Value
We have new priorities in 2021. As the housing industry has navigated its way through maintaining housing operations and supporting residents through financial hardships, it also has to actively monitor asset value. With many housing providers facing eviction moratoria, holding off on rent increases and waiving fees, they are focusing on increasing asset value to recoup losses by investing in technologies that strengthen their data’s integrity. This session dives into how housing providers maintain data integrity with open APIs and true data integration within their PropTech platforms.
Speakers
When Is Your Pricing Problem Not the Problem?
Revenue management is famously known for being part of the “Four Ps of Marketing”—Price! During a recession when competitors ramp up their concessions, the easiest solution to a performance issue often is to decrease the price. In this follow-up session to the 2019 panel, participants are challenged to ask the question, “Could my perceived pricing problem be another problem altogether?” We review the 4 (7) Ps of Marketing and discuss a 20-point checklist that should be reviewed to effectively address performance and operational issues.
Speakers
There’s an App for That: Time Savers for Military Markets
Time is money, and nobody has enough of either! The Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) has had to up the ante to improve the customer experience for current residents and attract and capture new residents. Finding creative methods to connect our unique residents to their new community is a time-consuming undertaking. Learn about a few of the available apps and technology tips and tricks to up your marketing game and provide a better overall leasing and resident experience. Bring your smartphone and get ready to take home some new marketing knowledge.
Speakers
Supplier Skills: Shawshank Effects—Friendships First, then the Order
Have you ever thought that you are becoming too aggressive of a salesperson? Consider changing your focus from “getting” to “giving”—put others’ interests first and continually add value to their lives, which ultimately leads to unexpected returns. Remember how Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption” spent each week building a strong relationship with different people? Join a panel discussion of some of the industry’s most impactful leaders to learn about the art of building sincere relationships with future clients.
Speakers
Star Search: Navigating the Next Frontier in Building Top Talent
Are you responsible for developing stars in your organization but need more ways to help them shine? Do you constantly search for more efficient ways to educate and develop your talent but feel like you come up empty-handed? There is a fundamental change happening and it’s affecting how we develop and retain our staff. Future star talent is looking for more substance than just a place to work; they want a place to connect and lead. Let us shed some light on maximizing your most important asset—human capital.
Speakers
Remote Leadership: Turned on, Tuned in, Uninterrupted
Now more than ever, employees need leaders who consistently tune in, maintain connection and possess “remote control skills” to effectively lead teams. Virtual team leaders must be able to utilize various forms of technology to remotely communicate and collaborate, recognize achievements and be proactive about staying in contact with dispersed teams. Additionally, they should cultivate trust and motivate employees while maintaining realistic expectations and self-motivation. Discover how to keep teams tuned in from any location.
Speakers
Meet Gen Z: Understanding the Next Generation of Renters
The oldest members of Gen Z are nearing 25 years old, representing a significant segment of your customer base. This generation has never lived without the internet, social media or mobile devices, so their expectations for apartment search and lifestyle are different. Get to know Gen Z through the data by reviewing shifting search trends, examining touring preferences and discovering five tech must-haves. Learn how to adapt your property marketing strategy and shape your future success as we prepare to welcome a new generation home.
Speakers
Government Initiatives that Optimize Your Portfolio’s Health and Lifespan
Current and future local and federal initiatives will shape the economic health of property owners/managers across the US. Learn about current legislative options that can impact the health of your business through a nationwide program overview clearly highlighting the most notable ones that are helping property owners/managers today. Pick up recommended actionable steps toward proposing programmatic changes in your community.
Speakers
Find, Hire and Keep a High Performing Maintenance Team
Maintenance performance directly impacts lease renewal decisions, but these employees have the highest average annual turnover of all rental housing positions. With turnover projected to exceed 40% this year, companies are re-evaluating how they find, hire and keep a solid maintenance workforce. Leaders who have decreased maintenance team turnover provide real-life examples and practical tips to re-think where to find maintenance candidates. Learn how to successfully onboard new team members and ensure they’re equipped to be successful in their daily roles.
Speakers
Attention! How to Get it, Keep it and Convert it
First impressions are important. And in today’s highly connected, always-on world, your prospects’ attention isn’t free. They expect immediate answers to renting questions and to emotionally connect to brands. Good design should never get in the way of your first objective: Turning interest into quality leads. How do you deliver an online experience across digital channels to make prospects think, “I want to live here,” and earn higher-quality leads? Learn how to balance brand-forward design with data-driven strategies to connect with, engage and convert renters.
Speakers
Your Online Reputation: Trends, Strategy and ROI in Rental Housing
Have you ever wondered about the ROI of having a good online reputation? Join a panel of rental housing thought leaders for insight on how resident engagement and online reputation can directly impact your bottom line. Get the latest trends and facts on the ever-changing landscape of online reviews and reputation, and learn what the data says about correlation between online reputation, revenue and overall asset performance. Success stories demonstrate how to implement a well-executed, customer-centric strategy to improve your online reputation, renewal and leasing efforts.
Speakers
Twenty Trends Shaping the New Decade
America has come a long way since only birds "tweeted." As we enter a new decade, expect sweeping advances in everything from lifestyle trends to mechanics. This session explores what "the decade of digital authenticity" means to us and looks at the top 20 trends that will shape the next 10 years. From hyper-automation to multi-experience technology, life as we know it is about to change in a big way. Don't get left behind with old ideas. It’s time to create a roar again in the ’20s.
Speakers
The Technology Transformation of the Nation’s Largest Affordable Housing Community
In 2020, a massive Brooklyn, New York affordable housing community underwent a technology transformation to ease and streamline its property management and government compliance processes. Once purchased by a real estate investment and management firm, the property launched a strategic initiative to automate property management activities and operate more transparently. Learn how the migration from a legacy property management system enables properties to better manage the growing demand for affordable housing and better serve the community.
Speakers
The Shifting Sands of Apartment Demand
The large coastal markets, along with southern cities like Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth, have been at the epicenter of job and population growth, rental housing construction and steadily appreciating rents. While some areas remain in that paradigm, new trends began emerging even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the country, new growth centers are appearing. Learn about some of these growing markets, factors contributing to that growth and what industry decision-makers can learn from these areas to apply elsewhere.
Speakers
Supplier Skills
Self-Guided Tours: The Good, the Bad, the Not So Ugly
As the rental real estate industry evolves and innovates, everyone from small property management companies to large nationwide operators benefits from implementing cost-effective and efficient tech innovations. Learn how three different operators applied self-guided tour (SGT) technology at state, regional and national levels. Explore what preconceived notions operators had when approaching self-guided tour technology, how they deployed and have adapted deployment, as well as the benefits and challenges of implementing SGT at their communities.
Speakers
Keep It Personal: Leasing Strategies for the Digital Age
When COVID-19 hit, our industry was well-positioned to transition to virtual tours, but a big question remained: How do we create personalized touchpoints for prospects without face-to-face interaction? And how do we apply these lessons to further operational efficiency? Join us for a discussion on how to evaluate and adapt virtual and self-guided tours beyond the pandemic, new technologies to consider, and the importance of enhancing your social media presence as a leasing strategy when prospects aren’t visiting the community in person.
Speakers
How the 2020–2021 National Defense Authorization Act Revolutionizes Our Industry
The FY2020–21 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) outlines revolutionary change for the privatized military housing portfolio. It includes a resident bill of rights, a universal lease across all project owners and military services, a formal dispute resolution process, a seven-year home maintenance history and other operationally focused requirements. Learn how this legislation has or will change privatized military property operations, how to engage all stakeholders and how to meet these challenges with thoughtful and innovative solutions.
Speakers
Director of Maintenance Roundtable
Details matter in overseeing maintenance at an apartment community. What are the chlorine levels in the pool? Which size wrench is used on the toilet bolt? These questions require specific answers. What about the detail required to oversee maintenance on multiple sites in different cities or even states? Join experts in the field of apartment maintenance in a discussion that answers these questions while addressing managing change from afar, how to update technology, procurement and more!
Speakers
Ancillary Income: It’s Not a Game of Hide-and-Seek
Do you want to maximize your bottom line and increase your property value? Has the pandemic put your income growth aspirations in hiding? For many operators, the challenge and opportunity to seek out ancillary income is optimizing that number and making sure you’re not leaving any money on the table. If you are ready to talk numbers and how you can add income even during trying times, this session is for you!
Speakers
Open Space Sessions
Training: From Front of the Room to High-Powered Zoom
Virtual training is here to stay, so let’s engage our online learner and foster interaction and education! Traditional teaching methods may not translate to effective virtual learning. For best impact and results, change your curriculum’s design, presentation style and visual effects. Make it easy for learners to engage virtually and next to impossible to hide behind a keyboard or leave the room. Be it Google, Teams, Zoom or other hosting tools, make learning fun and beneficial on both sides of the screen.
Speakers
Tour Type and Demand: Not all Tours Are Created Equal
Multiple tour types were offered before the pandemic, but they’re a necessity now. Prospects demand the convenience of instant information in the palm of their hand and the luxury of in-person interaction. Operators responded by offering the options of in-person, virtual, video and self-guided tours to prospects. But these tour type variations are changing the meaning of tour-to-lease metrics. Industry experts discuss how tour type variations have impacted demand as well as the way they measure tour-to-lease conversion.
Speakers
The Contamination Conundrum: Strategies Toward a Zero-Waste Community
Communities across the United States are introducing ordinances to reduce landfill waste, including required recycling and composting to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and the demand for larger landfills. Apartment communities must implement strategies to comply with these ordinances and avoid fines while institutional investors are demanding improved environmental performance of their assets, including better waste diversion rates. Learn specific strategies to assist with compliance and reduce contamination of community waste streams.
Speakers
Talk Data to Me: Pet Research To Improve NOI
The PropTech revolution has made it easier for apartment community operators to make data-driven decisions to improve most onsite processes, including managing pets. But what do apartment residents feel about animals living in their community? By charging pet fees and pet rent, we know pet owners provide more revenue than a non-pet owner, but does this always translate into better NOI or ROI? This session features new research data on what’s most important to pet- and non-pet-owning residents, providing the best housing experience for all residents.
Speakers
Supplier Skills: Rental Housing Diversity and Inclusion—Taking. Action. Now!
The rental housing industry has long agreed that it needs to become more diverse and inclusionary, but many organizations seek answers on how to take action regarding this important initiative. What are the first steps? How do we effect change in our current organization? How do we include definable measures in recruiting policies to help an organization become more diverse? A panel discussion comprised of impactful industry leaders explains how your company can embrace diversity and inclusion.
Speakers
Next-Level Secret Shopping and the Benefits of Being Nosy
To find the right home for a prospect, associates have to ask detailed questions—things like: “What time do you like the sun to come through your windows?” and “Will you need a second bedroom for an office, guestroom or man cave?” Associates often fail to dig deep with prospects, who are more willing to share information than many believe. This session unveils research gathered from secret shopping trips and prospect surveys, demonstrating how associates need to improve their questioning skills and outlining the information prospects are comfortable sharing.
Speakers
Is Artificial Intelligence Changing Rental Housing Management?
Rental housing has witnessed a tremendous technology increase in recent years; however, almost all of this technology still ends up being a cost burden and needs to be managed. Gain a better understanding of what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is and how it’s being used to reduce costs, increase bandwidth and create the future—autonomous communities. Operators who are currently doing this share their insight.
Speakers
Diversity in Leadership: Not So "Suite"
Women hold far more leadership positions in our industry than ever before; however, there is still a lack of representation when it comes to people of color. What obstacles exist to increasing diversity in leadership positions and how do we remove them? This session features a candid discussion on how we can recruit, develop and support minorities for leadership positions.
Speakers
Debt Collections: Increasing Recovery, Controlling Compliance in a Bumpy Environment
Modern debt collections include new technology, rules and consumer dispute trends. Smart collections agencies and rental operators deploy multi-channel contact technologies and labor-saving integrations. New FDCPA, FCRA and payment plan rules are covered by freshened internal documentation and operations, while tracking trends in consumer complaints and CFPB enforcement optimizes rental management compliance and increases recovery. A leading agency and an in-house collections leader discuss the new environment and provide valuable take-home best practices.
Speakers
Best Practices for Managing Your Renovations
Value-added strategies have been relatively successful for the rental housing housing market; however, there are many opportunities to improve profitability. The methods and tools being used for renovations continue to heavily leverage spreadsheets and don’t take advantage of the help that supplier and onsite staff can provide. New methods and technology tools allow renovators to better manage their financials and process. Explore what leading companies are doing to advance their renovation processes.
Speakers
Opening General Session
NAA Exposition with Welcome Reception
Redefining 9 - 5: The Growing Demand for Flexibility in the Workplace
Workplace flexibility is one of the most sought-after employee benefits. Offering flexibility in the rental housing industry is challenging for employees working on the front lines. Each property has limited staff in place and with the need to be physically present, it’s difficult to meet resident needs and expectations with minimal staff. How do you make the most with less? And how can a company optimally operate with some staff unable to work regular hours?
Speakers
Conquer the Silo Effect: Ensuring Collaboration and Communication Stay Sharp
As property management industries become more complex, companies create silos, including marketing, training, human resources, revenue management, operations support and more. Each has an important function, but does this specialization hinder collaboration, creativity and success? Nearly 90% of executives blame lack of communication and collaboration for team and project failures. The “Silo Effect”—lack of communication between teams—is real. Join us to learn how to identify the recipe for collaboration and communication success.
Speakers
The Utility Management Fight: Vital Strategies in Pandemic Times
Utility management is the second-highest expense for most management companies. If you don’t know how to effectively and legally manage utilities, it can cost even more. COVID-19 put a huge strain on everyone, including the rental housing industry. Let us help you understand what effective utility management looks like and regulation changes you should be aware of to help you avoid costly mistakes.
Speakers
Stop Communicating and Start Connecting
Did you know that 205.6 billion emails are sent each day? One third of those emails are never opened, yet employees’ top complaint is lack of communication. How can this be? If we communicate so much, how can we fall so short? It’s because we failing to really connect, it’s time for a reboot when it comes to connecting rather than communicating. This lively session provides actual takeaways to move into a connection mode and start making a difference today!