Looking for a Sound Investment? Try the LANDTHINK Summit

If you are a land professional, investor or land owner you should make plans to attend the 2011 Landthink Summit at the Gwinnett Center in Atlanta, on September 29. By attending you will join several hundred others from across the country that share your passion for land.

You hear pitches for conferences and courses all the time, and everyone wants to know WIIFM (What’s in it for Me?). Here are a few reasons I am coming back to the LANDTHINK Summit again this year.

1. Opportunities to Network. Last year I met Tate Reddick of 1031 Land Group at supper. He told me about how pecan farms were becoming really popular with buyers and how he had closed on a large farm in south Georgia. This past week I used information I gained in that conversation with a farmer looking to sell a small portion of his pecan orchard in south Alabama.

This isn’t the “spray and pray” method so many networking events offer where you sling business cards out right and left and hope someone will eventually call you. Here you get the opportunity to have conversations with people who are experts in your field and make real connections that can lead to future business. Robert King, of AlaLandCo, said his favorite part of the event was reconnecting with professionals he had not seen in a while and made some positive relationships with new people.

2. CE Credits Tailored to Land Professionals. All real estate agents and foresters have to earn continuing education credits, and many of our associations offer courses that are not relevant to what we do day in and day out. These speakers address topics that are targeted to this audience.

Last year’s timberland panel was a big hit with attendees. Our company currently has over 20,000 acres of institutionally managed timberland for sale across Alabama. The sale of those tracts has buoyed our company through the down market in the past two years. Insights gained in those discussions provide persuasive logic when helping investors choose timberland over other investments

3. Invest for your Business: Invest in Yourself. Last year after the Summit I came away with an overwhelmingly positive view of being a real estate agent that specializes in selling land. I described it as “land euphoria”, and it stayed with me for a long time. The only information media outlets provide about the current real estate market is negative. This conference addresses the realities of our current economy. But one thing I gained was looking around the room and seeing the past president of Alabama’s RLI chapter, the current president, and next year’s president. These are people at the top of their profession in my state. I want to be around people that are successful. Dan Hatfield, 2010 RLI President was there, and I got to spend some time with him at the meet and greet session the night before the conference. He is one of the best in our business, and I just picked his brain and listened to him talk land.

There is a cost to coming to this event. If you register by September 1, you can come for $119.  Yesterday I spent $71 on gas to go preview two listings. I just spent $3000 on mailing postcards to landowners in my area. We spend money on many things in our business. This is an opportunity to invest in ourselves and become more proficient at what we do.

If you come to the LANDTHINK Summit on September 29, I will guarantee you can put some  new arrows in your quiver, tools in your tool belt, or make connections that will help you get business in the long run. When you make investments in yourself, they always pay off. I am excited about the Summit, and I hope to see you there.