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The last major multifamily technology event of the year took place last week in San Diego. And with it, AppFolio FURURE appears to have established itself as a major fixture on the industry's event calendar.

A couple of things stood out: with double the attendance of last year's event, this show is now on par—for attendance and content—with the largest user conferences in our industry. More impressively, FUTURE presented the broadest and most cohesive vision I have seen of how AI may change property management.  

NMHC OPTECH 2024 is in the books, and what an event it was. As we noted last week, this year's was another record-setting crowd. As always, the event seemed to fly by. There is much to unpack, so this article will share thoughts on the launch of RETTC (pronounced "ret-see"), key technology themes that stood out, and finally, some reflections on the future of this excellent event.

Fall is well and truly upon us, and once again, it's that time of year when those who follow multifamily operations and technology gather for the last industry-wide event in the multifamily calendar: NMHC OPTECH. This year's show (taking place next week at National Harbor, MD) represents a mix of continuity and change, as this post will explain.

The City of Brotherly Love provided a backdrop for this year's NAA APARTMENTALIZE that was fresh in novelty, if not in weather. An energy-packed conference offered new insights into some of our industry's most rapidly changing areas. There's lots to talk about, and it is with some trepidation that I share a recap focused on two of the most buzzwordy topics: centralization and AI. However, these were the biggest stories that caught my eye at NAA this year.

Spring conference season this year is a bit more interesting than usual. It's mostly thanks to a couple of new conferences on the circuit that I think will further important industry conversations. A few weeks ago, the inaugural "Forum," Hosted by Funnel Leasing, established a new place to discuss the increasingly popular topic of centralization. Last week saw the inaugural REBA Insights conference in Vail, CO. There were parallels between the two events that I will discuss in this post. 

The inaugural Forum—the User Conference of Funnel Leasing—is in the books. I was privileged to take part in a hugely successful event that boasted an impressive attendee list last week at the stunningly beautiful Terranea Resort near Los Angeles. 

What is a trend? A couple of months into 2024, there's been a lot of talk about the prevailing trends for the year ahead, as there always is. Our brains are hardwired to look for patterns in everything that we see. As a species, we like to read the tea leaves.

If you're getting back into the swing of things at work after an engaging few days at NMHC OPTECH, you're probably processing your way through an overload of information. It was a packed event marked by record attendance, the unveiling of a new renter preferences study, and—if you were lucky—a remarkable U2 show at the Sphere. Among the array of insightful conference sessions and side conversations, a few themes emerged, five of which I outline in this post.

NMHC OPTECH is just a week away, and I've been taking a look at this year's audience composition. At the time of writing, the total number of attendees has surpassed any previous year, making this year's show the biggest ever—congratulations to the organizers! Whatever economic uncertainty our industry is facing, the enduring popularity of NMHC OPTECH tells us that our industry's appetite for technological innovation is stronger than ever.

This week I had the pleasure of attending RealWorld 2023, RealPage's annual user conference in Las Vegas. It was an enjoyable couple of days that at once offered a glimpse of the future of an evolving industry giant and a trip or two down memory lane. I will share my thoughts on both in this article.