TORONTO—NAIOP's annual Commercial Real Estate Conference—formerly titled 'Development'—will give attendees a medium to create relationships, meet new people and learn something new, this year's chairman Steve Martin, managing principal of SDM Partners in Atlanta, tells GlobeSt.com. (NAIOP is a GlobeSt.com Thought Leader.) As the organization gears up for the conference in Toronto on October 13-15, we spoke exclusively with Martin about the choice of location, how the conference has evolved over the years and what attendees can expect to see and hear.

GlobeSt.com: Why was Toronto chosen for this event, and why is it interesting to hold the conference there?

Martin: It's been almost 20 years since we last held the conference there. Toronto is one of the largest chapters we have, and we have more than 1,500 members total in Canada. We also want to hold the conference in places that attract people, and Toronto is a wonderful city. It's the fifth-largest city in North America. We will have several project tours for urban-type developments that attendees can attend, where they will be able to ask questions and get ideas to take back to their respective markets. Real estate is a very tangible thing—you can see it. I've spent the year going all over the place and meeting people, which I like doing—it's an amazing experience for me.

GlobeSt.com: How has the conference changed over the years?

Martin: I've been involved with the national NAIOP board for longer than I care to admit, and I've been involved in a lot of different aspects of it. We're working very hard to represent what our industry is going through—it's not just office and industrial for NAIOP anymore; it's about technology impacting your business. This is just the fall conference, which used to be called “Development 2013” or “Development 2014.” Now it's been branded the commercial real estate event—something that all real estate professionals need to attend. Last year's attendance in Denver was well over 1,000, and we expect the same record turnout here. We want to deliver a product that people feel they have to go to. We will also have a design competition that's somewhat futuristic involving technology and sustainability—something they can take back to their markets.

GlobeSt.com: What can you tell us about the keynote speakers and their speeches at the conference?

Martin: Frank McKenna is a former Canadian ambassador to the US, former premier of New Brunswick, and the current deputy chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, which gives him the unique ability to see both sides of the fence: how the economy works and how the capital markets work, and how they affect each other. There's been a fair amount of Canadian investment in US real estate—I just sold one of my properties to a Canadian REIT—so someone who understands both sides of that is good.

Second is Tom Ridge, who was the US's first secretary of homeland security and a former governor. He's experienced in managing risk and security, so certainly people who own big office buildings and want to make sure they're safe will be interested in hearing him speak. Security is a big deal in our business, and Mr. Ridge will have a good perspective on that.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this conference?

Martin: It takes time and money for people to attend these conferences, so we want people to feel that it's not a cost, but an investment, that they're getting something out of it and not just spending their money. There are a lot of competing events, so if you're going to do it, do it right and in a very significant way. If you don't do something big enough or popular enough, it will get lost in the clutter.

When you look at NAIOP, it's a three-legged stool: networking, education and legislation. The main focus of our conferences is very much education and networking events. I tell people my business is about people and relationships. All of our conferences give people a medium to create relationships, meet new people and learn something new. In today's time of email and texting, which can be a crude way of communicating, it's important to build face-to-face relationships, and at these conferences you can do that.