Getting Approval

Considering the NRTA’s Expanding Knowledge Conference?

How to Get Management Approval

You’re not alone if there are times you feel as though you’re operating in a vacuum while wrestling with a landlord/tenant issue. Do you follow your instincts…and investigate the lease further? Are you prepared to question status quo procedures? More importantly, are you prepared to offer a better procedure or solution? Or, under pressure to move on to other pressing matters, you find yourself frustrated and wishing for a better way.

If any portion of this scenario sounds familiar, then you need to get yourself to the NRTA’s Expanding Knowledge conference. You need to spend three days networking and exchanging information with other real estate management specialists who are dealing with the same issues. And, with a little planning, you can help your department head understand and agree that it’s a great idea for you to attend!

NRTA’s Expanding Knowledge Conference: an industry standard

Start your conference review by understanding that over the last twenty-eight years, the Expanding Knowledge conference has become an industry standard. It is this “quest for information and exchange of best practices” that was at the very heart of NRTA’s creation by founders Moe Laliberte and Paul Kinney. Reflecting back upon their decision to host a small gathering of their retail lease administration peers in Boston, Moe recalls how they spent hours encouraging tenants to send their lease administrators to the meeting. “We thought we might attract about 50 other lease administrators. Incredibly, over 200 lease administrators joined us. We spent hours exchanging best practices. We could have spent an entire week there.”

A proven Return on Investment

People attending that first conference returned to their companies energized with tried and true solutions. It was an investment that paid back measurably in dollars recovered to the bottom line. The same holds true today. Understanding this return on investment is important as you prepare to explain to your supervisor why you should attend. Our simple ROI Calculator will help you tie a value to attending.

Today, Executive Director Lisa Krizek emphasizes that a well-organized and thought-out lease administration program can be beneficial for landlords and tenants in managing their real estate information. There is a direct relationship between the quality of information management and the quality of decision-making related to day-to-day real estate activities. Good business processes, procedures, and structure, with as-needed improvements obtained from software solutions, can create better internal and external customer service, increase efficiency and productivity, and can truly limit missed opportunities and produce significant cost savings.

Your attendance is essential

Lease administration professionals who are better prepared are an asset to their company. Regardless of the size of their organization, conference attendees consistently attain improvements and savings. You need to help your supervisor better understand how the investment of your time and resources translates into a common goal of improved performance and results that will be repaid many times over.

Your first step

Take a few minutes to consider Why You Should Attend. As a lease analyst or accountant you need to maximize your ability to manage leases effectively and control occupancy costs to build company profits.

Having the ability to benchmark your real estate management functions against the best in the industry is critical. Networking with your peers in face-to-face interactive discussions is an invaluable experience. Exploring industry products and services available to your team, while learning from industry experts how to incorporate these lessons, can literally change the way you do business.

Review the agenda–and your plan–with your supervisor

The full Expanding Knowledge conference brochure is available online once published each year (typically in May). Identify educational sessions and networking events that relate to your position and responsibilities, then review the course descriptions with your supervisor–who ultimately needs to support the decision for you to attend the conference.

Some attendees recommend making a list of benefits and a plan of action prior to the conference. Then, review them with your supervisor. This not only demonstrates your commitment, but also allows the supervisor to effectively appreciate the actual pluses of your attending the conference. One attendee called it “a great exercise that helped both my supervisor and myself to ‘get on the same page’.” In fact, a few days after their discussion the supervisor decided to join her at the conference so she could better prepare herself for the adoption of the new lease accounting standard.

Create a winning Request for Approval

As a former Vice President of Lease Compliance for a public specialty retail company, Lisa recognized that the NRTA is the leading source of real estate management education for commercial, office, retail, industrial and franchise real estate professionals, attorneys, lease accountants and other commercial property management specialists who are responsible for real estate portfolio management
and optimization. She urges all tenants to network with us, share with and learn from other industry professionals focused on best practices in information management and decision-making related to day-to-day real estate activities. Lisa added that learning about quality real estate management and lease administration programs that provide quality information for real estate teams and others in a consistent and accurate manner will improve the decision making process. Good decision making is based on reliable information.

Your check list:

Prepare your intended schedule for review with your department leader
Be prepared to explain how these education sessions will be valuable to your responsibilities
Review your department challenges, and discuss the specific NRTA sessions that will help you to better meet them
Provide a list of resource companies that will be exhibiting at the NRTA’s
Expanding Knowledge trade show, and indicate whether discussions with them might be helpful to your function
Include the cost of registration, airfare, ground transportation, meals and lodging
Plan an information-sharing step to be implemented upon your return