Known for its barbecue, jazz heritage and fountains, Kansas City, Missouri, is not only the next big destination city—it’s also the place where you can connect with peers, learn about trending topics and find the products that will help you triumph over your thorniest challenges at the 2023 BOMA International Conference & Expo.
Our guide to the show explores the education sessions, expo innovations and inspiring keynotes you can expect from this year’s BOMA show.
Cutting-Edge Education
BOMA’s educational sessions break down today’s—and tomorrow’s—trends into tactical knowledge you can take back to your properties. Explore seven education tracks or customize your learning with a variety of sessions, such as:
Exciting Innovations at the Expo
The show floor will be filled with vendors ready to help you solve your prickliest property problems, from choosing the right tenant amenities to getting your buildings ready for the coming boom in electric vehicle adoption. Michele Wong, COO of Active Wellness, which has exhibited at the BOMA show since 2018, recommends developing a short list of must-see vendors while avoiding overscheduling yourself.
“Consider scheduling time in advance with those vendors,” Wong advised. “Leave time to do a thorough walk-through of the expo to see if there’s anything you didn’t think about before that piques your interest on the floor.”
Conquer Chaos with Inspirational Keynotes
On Sunday, Jake Wood, executive chairman of Team Rubicon and founder and CEO of Groundswell, will share leadership lessons mixed with compelling real-life stories from his life as a Marine sniper in Iraq and Afghanistan and an entrepreneur who built the fastest-growing disaster response organization in the U.S.
You’ll learn about VUCA, representing Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity—a framework developed by the U.S. Army for understanding and defeating chaos. Then, Wood will share how Vision, Understanding, Clarity and Agility help teams thrive in chaotic environments.
Melissa Swift, HR thought leader and U.S. transformation leader for Mercer, will take the stage on Tuesday after BOMA International President and COO Henry Chamberlain’s annual State of the Industry address. She’ll dive into the future of work, which she says isn’t just about high-tech solutions like robots and AI. It’s also about shifting the ways people work, especially in times of disruption, and creating better results for companies and better experiences for people.
“The goal is that everybody walks away with something concrete they can do,” Swift explained.
The 2023 show promises the education, exhibitors and addresses you need to evolve as a professional, whether this is your first BOMA show or your fifteenth. Meet new friends and greet old ones while you stay ahead of the trends impacting commercial real estate.
“Whenever I leave the BOMA event, I always come back with some sort of new knowledge, product or different way of thinking that reinvigorates me in my day job,” said Amanda Heismann Gray, who will present Recession Proofing Your Property on Sunday. “That’s why I love these conferences—the ability to share knowledge with each other.”
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