It’s a wrap on The Agency Global Forum 2023! This year’s annual sales conference was held in Austin, Texas and welcomed leading real estate professionals from around the world for four incredible days of networking, expert panels, renowned speakers, educational workshops and of course, some lively celebrations.
A Dazzling Debut
The Agency kicked off Forum on Monday, November 13th with a Denim and Diamonds-themed Leadership Mastermind, where the company’s executive leadership team, including CEO Mauricio Umansky and President Rainy Hake Austin, gathered with Global Partners from around the world to discuss a range of topics from growth strategies to marketing and lead generation. After a State of the Company update from Rainy, the team broke off into table discussions about everything from agent services and lead generation to marketing and growth.
Fun, Games & Some Giddy Up
Day two in Austin welcomed the arrival of hundreds of agents, who gathered in Austin for the main event. The Agency’s VP of Vibes, Makenzie Green, led the production and direction of Forum for the fourth year, creating memorable events and experiences for all to enjoy—see a recap from our 2022 Palm Springs Forum and 2021 Palm Desert Forum for more. Festivities began with some friendly competition during The Agency’s 2nd Annual Golf Classic and spirited Pickleball Tournament.
Our friends at Kemosabe were onsite to offer customizable cowboy hats—these one-of-a-kind Forum souvenirs were the talk of the week!
Later on, the Welcome Reception revved up at the aptly named “Giddy Up! Bar.” Guests took to the dancefloor once DJ Mer Bear and VAVO hit the stage.
Getting Down to Business
It was down to business on Wednesday, November 15th, as the conference kicked off with Mauricio Umansky on stage for an exclusive interview by Dear Media’s Lauryn and Michael Bosstick; you can catch up on this interview here, on The Skinny Confidential Podcast.
Informative sessions were led by our amazing executives and team members—including The Agency’s President, Rainy Hake Austin, Co-Founder Billy Rose as well as Santiago Arana and Ben Belack.
Rainy’s keynote speech was a crowd favorite. In it, she shared the highly personal and emotional story of her upbringing to illustrate how one can overcome personal obstacles to tap into their potential for exponential growth.
Guest speakers for the day also included Giselle Ugarte, Kwame Christian and Jenn Lim, all of whom covered various vital topics, from online marketing and impactful content creation to negotiating tactics, goal-setting and more.
The day closed out with a special black-tie Chairman Event honoring The Agency’s top-producing agents from around the world. It was a night made brighter by our very own stars, complete with a live band, dancing, and astrological touchpoints.
Final Day Festivities
The final day of Forum started off right with a morning yoga and spin class, followed by inspiring talks from Pastor Robert Madu on Running Your Own Race and New York Times bestselling author, Ryan Holiday touching on Ego is the Enemy.
Attendees then enjoyed a series of breakout sessions held by The Agency’s PR Team, including SVP of Public Relations, Laura Corrigan; Relocation Director, Rachel Guerin; Director of Agent Marketing, Lesley Stern; VP of Marketing & Content, Nicole Montgomery and Creative Director Shane Gazzo, among others.
More breakout sessions took place through the afternoon, including “Own Your Listing Presentation” hosted by Jason Binab, Managing Partner of The Agency Victoria. Watch a video of Jason’s presentation—which was also featured on The Agency’s October ShaRE series—here.
A timely discussion on the recent NAR Commission Ruling was led by The Agency’s Senior Vice President and Regional Manager of Los Angeles, Doug Sandler, Jeff Samuels of The Agency NorCal and Molly Townsend, SVP and Managing Partner of The Agency’s TriState offices in New York. The trio unpacked what agents needed to know, changes they could expect, how to speak to sellers about the commission structure and the importance of overcoming fear in a time of change.
Our Forum 2023 gathering closed out with a vibrant Neon Moon sendoff party DJ-ed by Chantel Jeffries.
“Forum was such an energizing event on so many levels,” said Rainy Hake Austin. “Connecting with our colleagues is such an essential part of The Agency’s culture, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to see and speak with our incredible global team. It’s so inspiring to see our agents from around the world come together to collaborate, network and learn. I feel lucky to have been a part of this—and I know we’ll be referencing the things we all learned here for many months to come.”
Special thank you to our Forum production teams Neue Focus and Steven Studios for capturing the epic energy of our four-day event series.
Can’t get enough of this year’s Forum coverage? Check out our feature in The Real Deal‘s exclusive coverage of the event.
So long for now, Forum friends— we’re counting down til next year’s event!
A Special Thank You to the Amazing Sponsors of Forum 2023
U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management
