"We expect 400 will show up," says Richard Kelley, conference series director for RealShare, hosted by Real Estate Media Inc., publishers of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. The 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. event will be held Tuesday in the Westin Galleria at 13340 Dallas Parkway in North Dallas.
The difference between last year and this year, Kelley says, is the focused optimism. "I think we have a market that's stabilized and turned the corner. People are feeling more optimistic about their prospects," he says. "As such, I think they're feeling there is a positive turn in their future and it's given the event a positive flavor."
As in years prior, the conference promises to deliver a thought-provoking, yet entertaining, perspective on where Dallas is, has been and is going. The underlying message is "we will survive till '05 and get it fixed in '06," according to Kelley.
Jonathan A. Schein, president and CEO of Real Estate Media, will deliver opening remarks before turning over the podium to keynote speaker, Ross Perot Jr., a man who needs no introduction around town. The chairman of Hillwood and president and CEO of Perot Systems will discuss commercial markets near and far, the local economy and the upcoming presidential election, offering his best-guess about the likely impact of the Nov. 2 outcome.
After Perot, the stage will be reset with RealShare's trademark "town hall." GlobeSt.com's national online editor, John Salustri, has worked up a list of probing questions sure to generate particularly interesting answers from a high-profile panel of professionals with an inside track on the pulse of Dallas.
With the town hall picking up the discussion pace, the next round will be a trio of simultaneous break-out sessions aimed at getting a good read on the region's leasing and sales activity. Seventeen of the region's top professionals will be sitting under the spotlight to discuss who's buying, what's being bought, what's it take to get an industrial or office deal done and where's the industry darling, retail, headed in 2005.
The morning session closes with the ever-popular, "Inside the Real Estate Mind." This year, Michael G. Desiato, group managing director, will query Steve Van Amburgh, Koll's CEO in a one-on-one session that gets up close and personal about commercial real estate, business and life in general.
When the clock strikes 12, another trio of breakout sessions with 17 more of the industry's best will be ready to offer insight to specialty areas like capital markets and structured finance, tenant-in-common investing and corporate tenancy with users and brokers seated side by side. The whirlwind schedule ends with a networking lunch, a guaranteed lively format with fresh commentaries from the morning's synergistic sessions.
RealShare Dallas, the 10th in the series, continues the momentum of a record-breaking year in terms of attendance. Kelley credits the strong numbers to the lineup for each city on the circuit, but also believes it's a sign that the industry's getting healthier with each passing quarter.
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