For the past five years or so, WAV Group has been attending the Real Estate and New Technology (RENT) conference in Paris. It is enormously stimulating and absolutely my favorite conference each year. Would you like to join us?
- 250 Technology Firms (64 Startups!)
- 6000 Attendees
- Everyone speaks English – if a presentation is in French, you can put on a headset and listen in English.
- Did I mention that it is in Paris?
This year, RENT is being held Wednesday and Thursday, the 6th and 7th of November. If you make a decision quickly, there are opportunities to exhibit. The most significant US real estate company that exhibits is DocuSign. They dominate Europe for real estate signatures. Matterport exhibited last year too. There are likely some others that I don’t recall.
The most engaging part about the conference for me is hearing how difficult real estate transactions are in Europe. If you think that it is difficult here, or you think that the MLS is a problem here, just travel outside of the United States or Canada and you will see our disfunction pales in comparison.
Given the lack of a multiple listing service – most technology used by brokers and agents is constructed quite differently. Some of the leading innovation that we are seeing in US real estate is being introduced from Europe. Examples of this include Restb.ai for AI image Tagging; Meero for professional photography and video shoots and software; really cool website plugins like Solen and bien’isi; Adfenix for SEM and banner advertising, PreVisite virtual tours.
Some other tech use is the same. For example, portals control the consumer in Europe and are the chief in the way that brokers and agents acquire customers. Like America real estate professionals, they represent a love-hate challenge in the industry.
US companies looking to consider operations in Europe can simply attend. I will connect you with some good folks who will help introduce you around. A two-day badge for the event is very affordable – $445 USD.
If you want to exhibit – you will qualify for a Start Up Village booth if you are starting up in Europe – its $560 plus tax for a table top booth, 1 table, 2 stools, 1 exhibitor sign, 1 electrical connection, 42” LCD screen and 2 exhibitor badges. Super good deal. Obviously, they have larger packages. The good news is that you do not need to ship a bunch of stuff to Europe, which is probably more expensive than buying the booth.
I recommend that you go in a few days in advance to accommodate the jet lag. My preference is to arrive in the morning, Paris time.
If you want more information or plan to attend – make sure to contact Victor Lund @victorlund. We will have a party/dinner/meetup for the expatriates.
To download a copy of the conference presentation in English, click HERE!
