GreenPearl Events is a 2-year-old company that organizes conferences connecting real estate professionals. Their conferences focus on bringing together high-level principals and decision-makers in real estate to network and discuss current industry trends and opportunities. GreenPearl conferences typically feature 40-80 speakers covering 8-14 panels over a single day, allowing attendees to return home in the evening. They aim to curate a diverse range of perspectives and assemble a critical mass of influential participants. With over 4,000 attendees, 120 sponsoring companies, and 400 speakers so far, GreenPearl Events has quickly become a leader in the real estate conference space.

1. Mann
TM a p r i l 2 011
RepoRt
| the people behind the deals in the ny real estate scene |
c r e at i n g c o n n e c t i o n s
i n r e a l e s tat e
GreenPearl Events
r ya n s l a c k

2. Creating
GreenPearl events
Connections
S
tHe FeatUres
Success in any field grows out of two key principles: it’s whom ents are, what their needs are, how I can or cannot help them.
you know, and it’s what you know. Both are truer than ever in I can help them understand whether a particular event is or is
today’s volatile real estate industry — and now there’s a young not the best platform for them as speaker or panelist.
company that is combining both concepts in a fresh new series
of conferences. “To attract the quality of participants we want,” says Ryan, “it’s
important that every event be fresh and new, that the agenda
The company is GreenPearl Events. Just over two years old, be up to date, that the speakers be highly respected, that they
it is already a leader in bringing together top real estate com- are current and active in the market, and that they are recog-
pany and association executives, government experts and other nized and perceived as the right people. We conceive each of
key players representing the many facets of the industry. The our meetings as a new creative work. If we ever approached it
means: conferences that offer participants fresh ideas, informa- as a formula, to start phoning it in, even to duplicate speakers
tion, resources and, most important, face-to-face contact with — except, perhaps, an economist, because that world is con-
each other. stantly changing — we’d kill the soul.”
For example, GreenPearl Events recently mounted a day- Valuable information for participants originates not only from
long conference, sponsored by Massey Knakal, on the topic speakers but from sponsors as well. “Sponsors can buy exhibit
of multi-family residences. The event covered such subjects as tables, or an advertisement in the print program, signage, ban-
today’s national economy and resulting trends; the outlook for ner ads in the website or in e-mails,” Ryan points out. “For ex-
multi-family development, financing and leasing; investment ample, for a security company, there is not all that much to say
opportunities and risks; maximizing cash flow and minimiz- at a conference, but we can get their ad or presence in front of a
ing vacancies; and converting multi-family buildings into con- real estate audience. However, if there’s an important new law or
dos. Speakers and discussions included leaders from real estate other change that would be of importance to the audience, we’d
management and development firms, banks and investment consider such a company for a presentation or to take part in a
firms, as well as real estate organizations such as the Com- panel with a prestigious speaker.”
munity Housing Improvement Program and the Real Estate
Board of New York. GreenPearl Events are customarily limited to a single, full day.
“We recognize that, with today’s economy, people are not trav-
The meeting also provided plenty of time, over lunch, coffee eling, that companies don’t want the expense of sending too
breaks and end-of-the-day cocktails, for an essential ingredi- many delegates to a conference,” says Ryan. “In addition, at-
ent of GreenPearl Events: networking. “The number one thing tendees appreciate being able to get up from their own beds
that we do at GreenPearl conferences,” says Ryan Slack, the in the morning, attend the conference, and go home in the
company’s CEO, “is to make sure that at least two-thirds of the evening, with no hotel or plane flight to be concerned with. So
people there, on the speakers’ side and the attendees’ side, are our conferences tend to be regional, and venues are convenient
principals: people that own or control property, cash or notes, meeting and convention centers.”
people who have something of value to offer to each other. We
use a targeted invitation process, for both attendees and speak- From its first sessions two years ago, GreenPearl Events in 2011
ers, to ensure that we assemble a large enough critical mass of has expanded to present summit conferences on Distressed
people who make the market work.” In one GreenPearl confer- Real Estate, Asset Management, CMBS, and Multi-family,
ence held earlier this year in Florida, participants represented a all in New York City, while other meetings are planned for
total of approximately $43 billion. Florida, California, Chicago and Washington, DC.
A GreenPearl event offers anywhere from eight to 14 panels, “So far, we have produced almost all of our conferences for
featuring 40 to perhaps 80 speakers. “I think of myself as a ourselves,” notes Ryan. “However, we are working to grow our
consultant to the companies that take part in our conferenc- ‘private label’ events for other organizations. We have done one
es,” Ryan remarks. “I have tracked about 65 distinctly different for Massey Knakal, with two more planned for 2011, to help
things that people do in real estate; I understand them all. I them raise their profile and solidify their dominance of their
can ask people the right questions, understand who their cli- particular sector; this March, we are presenting a conference

3. GreenPearl events
tHe FeatUres
for the Institute of Real Estate Man-
agement. Both organizations already
have strong brands, which is a criterion
we look for if we are going to do events
beyond our own.”
It was Ryan Slack, together with Mark
Schacknies and Nima Negahban, who
founded GreenPearl Events in 2008.
Says Ryan today: “We saw a need to ad-
dress the needs of commercial real es-
tate developers, investors, owners, and
service providers to network online and
offline in order to facilitate deal-mak-
ing and collaboration.”
Earlier, Ryan had been co-founder and
CEO of PropertyShark.com, which
provided real estate data. From a sin-
gle service in New York City, he built
PropertyShark into seven services with
a national footprint. While there, in
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April of 2006, “I threw a user apprecia-
tion event in Williamsburg, Brooklyn,
where we were located,” Ryan recalls.
“We completely packed the place. Our
guests loved the fact that, unlike many
events around town where the people
who came were mostly brokers seeking Ryan Slack
to find new business, we invited princi-
pals who could meet other principals,
investors who could meet other inves-
tors in similar kinds of real estate. What we brought to the “For a relatively young company, we’re proud that our con-
table was the ability to bring out people who actually owned or ferences have attracted more than 4,000 industry attendees,
controlled assets, whether that was cash, property or notes.” over 120 companies as sponsors and over 400 top-flight speak-
ers,” says Ryan Slack. “Principals in our industry recognize the
Ryan soon began organizing other successful industry events, value of meeting their peers face-to-face, and we’re pleased that
which eventually took shape as GreenPearl Events. (Ryan has they see the effectiveness and efficiency of doing it through
since sold PropertyShark.) GreenPearl today is led by a team GreenPearl Events!”
of event-industry veterans, which includes co-founders Ryan,
Mark Schacknies and Nima Negahban; Tammy Jean Weiss, by Peter Haas
COO responsible for event management, including such as-
pects as venues, vendors, and on-site logistics; Abel Devis, GreenPearl Events
business development specialist in charge of audience devel- 36 East 23rd Street, 10th Floor
opment, registration, exhibiting, and advertising; and Marga- New York, NY 10010
ret Schwab, director of marketing responsible for growing the Tel: 646-862-9389
GreenPearl brand across the nation. www.greenpearlevents.com