YASC 2012 Recap

05 / 25 / 12

4 min read

What closing thoughts can we leave you with regarding YASC DC 2012? It’s tough to summarize two and a half days of insight, instruction and all the energy, enthusiasm and good times that came along with it (kudos to all those dancers who joined Cirque USA on stage last night!). But that’s the task I’m faced with as I attempt to offer you a short rundown of the highlights of May 22-24 in Washington D.C.

If you were able to attend this great event, whether as a client, consultant or a Yardi employee, you’ll have your own takeaways that we urge you to share those thoughts in the comments section. So much productive dialogue and feedback was exchanged in the last couple of days. Here at Yardi Systems, we truly relish the opportunity to hear from our clients and improve your user experience thanks to that valuable feedback. For us, those were the most important moments of the week.

The clients we talked to had great feedback for us. They talked frankly about the challenges, limitations, successes and dreams they have for their business technology. We listened, and now we’ll take those conversations back to our respective Yardi offices. We also learned a lot from you about the up-to-the-minute hot topics in the industry as a whole. Some highlights:

There was much enthusiasm around the release of tablet-savvy browser program LeasingPad, as well as the recent improvements to the RentCafe solution. “Mobility, mobility, mobility” was the overwhelming focus for many of our clients across all verticals. Many are looking to bolster their online presence to prospects and are looking for the best, most efficient ways to do so. They also want their employees to be mobile, and are looking for the best products and programs to facilitate that transition.

Yardi Orion for Sharepoint continues to be one of Yardi’s newest and most provocative offerings for both our multifamily and commercial clients, and it will soon be available for the affordable/public housing vertical as well. Clients who are looking to move to the next level in analyzing their business intelligence, streamlining their data and document management, and simplifying their technology lives are gravitating toward Orion and those who have already been implemented are extremely positive and pleased.

The conversation around reputation management continued to swell. The new marketing track offered at YASC DC brought in a whole new group of Yardi users who had previously only attended for a class or two. The conversation surrounding mobility, web presence, and privacy is pervasive – you’ve probably had different versions of it with your employees, site managers and your CEO and investors. What takeaways will you add to those conversation after attending the great marketing classes?

As for the event itself, “this is the best YASC I’ve been to,” was a frequent comment that we heard while talking to clients. There was a terrific and productive energy in the air – many clients commented that both the Yardi products and ideas being presented were new and fresh. Balance Sheet blogger Leah Etling described it this way on Tuesday: “the Washington Hilton is the epicenter of real estate technology excitement and insight.” When you have a moment, peruse her two days of updates from the scene on the Yardi blog.

What did we miss? Tell us about your personal highlights from YASC DC 2012 in the comments section – as always, we love to hear from you.