PM Grow Summit 2021: A Whole New (Virtual) World



Today’s guest speaks Danish, is an adventurous wine-drinker, and has 29 years of experience within the tradeshow industry. He also happens to be the CEO of Fourandhalf and PM Grow Summit.

That’s right, it’s our very own John Bykowski!

John joins Marie and Brittany today on the Property Management Show podcast to discuss PM Grow Summit 2021, which will take place January 20th – 22nd. They talk about this year’s concept and theme for the Summit, the decision to go virtual for 2021, and why this virtual conference is unlike any other you’ve attended.

Lean forward, listen in, and get excited — we can’t wait to unveil what we’ve been planning.

What’s PM Grow Summit?

PM Grow Summit is a property management conference designed from the beginning to focus on how property managers can run their business more effectively. NARPM is a great resource for getting the nuts and bolts of property management, but if you want to get exposed to the latest innovations and ideas on running and growing a business, you want to be at PM Grow. PM Grow brings in the best ideas for business growth from outside property management, and then teaches business owners, marketers and sales teams how to leverage those ideas within the industry.

In the first year of PM Grow, using video content in your marketing was a new and novel idea, so that became the focus of the conference that year. In later years, PM Grow tackled company structure and the importance of hiring a BDM for your business. PM Grow also helped put EOS into the mainstream within the property management industry.

For 2021, PM Grow’s theme is: Removing Barriers to Growth.

There’s been feedback from previous years that some property managers have trouble implementing all the ideas that they get from PM Grow. Learning the latest trends in the industry won’t help your business grow if you can’t implement them. Between this feedback and the obvious barriers to growth being presented from COVID-19 this year, “removing barriers to growth” felt like an extremely relevant and timely topic.

You may be wondering what some of these barriers are that will be covered at the conference? Here are our main Keynote Speakers:

* Keynote Speaker – Greg Crabtree: Will speak about financial barriers to growth, with a Q&A; to follow.

* Keynote Speaker – Libby Gill: Will speak about how to overcome mindset as a barrier to growth and how you can lead people through change, challenge and chaos.

* Keynote Speaker – Chuck Blakeman: Will speak about how to get off the treadmill and how to overcome time as a barrier to business growth and making money.

There will also be a variety of workshops you can attend to get more individualized attention and answers to your questions. Visit the website for more information.

To Go Virtual or Not to Go Virtual?

John says there isn’t a 100% satisfying replacement for in-person conferences. The energy, the hugs, the atmosphere: those things will never be replaced in a virtual platform.

But John still felt that PM Grow had value to offer property managers, especially in a world dramatically altered by COVID-19. The best way to overcome the hurdles that property managers are facing right now is for the industry to come together and share ideas with each other.

So, PM Grow was definitely happening. But with COVID cases rising and laws prohibiting large gatherings, an in-person conference was impossible.

A survey sent out to property managers had mixed reactions — the overwhelming majority wanted PM Grow to happen, but many were concerned about the health risks of an in-person event.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Virtual PM Grow Summit

All these factors meant that PM Grow had to go virtual. But there were several concerns about putting on a virtual conference.