Family Office Real Estate Blog

Last week I had the chance to comment on a recent Family Office Conference that I attended and from that post I had a few responses that I do feel I need to address as they bring up some good points and it is one that is a constant concern. The first comment was:  "Hi DJ. I have attended a family office conference, and made it a point to meet a lot of people, but the only people I met were other people like me, who were looking to meet family offices. Everyone there was a service provider of some kind. The only identifiable family office person I encountered was one of the speakers, who was of course mobbed when his panel was over. I decided that there are better ways to meet family offices than competing with 500 other people at a conference, namely going through personal connections." another comment I received was: "Attending a Family Office Conference definitely requires a proactive game plan, however you have to weed out pretenders from the contender'

Today I had the opportunity to attend the Wilson Single Family Office in NYC (which was a great conference).  Throughout the day I would take the time to meet others that had attended, and when I approached one of the attendees I asked where he was from and the reason for him attending.  His response was that he was there looking into the Family Office space as a possible section of the market to raise capital from.  It was then that I started to explain to him the nature of Family Office Conferences and what you will find in the Family Office space. Is the Family Office space a place to raise capital for your venture, project or opportunity?  Yes, however Family Offices do not move quickly and heavily rely on relationships.   They want to know you are here to stay and not just a "one and done participant"  so when they see you for the second or third time it makes an impression. DJ Van Keuren on the Panel of Real Estate Investing at the Wilson Office Conferences