RealShare Phoenix Starts

PHOENIX-At least 250 professionals today will open doors on the first RealShare Phoenix, a half-day forum for networking and up-to-date industry-breaking information about all market sectors. Walk-ins could push the roster to nearly 300 attendees.

RealShare Phoenix will be held from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Camelback Inn at 5402 E. Lincoln Dr. “The interesting thing about this particular conference is that more than 20% of attendance is from outside the state,” says Richard Kelley, director of the RealShare Conference Series for Real Estate Media Network. “We always get a good percentage of folks from outside, but it seems to be happening at a greater degree in Phoenix.”

Kelley tells GlobeSt.com there are reasons for interest from out of state, including national promotion. Another reason is strong interest in the market, with attendees coming from California, Illinois, Texas and various East Coast cities. “Phoenix has been kind of a quietly booming market and rewarding to the people operating in it,” he says. “Word is getting out to others that this is the market to be looking at.”

One of the day’s highlights is a one-on-one interview of Ron Barness, chairman of Barness Papas Investments LLC by Michael G. Desiato, editor in chief of Real Estate Media Network. Also taking the dais are executive-turned politician Jim Pederson of the Pederson Group Inc. and economists Jay Butler of Arizona State University and Elliott Pollack of Elliott D. Pollack & Co.

Kelley acknowledges 300 participants for the debut would be tremendous, but he points out that it isn’t quantity that matters. “Our goal is to have right people, leading brokers, investors, lenders and financiers and others allied with the field,” he says. “I think we’re accomplishing that through our speakers, sponsors and attendees.”