When leaving previous conventions, I have had my mind racing with what I need to implement right away. This year that was not the case. Now full disclosure - I was pondering if I should have even made the investment in time to attend. In retrospect, this should have been an absolute no brainer.

This years theme was Upgrade Your Cash Flow. What I heard repeatedly well beyond that theme was Accountability and Responsibility for Older Adults. As a retired and sometime cranky old Senior Chief who inground Accountability, Responsibility Honor, Courage and Commitment into thousands of young minds offer multiple decades, I thought I was a master on the topic. Nope - there was so much more to it then just a rights and responsibility workshop.

Thru this I though to myself - Ray you have faced several challenges over the past few years well beyond the scope of others. Some might think a seven figure fire that displaced 41 families and business might top the list. That all occurred in six weeks or so when the government shut down the economy - so this was costing me about $8,000 daily. That was serious but not the biggest challenges. Nope - Broken bones, a death in the family and even my divorce, all in 2020-2021 knocked me down hard- the question in life was how quickly are you willing to bounce back. Currently as I am facing some health challenges that are slowing things down personally, I get frustrated.

Jeffery's store about the love in his was incredibly touching and moving. We love the two of you! It hit home on multiple levels for me. Thank you. There was even a tear in my eye.

We are a nation largely based on free will. Not everyone is going to finish at the same spot in life. Sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes its not. Life is going to throw you curveballs. You need to learn from what life has given you and get up brushing off that dirt. Some people do this better than others. If you learn process improvement along the way, you will go further.

As a landlord you are allowed you are mining for that golden lead that make you lots of money. How you do is where Free Will kicks in. Some folks elected not to attend the convention and learn where and how to market units that they have open for example. I am sorry that you elected to make what I consider a bad decision. I do hope they didn't reinvest that time saved in marketing on a platform maybe like Craigslist. Jeffery brushed up on this. What I have found over my 35 years in the business, that mining for gold in the local land fill does not fill that application pool with quality. It fills it with trash instead. Now feel free to complain there is so much trash out there - there is quite a bit, maybe even more so after C19. That will not make you a better marketer. Getting that golden app is up to you to find - if you are not finding it and refuse to learn how to even change or improve your ways - Free Will kicks in.

I say I am sorry, how can I help YOU turn over a new leaf?

Finally there were a handful of some young guns (who were 25 years old and younger) that all impressed me. I do hope I was able to touch basis with each of you. You all impressed me and you represent the future of the industry. If you need assistance, collectively we are here to help steer you. Your path is up to you.

Now Today, I was driving down the road in a suburban neighborhood and I saw three young girls maybe about age 7 to 9. At first I though they were selling lemonade. They had a sign selling Bestie Bracelets and Friendship Rings that they made by hand. The bracelets were a buck and the rings 50 cents. I bought one of each and gave them $10 and said keep it. I hope that they remember today for a long time. If you were in that group of young guns, there is another generation that is at your heels. Keep on making us proud and making us young at heart. Sometimes our moving parts slow down.

Outstanding Convention Dot and Jeffery.. I Expect lots of Nuts and Bolts to be put together after these presentations. It might not create Peace in the Middle East. But it has provided Peace of Mind. In my eyes that is priceless. Thank You again.

I want to cry. In fact I did cry yesterday. I stayed home from the Convention not by choice but because of a needed, wait-for, already-delayed medical procedure only to be called at 7.30am to tell me it was cancelled - again. Due to incompetence. No one to call or complain to on a Saturday, which was probably a good thing because I would not have been very nice or diplomatic. Knowing I missed the Convention because of someone else made me insane. I don't know if I will be "nice" even on Monday when I talk to those responsible.

Well said Ray. WHM, that sucks.

This was my first convention and certainly won't be my last. I walked away thinking that I need to tighten up my game considerably. There were several takeaways but first and foremost was constant marketing after gaining a firm understanding of your local market. I've been on the front lines of those complaining about the tenant pool. Whereas it's very true that the pool is poor, it is what it is and a successful manager makes adjustments to changed conditions.

There were many other things that were discussed that I plan on implementing operationally with a view of documenting in order to delegate. Laying everything out on paper will help with that.

My main goal this year was to connect with actual people. Not just on the keyboard.

Met a lot of new people this year. Also got to see a lot of the people that I met last year. I was amazed at how many remembered me either from the forum or from meeting me at the last convention.

We took lots of notes, a few pictures and asked a lot of questions.

The main interest was for the speaker on Trusts. I knew I would gather additional information but that was the main goal.

Then Jeffrey started talking to the people that showed up on Wednesday evening and I was back in the game for everything I could be. The motivation he instills really got the spouse and I revved up.

We were then back in the right mind set. I talked to a few of the vendors, bought some stuff from them as well as the Trust package from the speaker.

Not everything was a perfect fit for us.

At first the block about social media and especially Tik-Tok was out of my realm. I admit that the first part of her presentation could not hold my interest. The last part was better and seemed too short.

On the last day when Jeffrey was making his closing statements he mentioned that particular part of her presentation. I thought we were in for a jolly time poking fun at it.

Then he turned it all around. Admitting that he was adding that to his ever growing list as something to look into. He made it make sense after the fact. Then I realized that if I had a tough place to fill maybe a 17 second video of a walk in closet could help.

I just wonder if Jeffrey and Dot will superimpose themselves in front of the video and make faces and dance and point? That would be a viral video for all to see!

Back to the convention:

The time spent talking with people, listening to people and knowing that no matter what level they were at they had the same types of situations (good or bad) as I do is always eye opening.

"Time to do some homework and step up my game. That's my take away."

That is an excellent summary, KGARL.

It was great to meet you, Oreo & others - as well as see some familiar faces again.

I have a lot to read, videos to watch, Trust documents to complete.

And I need to at least play with AI & compose more "Bro" notices. LOL!!

Still need to figure out how it can be done verbally though. If someone can point me in the right direction for that......please do.

Of course, I still have plenty do to to finish my renovation, but I am even more encouraged that these 2 units will be very successful as Mid-term rentals.

I just spoke to my son and mentioned a bit about how houses need to be in trusts & how I need to finish putting together a comprehensive set of SOP's, checklists, procedures, etc - for when I'm gone.

He suggested something that is a good Idea I hadn't even thought of yet. In case you haven't either, here it is.

Find a local landlord I trust who can help during the transition time. Someone the kids can call for help and advice while they figure out what to do. They are in MN, and have NO clue what to do.

I set up with the last guy that worked for me before I went to the con.

He was on call. I told him I would play middle man with anything from Ohio.

Had no bad things happen which was great!

I almost didn't attend the convention this year. When I first arrived and met Jeffrey, he greeted me and asked how I was doing. I responded that "I'm here", 2024 thus far has been the worst year of my life (should have said most challenging). My mother passed recently, and I've had some health challenges. I didn't intend to ruin his vibe nor was I looking for a pity party. His enthusiasm and positive energy soon snapped me out of it!

This convention was just what I needed at this time. I attend a lot of seminars because I am able to draw off the positive energy in the room. It allows me to clear my mind and come up with ideas to improve my business.

I have been working on a project, a book since May 2023 that is 90% complete but I didn't have the motivation to work on it the past few months. I was so excited after the convention that I started writing at the airport and on the plane.

My Goals For The 2024 Convention:

1) Get Unstuck! - Thanks Jeffrey, you are so used to giving unselfishly that you don't realize the impact that you make on people's lives! Thanks Dot!

2) Meet more of those on this board - I already knew Ray (thanks Ray), Brad & DJ. I also met Bonanza, Zero, GKarl, Gene and several others for the 1st time.

3) Pick up some nuggets from the speakers - Wendy Sweet's private lender; Attorney Jeff IRA; Ms. Rhymes Mid Term Rentals; Pete Youngs Construction stuff, even though this is the year I'm taking the tools out of my truck; and Brad as always.

4) Learn and adopt some totally new subject matter that can benefit my business - AI.

I took plenty of notes and bought some course materials that I will begin to utilize to improve my business.

Logically, I was not supposed to be there. A hundred different things went wrong including 5 tornadoes around Columbus as I was driving in, raining so hard it was tough to see, parts of my presentation mysteriously disappeared from my computer so I was up until 2:30 am, finally got everything to cooperate 30 minutes before my time slot...

I KNEW something great was going to happen - it seems when the enemy tries to keep you down there is a blessing on the way.

SOMEBODY(s) was supposed to hear me and change their life.

#1 it was fantastic to see old friend, including vendors. I got as many hugs as a church picnic!

#2 met some posters in person - OREO, DJ, GKARL. He led a great roundtable on rooming houses.

#3 Spent quality time with my good friend RayRay-N-PA. We snuck away at the dinner break to go look at cars - Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, and the brand new fully electric Rolls Royce, a mere $600,000. Gotta DREAM big and keep your DREAM alive!

My talk was not as jazzy as AI or TikTok sparkles and emojis, but I hope folks were inspired with additional ways for more income and less stress. (Yes, I explained my NO MORE DEPOSITS pay me to get the Rent Discount Program.)

If you weren't there, ya missed a goodun.

BRAD

Inspired by the convention, first thing I did when I woke up was to check my rental ad pics to see if the "toilet seats w down"; happy to report they were, whew!

The Tik Tok and social media presentation was a bit beyond me, but good points were made to will incorporate in continued pics in my ads.

LOVED, loved, loved meeting everyone and posters on here, GKARL, DJ (VA), Plenty, ZERO and wifey, BRAD (great presentation), Ray-N-PA, J, and others. Hoping others I met will try some posting here.

Especially enjoyed meeting DOT, whom I know is the woman behind the man. And a great couple they are, and we truly appreciate, bringing us all together to keep the motivation flowing. A first time convention for us; this was the one to go to. I'm looking forward to implementing several things from the convention. Really excited to try AI again, now that I've been taught how to properly get all I can out of it.

Hey Oreo, tell filling that we said hi as well!

(Ha ha to the inside joke that J made)

One of the leading attorney's in the field spoke on what has been done and what YOU need to do to push the tide back. You get what YOU allow.

I am sorry that YOU allowed it, how can we help you?

To clarify so I don't miss anyone: There were MANY forum posters there. The ones I mentioned were posters I had not met before.

Ray, as one of the younger attendees I thank you for the encouragement and advice you offer. You are an inspiration and I was excited to get to meet and talk to some of the other younger participants. I did't get to talk to you this round (Not sure how that happened) but I always see your posts and have talked in the past.

I actually really liked the Tiktok and marketing presentation. Although I am not on Tiktok (yet) I found that by the end of the presentation, it wasn't about Tiktok or Instagram or Facebook or any particular marketing channel. It was more in that Tiktok was a really great tool for creating online marketing content and I found that the message was more of the point that you need to stand out in a world of unlimited posting and ads that all look the same. The tools and methods were really great, as well as the ideas of some of the principles such as removing the tags and urls to prevent cross posting and getting more views.

Brad - I was honored and so excited to be able to talk to you at the end of the conference. I am looking forward to thinking and implementing some of your strategies and points from your presentation (thinking flexible payment or payday payment program for one). Your tips, add ons and automations are fantastic. I was also so lucky to get to speak with you when you offered some additional advice that was incredible.

There were so many connections in the conference with the speakers and the attendees. Where else can you find a room of that many people in all different stages in life, stages in business and from all over the US that all have a similar mindset? I look forward to furthering some of the connections from the conference and having an ongoing conversation with others with similar interests and goals.