Bisnow’s New Elevate Retreat Brings Together The Rising Stars Of CRE

For commercial real estate professionals in the early stages of their career, networking, mastering interpersonal skills and building career-lasting relationships are essential components to being successful in the industry. Now, Bisnow is offering rising CRE stars the opportunity to join a community of next-gen deal-makers, connect with future leaders, learn from seasoned executives and gain an edge on their competition at our newest curated retreat.

On Aug. 16-17, 2023, Bisnow will be hosting its inaugural Elevate retreat at the 1 Hotel Nashville. An addition to our famed Escape and Ascent Executive Retreats — which are known for bringing together the biggest names in the CRE investment world to foster connections and inspire deals — this invitation-only, two-day retreat is designed for attendees with at least three years of CRE experience to help them take their careers to the next level. 

Vice President of Executive Retreats Sean Donahue said that Elevate was created with the goal of providing smart, ambitious people with professional development opportunities while teaching them the skills they need to build lasting careers.

"After 10 years of successfully building a community exclusively for CRE investment and development executives to share ideas with like-minded peers, we realized there was a massive demand to extend the platform to the next generation of investment professionals,” Donahue said. “Given the disruption to the traditional workplace over the last few years, our team wanted to create an environment conducive to building new relationships, immersing attendees with professional development tools, and sharing best practices, all of which create value for individuals and their firms alike."

In addition to the unparalleled networking opportunities these retreats are known for, Elevate will focus on developing professional skills through interactive workshops and keynote sessions. Industry veterans will offer deep dives into relevant industry topics within workshops such as Deal Structuring 101, How to be a Fearless Leader, The Power of Relationships & Personal Brand and Optimizing your Life & Career. Keynote sessions for this year's event will include learning from legends like Willy Walker, CEO and chairman of Walker & Dunlop, in which Walker gets candid about his career journey, wins and losses and how to achieve success in CRE.

While education is a key aspect of Elevate, the goal is to help attendees meet potential business partners and form lasting connections. To that end, the Elevate team will spend the weeks leading up to the event curating “tribes” — groups of individuals connected by geography, asset class focus, interests and goals — which will meet to discuss challenges, best practices and the future of the industry. There will also be speed deal-making events, where owners and developers sit across from capital providers and have three minutes to discuss a potential deal. Elevate attendees will also engage in meaningful conversations over barbecue and drinks at a private off-site evening in downtown Nashville hosted by the Elevate team.

Bisnow CEO Gregg Mayer looks forward to seeing the impact that Elevate will have on the CRE industry. He said that through this retreat, aspiring CRE leaders can boost their careers and get ahead of their competitors by equipping themselves with the best resources, education and connections.

"Elevate provides a unique opportunity and setting for CRE's rising stars to join an exclusive community dedicated to advancing their careers and establishing meaningful relationships,” Mayer said. “As the newest addition to Bisnow's Executive Retreat platform, Elevate will enhance attendees’ industry knowledge, develop their leadership skills and offer them the opportunity to build strong connections that outlast any conference.”

Elevate attendees are hand-selected by event organizers who scope out the top performers in their region or asset class. The attendees will be representative of all CRE markets around the U.S. and work as owners, operators, developers, lenders and investors.

Michael Purcell, director for Bisnow’s Executive Retreat team, explained that the process of curating the groups in advance ensures that attendees can get much-needed face time with the people who can help them make deals happen.

“Focusing on CRE professionals with three to 10 years of industry experience, we target top performers from companies across all asset classes, nationwide,” Purcell said. “To ensure that we are curating the best possible group, we speak with all potential attendees to better understand their job and responsibilities. This helps us to make the most fruitful introductions for each attendee over the course of the retreat.”

Purcell said that attendees will have access to the Elevate app, which allows them to connect before, during and after the retreat.They will fill out their profiles, highlighting their role and who they are interested in connecting with.

Donahue said that attendees can expect to leave the retreat having gained new contacts as well as a new perspective on how to do more business.

"At the end of the day the mission of Elevate is for individuals to not only walk away as better leaders, but as a part of a community they can share ideas and execute deals with for many years to come,” Donahue said.

Visit Bisnow Elevate to learn more and apply for the 2023 Elevate retreat.