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Are Attending Family Office Conferences Worth It?

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

I started going to Family Office Conferences 5 months ago per a mandate from my Family Office, and due to my past attendance from 3 other conferences, I was able to see about 10 Family Office Professionals that I had developed a relationship with from prior conferences.  These are the same people I expect to see again at the next Family Office conference in two weeks.  Now I understand that coming from a Single Family Office like I do does make a difference but I believe the rules we must play by as a Family Office holds true for other professionals that want to become apart of the Family Office community. So being apart of the community is important and conferences can play a big role in that happening.

The second area I would like to mention regarding Family Office conferences are that the conferences that you attend, become what you make of it.  For example back to the person I ran into that was "feeling out" the Family Office space.  The good thing was that he was there to "feel things out" but the bad thing was he sat at his table and by himself all day.  Typically at conferences people leave saying that they didn't get much out of going.  Well that all depends on how much energy and focus you put into the opportunity you have by being there.   You must be self honest and ask yourself......Are you introducing yourself to others?   Are you going up to people who are standing alone?   Are you going up to people that were speaking to ask them questions on their topic?

It has been said that if you learn one thing at a conference it was worth your money.  I agree with saying, along with the philosophy of "if you make one great contact that it was worth your money", however wouldn't it be better to make 10 or 15 contacts rather than just 1?

So back to the question if Family Office Conferences are worth it.   My answer is definitely.............
but only if (1) you put yourself out there to meet people and (2) if you attend the various conferences often!
Time in the Family Office space is the key and that only comes with...............well time!

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