The Fall 2016 Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC) is heading to Anaheim, Calif. September 21-23, 2016. For the third time, Yardi’s West Coast annual user conference will be hosted at the Hilton Anaheim, located in Orange County near the Anaheim Convention Center and Disneyland. This year’s event will bring together an estimated 1,500 clients and 400 staff to explore advanced software training, product updates, and important industry topics. YASC will feature 300+ unique courses, panels, peer roundtables, and networking sessions tailored for IT professionals, executives, property managers, property owners, office staff, and trainers. “This year’s YASC in Anaheim has been re-imagined to offer more learning and networking opportunities for our clients. We’ve streamlined the conference format to offer more unique training sessions on the topics most important to attendees. Throughout the conference, we have added interactive networking activities meant to help clients meet peers and experts within their respective markets.” shares Tim Hoover, Manager of Creative Services and Client Conferences at Yardi. New to 2016, the conference schedule has been enhanced for expanded client learning and networking: Stay connected with the YASC App. Attendees can access conference information, maps, social networking, and in-app messaging on the YASC App. Custom tailor your daily schedule with up to 16 classes, demos, panels, and roundtables with the convenient in-app scheduling feature. The YASC App is available for download at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. A desktop version is also available here. Get hands-on help at the Computer Lab. Stations tailored to each vertical market will be set up for you to explore Yardi’s latest technology. Our experts will be on hand to walk you through advanced techniques and to answer your questions one-on-one. Shorter lunch lines and more learning. To improve your conference experience and reduce the wait time during lunches, lunch periods will be split into two sittings. Certain morning courses will be offered again during these lunch periods so you can get in one extra class! Find your fit at the Networking Lounge. The re-imagined Networking Lounge is a place for you to connect with industry peers in your area of interest. Visit this interactive space to get your social media questions answered, network with peers, and learn about our social media VIP experience and scavenger hunt. Connect and share on your favorite social network using our event hashtag, #YASC2016. Network with industry peers. During lunch sittings, look for table markers corresponding to your market or area of interest. Connect with fellow attendees to discuss the topics that interest you most. New to networking or need a refresher? Get started with the basics and set your action plan for success. Unwind over desserts and late-night eats at Thursday’s after-party. After dinner, enjoy time with colleagues and new friends in an atmosphere that matches your tempo. A variety of entertainment, including appetizers, drinks, music, and an open air photo booth, will keep the fun going all night. Whether you’re drawn to a lounge-style soiree or a pumped-up party, we’ve got something for everyone! Along with the YASC courses, general session, and scheduled entertainment, we wanted to share a few local attractions that may interest clients visiting Orange County. Whether this is your first visit to the West Coast, or your tenth, we hope these opportunities will enrich your experience while at YASC. For a full list of local attractions and points of interest, explore the Points of Interest tab in the YASC App. Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure Park Disneyland Park is celebrating 61 years of Disney magic. Fall is the perfect time to visit, as parts of the park will be in festive fall spirit. Explore a galaxy far, far away in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, featuring re-imagined Star Wars rides. Rediscover classic Disney favorites, like It’s a Small World and Jungle Cruise, and enjoy season-inspired rides (our favorite is Haunted Mansion Holiday). Disney’s California Adventure Park offers the attractions, dining, shopping, and...

Ever wondered why Yardi clients flock to the company’s two major user conferences each year? There are the obvious reasons, like the specialized courses on product features, the chance to network with other clients, and who doesn’t like to get out of the office for a few days? But a closer look at today’s YASC event in Washington DC demonstrates the true value this conference provides. Three sample sessions We started our morning with the Orion BI Experience: A User Perspective panel. Three clients, each representing a different real estate vertical, talked to a packed room about the exceptional functionality that Orion BI has brought to their businesses. While each client introduced Orion BI for different reasons, the results they have experienced were very similar: enhanced visibility into their own data, insight on key performance indicators, happier top-level executives and reduced time preparing for regular reporting meetings. Lisa Kolb, consultant/senior systems analyst for A.J. Dwoskin, said that her mixed portfolio client adopted Orion has part of a transition to a paperless office, but soon realized many additional benefits, including the fact that it greatly reduced “analysis paralysis.” Reports were created based on the KPI’s that the company truly wanted to hone in on. “It became part of our initiative to focus on KPI’s, and the drill down capabilities helped us focus on what really mattered,” Kolb said. Norma Soria, Management Systems Director for the Cesar Chavez Foundation, a California affordable housing provider, spoke enthusiastically about the time her team saved as a result of implementing Orion. “We have a weekly meeting with regional managers, and it had typically been four hours long. With Orion BI, it went down to two, and the time to prepare for it was also cut in half,” Soria said. ** Next up, we headed to a client round table called Developing Your Workforce: Creating a Culture of Learning, led by Yardi’s Manager of eLearning, Patty Evans. Training is a very hot topic with Yardi users and property management executives. Nearly 40 people joined the session to learn what best practices Patty had to share. Separated into small groups, clients had the chance to share their training challenges, which included dealing with employee turnover, how to motivate employees who aren’t interested in advancing their careers, ways to incorporate training into busy schedules, and how to take advantage of cutting edge digital training options. Motivating employees to train might take many different forms, Evans pointed out. Some may want to do it to advance their careers or earn a raise, others may need a more mandatory approach. But allowing staff to have some choices in their training programming can be empowering, she explained, especially for younger employees. “This is a new generation, a new learner. We need to trust how they problem solve,” Evans said. Clients closed out the session by brainstorming some ways to address training challenges and sharing their ideas with each other. Many were attending all of the classes in the Yardi eLearning programming track, a popular offering this spring. ** Next it was time for another client panel, this one focused on implementing Yardi Voyager 7S. Four clients, representing multifamily market rate housing, affordable housing, office and mixed-use, shared their thoughts. One of the major transitions made by many Yardi clients moving to Voyager 7S has been the switch to being hosted by Yardi rather than self-hosted. Heather Ferlin of Investco talked about that change. “Really, the biggest difference we have experienced was that now we have many less technical issues than when we were self-hosted,” Ferlin said, adding that her phone rings far less often now with complaints about server issues. “Our company is growing. We are building more units, and getting more (Yardi) users. We didn’t have the capacity to stay self-hosted.” Jeffrey Callan, CIO of major multifamily firm Morgan Properties, was another panel participant. He stressed the importance of...

For our valued Yardi clients who will be coming to Santa Barbara for the Yardi Senior Living Forum this week, we are excited to share some of the most popular local options in dining and sightseeing that our beautiful city has to offer. While we know that your focus during your stay will be training on Yardi products and networking with other industry professionals, there should still be a little time to have fun. Perhaps you are even adding on a day or two to your stay to further enjoy one of Southern California’s favorite tourist destinations. If you are looking for additional recommendations on dining, sightseeing and recreational opportunities in Santa Barbara, please don’t hesitate to leave a question in the comments section. We’ll have an answer for you in no time. Sightseeing For a full guide to Santa Barbara’s many historic and artistic visitor destinations, check out these articles on some of our favorite Tourist Attractions from a popular local website. Within walking distance from the Fess Parker Doubletree you’ll find the Santa Barbara Zoo, acclaimed as one of the best small city zoos in America. You could also meander past the Zoo to the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, a scenic estuary with lots of wildlife.  If you followed the story of reclusive NYC heiress Huguette Clark, who passed away in 2011 leaving numerous mansions behind, the refuge is named in honor of her sister. The Clark Estate, with its future still to be determined (Clark requested that it become a museum), is across the street from the bird refuge, but not open to the public. Santa Barbara’s best known places to visit include Mission Santa Barbara, its adjacent Rose Garden, and downtown’s architecturally impressive Courthouse. You might enjoy taking a short boat ride on the cute water taxi Lil’ Toot from Stearns Wharf to the harbor, where you’ll find the Maritime Museum. A longer tour on the amphibious Land Shark combines a short jaunt into the harbor as well as a driving tour. Or you might also just head for the beach and put your feet up, enjoying a short break from the office. Jogging/walking routes As we described above, an easy walk from the Fess Parker’s Doubletree is to head south (take a left out of the hotel, while facing the ocean) toward the Zoo and continue along the edge of the Clark Bird Refuge. If you’re looking for a longer trek, you can cross the street at the end of the refuge and take Channel Drive past the Santa Barbara Cemetery. Up a slight hill, you’ll reach a short bike and pedestrian path along the coastal edge that takes you to Butterfly Beach, the Four Seasons Biltmore, and the Coral Casino. (While on the bike path, look to your left to see the home of Beanie Baby mogul Ty Warner.) To lengthen your route, continue into Montecito and explore the lower Village or South Jameson Lane. Alternately, if you’d like to add a hill to your workout, head right along Cabrillo Blvd. after leaving the Doubletree. Paths on both sides of the street will take you through Chase Palm Park. You ‘ll pass the coastal hotel district, Santa Barbara Harbor, and Santa Barbara City College. Then you’ll climb up to Santa Barbara’s Mesa via Shoreline Drive, passing through  Shoreline Park. Hiking trails Santa Barbara’s front country mountains offer extensive options for hiking on picturesque trails. Many are quite steep, so be prepared with proper shoes, supplies and fitness condition. The closest trailhead to the Doubletree is Montecito’s Cold Spring Trail. (You will need a vehicle to get to the trailhead, which is located on East Mountain Drive.) Find more details about Cold Spring and other local hiking options at the Santa Barbara Hikes website. Watersports From the Santa Barbara Harbor, you can rent stand up paddleboards, kayaks, and small sailboats at the Sailing Center....

November is a busy month for our clients in Australia, New Zealand, and the rest of the Asia Pacific region. Yardi will be offering two Yardi Advanced Solutions Conferences to provide product training, learning opportunities, and networking for clients. The conferences will focus on clients with commercial and investment portfolios. At both YASC ANZ and YASC Asia, attendees can look forward to courses and panels tailored to the experience of product users, IT professionals, managers, and executives. As an added feature to the conferences, labs will be available for scheduling one-on-one demonstrations with Yardi product experts. For the first time, the conference will also offer peer roundtables on a variety of industry topics at YASC ANZ. YASC Australia/New Zealand starts November 16 in Sydney, Australia. All conference activities will be hosted at the Doltone House Hyde Park. This year, the conference has further expanded, providing attendees with four tracks of courses to choose from. In addition, guests will be able to enjoy scheduled entertainment and networking at the YASC ANZ reception on Wednesday, November 17. In less than two weeks, YASC Asia will come to Singapore, November 23-24. Conference events will be held at the Amara Sanctuary Resort on Sentosa Island. To better serve clients, YASC Asia has doubled the curriculum offered this year. The conference will feature four training tracks designed to offer clients specialised courses on Yardi software and services. Besides courses and panels, YASC Asia attendees can take advantage of discounted spa treatments at the host resort and the many networking opportunities available at the conference and cocktail reception. Follow Yardi’s social media channels for conference news, events, and information. You can follow Yardi on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google+. Be sure to tag your photos on social media with the YASC Australia/New Zealand event hashtag, #YASCANZ, and the YASC Asia event hashtag, #YASCAsia. About Yardi: Now in its fourth decade, Yardi® is committed to the design, development and support of software for real estate investment management and property management. With the Yardi Commercial Suite™, Yardi Residential Suite™, Yardi Investment Suite™ and Yardi Orion® Business Intelligence, the Yardi Voyager® platform is a complete real estate management solution. It includes operations, accounting and services with portfolio-wide business intelligence and platform-wide mobility. Yardi serves clients worldwide from offices in Australia, Asia, Middle East, Europe and North America. For more information, visit www.yardi.com/anz and...

Next week kicks off Yardi’s second annual Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC) for clients with portfolios in Europe. The conference will be hosted at 8 Northumberland Avenue, centrally located in London, England. YASC will bring together 200+ clients within the European commercial, residential, and investment markets. In its second year, YASC Europe has expanded from client user groups to a robust two-day conference of learning and networking. The conference focuses on advanced software training, product updates, and exploring important industry topics. YASC will offer clients 50+ classes to choose from, including courses and panels tailored for executives, product users, and technology professionals. Attendees can look forward to a General Session with Yardi leadership on Tuesday, interactive client and expert panels throughout the conference, networking receptions, giveaways, a photo booth, and the highly anticipated YASC Gala. At YASC, clients can also learn more about Yardi’s diverse offering of products and solutions, such as Orion Business Intelligence, COMMERCIALCafé, Commercial LeasingPad, RentCafe, and Advanced Budgeting and Forecasting. Learn more about how Yardi can help optimize your business operations at the Advanced Solutions Lab at the conference. In addition to YASC courses, sessions, and entertainment, there are an array of local attractions clients may enjoy while visiting London. Many are just a few minutes from the venue! Trafalgar Square: The official center of London and a landmark heritage site, this bustling square is host to many restaurants, cafes, historic buildings, and foreign embassies. It is a short walk from the hotel and accessible by a variety of transportation options. The National Gallery: A national treasure, The National Gallery is home to a diverse assortment of paintings, dating as far back as the thirteenth century. Guests can tour the gallery free of charge and view work from artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Rembrandt. Located in Trafalgar Square. British Museum: This popular local attraction houses over two million years of world history and culture. Famous artifacts on display include the Rosetta Stone, Parthenon sculptures, and Egyptian mummies. Experience the history of the world while in London. Admission is free and the museum offers guided tours daily. YASC attendees can find the full conference schedule, courses, and information in the YASC app. The app is available in the Google Play store and the Apple App store. Follow our social media channels for conference news, events, and information. Be sure to tag your photos on social media with the YASC Europe event hashtag, #YASCEurope! About Yardi Now in its fourth decade, Yardi® is committed to the design, development and support of software for real estate investment management and property management. With the Yardi Commercial Suite™, Yardi Residential Suite™, Yardi Investment Suite™ and Yardi Orion® Business Intelligence, the Yardi Voyager® platform is a complete real estate management solution. It includes operations, accounting and services with portfolio-wide business intelligence and platform-wide mobility. Yardi serves clients worldwide from offices in Europe, Middle East, Australia, Asia, and North America. For more information, visit ...

Friday, Oct. 10 – The Fall 2014 Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference concluded Friday with a final half day of classes and panel discussions, covering everything from advanced report writing techniques to the advantages of choosing a single solution stack for property management. Representing both the commercial and multifamily industries, clients from Post Properties, Tribridge Residential and Arcadia Management Group spoke positively about the benefits realized when they transitioned from a disparate, multiple vendor approach to a Yardi technology stack. “We replaced our numerous different vendors and eliminated the hassles that came along with that,” said Dan Ma Gill, Director of Information Technology for Atlanta-based Tribridge Residential. “It has been a really good experience.” The switch made it possible for Tribridge to achieve a paperless business model, seamlessly access data housed in the Yardi Voyager 7S database, and achieve myriad other business efficiencies. Single sign-on, ease of implementation, and eliminating integration headaches were among the benefits Ma Gill singled out. For Gary Shaw, President/Owner of Phoenix-based Arcadia Management Group, a commercial fee manager, mobility, enhanced reporting capability, and efficiency have been the major benefits of moving to a single solution stack for the 6.5 million square feet of retail real estate his company cares for. “In 2013, I had an epiphany at YASC. I realized I was using maybe 1 percent of the software capability that Yardi offered me,” he said of his reasons for moving forward with new products. “(The change) has consolidated a bunch of different processes.”‘ Shaw uses Yardi’s CommercialCafe to allow tenants to make online  rent payments and markets available properties using the CommercialCafe ILS. He’s a big fan of Yardi PAYScan and estimates that it has reduced the cost of paying an invoice to a vendor from $3 to $5 per transaction to just 70 cents. And being able to approve payables using a mobile app? Well, that’s practically priceless, in his view. “It gives you the ability to be out in the world, and not be tethered to your desk,” he said, providing an example of how just the day before, he had quickly reviewed and approved an urgent invoice for one of his staff members back in Arizona. At Post Properties, an Atlanta-based company with 22,000 units of multifamily real estate, Janet Ham and her team moved to the single solution stack after conducting a comprehensive review of their digital strategy. “I had 40-plus products, pieces of middleware, and tasks that someone had to make sure were running correctly every day. All it took was one system upgrade, and it was time to check on every other piece to make sure they were still going to work,” Ham said of the pre-Yardi software landscape. The company’s technology stack includes Voyager 7S, Yardi Procure to Pay, PAYScan, RENTCafé (online leasing/resident services), Yardi Payment Processing, LeasingPad CRM, Yardi Energy Services, ResidentShield insurance, Maintenance for Mobile, Inspection, and VendorCafé. Since the product suite has been implemented, “I’ve done the happy dance around the office about 10 times,” Ham said. Both Ham and Ma Gill said that using a single solution stack has allowed them to eliminate drop boxes for rent checks and automate late fees when payment aren’t received on time. At Post, residents began signing up to pay rent online even before an official announcement of the service’s availability was sent out. “Whether you have an A, B or C class property, the residents want to have electronic communication with the leasing staff,” Ma Gill noted. Opening Session Wednesday, Oct. 8 – Fall YASC 2014 kicked off with a full house for Wednesday morning’s general session at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara, Calif. Founder and CEO Anant Yardi announced, admittedly “with a little remorse,” that 16 years after its inception here, the conference is the company’s last to be held in its corporate hometown. Requests to attend YASC have outgrown the capacity...

The Spring 2014 Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference will take place in Washington, D.C. on May 28-30. The conference offers engaging sessions led by Yardi experts who provide clients with the opportunity to enhance their understanding of Yardi’s software and services, participate in panel discussions with industry leaders and peers, and get helpful solutions at one-on-one computer labs. The Balance Sheet presents a quick primer on this spring’s conference. Tips from Teachers invites you to discover the hottest classes, gain insights from instructors, and explore the best features of DC. Meet a few of Yardi’s instructors and moderators. We hope you’ll have the chance to check out their classes!   Blair Kramer, Implementation Training Specialist, PopCard What are you teaching at YASC DC 2014?  Basics of PopCard Usage Why are you a strong teacher/moderator?  I am genuinely passionate about PopCard.  Prior to joining Yardi, I worked in the multi-family industry for 10 years and I understand the importance of lead management.  I work very hard to ensure that my classes are not only educational but entertaining as well. Which class(es) do you think will be the most popular at YASC DC 2014? Introduction to Voyager 7S.  7S is our newest release and there are many advantages to upgrading.  Voyager 7S boasts browser agnostic capabilities, AJAX, a full mobile platform, and expanded search features. What value does YASC offers for clients?  YASC attendees don’t just have the opportunity to attend a myriad of classes, they are able to network with fellow Yardi users and employees to discuss ways that they can more efficiently utilize their current Yardi products as well as learn about Yardi’s newest solutions. What do you enjoy most about teaching at YASC?  I love meeting our clients face to face, hearing success stories, and working with clients that are facing challenges to ensure that they get the information that they need to be successful. What’s your favorite thing about DC?  Georgetown is just beautiful!  You can have dinner and drinks on the waterfront, tour historic homes, and shop the Book Hill area for fun antiques! ###   Christi Duffey, Team Leader, Affordable Housing What are you teaching at YASC DC 2014? Affordable Tenant Ledger Clean Up, AR Tie Out Part 1 and 2, as well as the Affordable GPR Journal Entry Why are you a strong teacher/moderator? I believe in telling the audience what I am going to tell them, tell them, and then telling them what I told them again is key to presenting an informative and effective class. I also like to present the information in a way that fits each audience. Which class(es) do you think will be the most popular at YASC DC 2014? Affordable Tips and Tricks and Affordable New Features What do you enjoy most about teaching at YASC?  Meeting the clients! What’s your favorite thing about DC?  I enjoy the architecture and history. The monuments are beautiful and I like being in DuPont Circle.  The brownstone buildings are my favorite. ###   Heather Ishmael McArthur, HousingCafe QA Specialist Programming / Development Which class(es) do you think will be the most popular at YASC DC 2014? HousingCafe for Affordable and PHA What value does YASC offers for clients?  It is a great opportunity to get an overview of all of the products that Yardi offers, as well as in-depth knowledge about the parts of the software an individual uses on a daily basis. What do you enjoy most about YASC?  Conferences are a lot of fun.  For me, they are a great experience for getting to know the clients.  In the general sessions, I met some really fun clients and we had a great time conversing and dancing.   We made sure to find each other for meal times to catch up on the day.   ###   Matthew Scott, Technical Account Manager, Payment Processing What are you teaching at YASC DC 2014? CheckScan Payment Processing...

The biannual Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC) offers attendees fantastic tutorials, exciting technology developments and insightful Q&A sessions. Learn how your organization can optimize the value of your Yardi products and services. The East Coast conference will return to the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C on May 28-30, 2014. This year’s event will feature more than 250 sessions led by Yardi experts, providing clients with the inside scoop on the industry’s premiere business solutions. Empower your organization with the tools needed to automate daily tasks for improved efficiency, generate reports at the touch of a button, customize marketing to generate better leads, and more. For years clients have enjoyed Yardi’s software for property management, leasing, accounting, investments, and marketing. Now, discover how you can take your business to the next level with Yardi’s Mobile Solutions, perfect for your fast-paced lifestyle.  Our browser-agnostic tools offer complete functionality between popular devices and operating systems such as iOS, Android and BlackBerry. Additional conference highlights include demos of our latest technology, including Yardi Procure to Pay™, Yardi Orion Business Intelligence™, Yardi Leasing Pad™, Yardi Advanced Budgeting & Forecasting™, RentCafe™, HOUSINGCafé™, and COMMERCIALCafé™. YASC DC is the ideal opportunity to expand your knowledge of Yardi’s extensive line of products and services. There is something for everyone at the conference: Executives — Learn about our latest technology from Anant Yardi himself, and discover how these solutions will help your organization meet its unique business objectives. Marketing Professionals — Collaborate with other marketing professionals in the real estate industry during educational courses that highlight how Yardi tools can improve your marketing performance. Property Managers — Learn how to automate and optimize operations so you can focus on higher-value tasks. IT Professionals — Gain a thorough understanding of system requirements and functionality directly from the Yardi professionals behind the products. Trainers — Increase your knowledge of Yardi products and services exponentially by learning from the source. Register today and earn 18 CRP credits for your conference attendance. The Balance Sheet will deliver daily updates, client features, and conference highlights. Guests are also welcomed to connect with to-the-minute updates via Facebook and...

Due to extreme weather on the East Coast, we’re extending the early bird rates for the spring Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC) in Washington, D.C. Register by February 26 for $100 off the regular price. We hope to see you in Washington this spring. Why YASC? YASC is your opportunity to learn about Yardi products and services directly from our expert staff and alongside your colleagues in the real estate industry. With over 200 classroom sessions, featured speakers, and product demos, YASC is designed with the user in mind. We want you to get the most from your Yardi products and services. You will walk away with a fuller understanding of how our software provides a single solution for your property management, investment management, accounting, marketing and leasing needs, all on a mobile-enabled, browser-agnostic platform. Find highlights from our most recent YASC in Anaheim, California, right here. Join us on the East Coast in Washington, D.C., this spring Spring YASC will take place at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., from May 28–30. Book early and save on registration; the early bird rate of $995 US ($1,042 CAD) increases by $100 after February 26. Who should attend YASC? Executives —Learn about our latest technology from Anant Yardi himself, and discover how these solutions will help your organization meet its unique business objectives. Marketing Professionals — Collaborate with other marketing professionals in the real estate industry during educational courses that highlight how Yardi tools can improve your marketing performance. Property Managers — Learn how to automate and optimize operations so you can focus on higher-value tasks. IT Professionals — Gain a thorough understanding of system requirements and functionality directly from the Yardi professionals behind the products. Trainers — Increase your knowledge of Yardi products and services exponentially by learning from the source. Visit Yardi.com for more information or to register for YASC spring 2014. Or, come to our home town on the West Coast this fall This year YASC is returning to Santa Barbara, CA, on October 8-10, 2014. As space is limited for the fall conference, we are accepting a maximum of 6 attendees from each client company, and will cap the total number of participants. Registration for fall YASC opens in February at the early bird rate of $1,095 US ($1,171 CAD). Keep an eye on your email and don’t delay—this event is expected to sell out quickly. We hope to see you in Washington or Santa Barbara in...

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Kicking off Fall YASC 2013 at the Anaheim Hilton, Yardi Systems founder and CEO Anant Yardi delivered an insightful, engaging and humorous address to 1,450 Yardi clients about the future of technology and the habits of the multifamily industry’s newest renters – the Millennials. Encapsulating the larger trends in the technology marketplace – mobility, social media, business intelligence and cloud computing – Mr. Yardi stressed that the emphasis for Yardi is a continued balance between innovation and customer service. “We want to be known for technology innovation, as we have been for the last 30 years. But we want to maintain our customer focus, recognizing that there is a balancing act between innovation and customer service. Our focus is providing the right kind of service, and in that vein, we will be beefing up our customer service group even further,” Mr. Yardi said. With a track record of 31 years developing technology solutions for property management, clients have come to depend on Yardi to be ahead of the curve on new devices, delivery systems and platforms. Admitting that he doesn’t yet have a “phablet,” a larger smartphone or smaller tablet device, Mr. Yardi forecast that the current emphasis on mobility by consumers is only going to become more prevalent in the business environment. By 2017, 75 percent of technology purchases are expected to be tablets/phablets. Yardi clients are able to use tablets and smartphones to lease commercial and multifamily properties with Yardi Leasing Pad, convey and execute maintenance work orders, and now, with the latest version of Voyager 7S, all of the industry’s leading property management software functionality is available on any device or browser. “We love it. It’s awesome,” said one Yardi client from a Southern California-based multifamily firm who has already implemented the latest Voyager version. The ease of automatic updates, made possible by the cloud, have been one of the most positive aspects for their firm. As cloud computing becomes the dominant storage and business systems preference for companies of all kinds, Yardi will move more than 600 clients to Voyager 7S by the end of 2013, Mr. Yardi said. The security and convenience of the cloud provides multiple advantages, including a streamlined implementation process. The latest version of Voyager has been designed to display optimally on a smaller screen, so its ideal for mobile use. Other exciting new features include improved searchability, predictive search, smart data entry, smarter security and enhanced work flow capabilities. Multifamily and the Millennials It’s a brave new world for multifamily professionals as they rent to a new generation of renters – the Millennials. Mr. Yardi introduced the demographic with illuminating insight about their preferences and habits, including their reliance on online recommendations and reviews when making purchasing decisions. “These young folks are open to change. When they see something bad about your property on Yelp, you shouldn’t assume they will take it for granted. They want to see what you have to say about it. If you have a sincere response, they will factor that in,” Mr. Yardi said. Yardi offers multi-dimensional tools to help property managers manage their online reputations, social media presence and web-based marketing through the RentCafe platform, an end-to-end marketing and leasing solution. With a focus on the online connections offered by sites like Facebook, Mr. Yardi noted that the nature of the very word “social” has changed. It no longer means a face-to-face interaction, and companies have less time than ever to attract a potential residents’ attention. “Who are the Millennials? They are the people who are influencing all this change. If you can’t get their attention in 10 seconds, you may have lost them,” he said. Business Intelligence Always a priority for real estate companies that must deliver regular reports to owners, investors and shareholders, business intelligence is becoming more accessible and easier to use with Yardi’s latest  products. “For the first...

The focus of YASC has always been learning: learning about the software, learning from your instructors, and learning from fellow Yardi clients. This year, we’re adding an exciting new subject to the learning line-up: social media. Yardi’s top-notch social media and web marketing specialists have put together a special Social Learning Lounge to help you gain a better understanding of everything social, from platforms to best practices. And how do you celebrate so many successful years of learning at YASC ? With an online contest of course! This week, from October 7 – 11 we’re offering you 3 chances to win each day. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn in order to participate. (Better yet, improve your chances of winning by following us on all three channels – multiple entries are not restricted.) When you see a “TRIVIA” post be the first to comment or reply with the correct answer and win! It’s that simple. Each channel will have a different question and all of the questions will be about informational content that is available online – in other words, you don’t need to be at YASC to play along or win a great prize! Following each question you’ll see a Level 1 – 5. This indicates the level of prize available for that question. Harder questions (Level 5) equal more valuable prizes. Prizes include: Level 5: Eton BoostBloc 6600 & 3-Way USB Charger (Valued at $104.98 each) Level 4: WEMO Home Automation Switch and Motion Sensor Bundle by Belkin (Valued at 79.99 each) Level 3: Yardi Travel Pack (Valued at $57.07 each) Level 2: 6 Camkix Universal 3 in 1 Camera Lens Kit for Smartphones (Valued at $29.98 each) Level 1:  Yardi Fun Pack (Valued at $18.28 each) If you’re joining us in Anaheim – and we hope to see you there – you’ll find that this year, along with the addition of the Social Learning Lounge, our course offerings on the marketing track have grown substantially. In 12 compelling sessions led by Yardi experts and enhanced by client testimonials,you can learn about lead management, content marketing, and even  dive into the evolving world of web analytics. Take one or two or all 12 – you’re sure to come back to work excited and energized about what the social stratosphere can do for your company’s marketing, reputation and visibility. Follow and share in all the action online this week using #YASCLA and #SmartMktg – and remember, all you have to do to play and win is comment or reply to the posted question! Official rules....