The 1999 National Multi Housing Council meeting Jan. 13-15 in Rancho Mirage, Calif., will educate members on current industry issues, provide a forum in which they may interact and entertain them in a relaxed setting.
The meeting, which is one of four put on by NMHC annually, is at the Westin Mission Hills Resort. For at least 10 years, the meeting has been the largest gathering of senior apartment industry members in the world and offers a variety of seminars, exhibits and interview sessions designed to bring members together under one roof.
"A successful meeting would entail people being stimulated intellectually and smiling at the same time," says Jonathan Kempner, president of NMHC. "Our hallmark is to be as provocative as possible with a variety of speakers and opinions."
Provocative speakers in the past have included Sam Zell, who addressed REITs in a conference at last year's meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., and a Harvard professor discussing how to handle success in your personal life. This year Robert Cialdini, author of "Influence" and an expert on persuasion, will speak, and rumor has it William Sanders, the chairman of Security Capital, may be a part of "Conversations with American Business Legends" hosted by Gary Wendt, chairman, president and CEO of GE Capital. Other events include the NMHC National Board of Directors meeting, general meeting sessions and 10 roundtable discussions focusing on such issues as capital markets, city apartment development, apartment REITs in 1999 and technology trends.
Events occur before and after normal business hours as well, to ensure that all members get the most from the meeting. An entertainer spotlighted in a Page One profile in the Wall Street Journal will perform at the Annual Dinner Thursday evening, and NMHC is hosting a private breakfast buffet for spouses and guests that same morning from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Cialdini will speak at this morning event.
NMHC is also featuring a lawyer's forum, a first-time event at the annual meeting, in which outside attorneys meet with inside council on important issues. Property management, finance and tax committee meetings will be held after this forum during the annual meeting.
Expert panels will address such issues as the capital markets forecast, an outlook for apartment REITs in 1999, today's apartment acquisition deals, central city apartment development and rehabilitation and using technology to grow ancillary income. Roundtable discussions focus on analyzing and choosing ancillary services, apartment insurance issues, getting ready for the year 2000, employee compensation and benefits, fair housing and accessibility issues, national apartment market conditions, privatized student housing and a variety of seniors' housing issues.
Concurrently with NMHC's annual meeting will be the American Senior Housing Association's annual meeting, which engages in some of the same conferences, but is also sponsoring its own events. NMHC is also sponsoring with M/PF Research Inc. a conference titled "Major U.S. Apartment Markets" held Wednesday, Jan. 13, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., prior to the NMHC and ASHA Annual Meetings.
A variety of children's activities have been scheduled concurrent with all of the meeting hours, including an NMHC Kids' Camp supervised by trained counselors, and babysitters also are available. Hours are Wednesday 3:00 - 11:00 p.m.; Thursday 8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 - 10:00 p.m.; and Friday 8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
NMHC's future 1999 meetings are scheduled for March 15-16 in Washington, June 10-11 in Chicago and September 13-14 back in Washington.