3 reasons why I'm probably NOT going to BPcon in 2024
In 2019 I went to the BiggerPockets Conference with my camera and got myself hired to cover the event for the last few years. For the last few years they seemed to value me in both ways I prefer to get paid: in appreciation of my art, and cash.
This year I was not asked to shoot the event. I can only speculate as to why but admittedly I am very good at what I do and therefore I am a somewhat expensive artist to have around. Being a corporation like any other I assume they look to photography as a marketing effort rather than artistic effort – so this year they hired someone else/worse/cheaper. To be truly honest – I will admit this hurt my feelings. I like BP and I liked that they valued what I did, but if they don’t value the thing that I’m best at all that’s left is to go as a regular attendee.
The question is: “Would I go to this event if I’m not working the event and have to pay full price?”
No
Backstory
I have been heavily involved in BP since 2013. I have nearly 3,000 forum posts, I’ve written 30+ blogs for them, I made a series called “Meet the Investor” with 36 high quality video episodes for their YouTube channel back in 2020 and 2021, I was on the podcast in 2018, and the vast majority of my friends are from the BiggerPockets world.
I mostly go to the conference to see my peers, create content, and network with speakers. Since I am a long time contributor I would be comped a ticket to the event, I would bunk in the hotel with a friend, and flights are usually pretty cheap. This was a low friction event for me and I loved the community, and the company seemed to love me back.
But if I’m just another ticket, is BP a good investment for me?
- Hype
I remember when the BiggerPockets tagline was “real estate – without all the hype” and they lived up to that motto. The community and podcast was full of regular people who had changed their lives through real estate investing and were open to share that knowledge and experience openly with everyone so the next person could do the same.
This is what inspired me to create my website, a place where I share everything about my journey in great detail for no reason other than it might help someone else – and I have been doing this for 6 years
Last year the final conference party was at Harry Potter World in Universal Studios. While completely impressed that they rented out that park and let everyone hang out for a few hours, I also asked myself “why exactly are we doing this?”. It was pitch black at night and everyone scattered to ride the rides – which means there was zero community building and no networking, also theme parks have nothing to do with real estate, this is just a flashy distraction.
This year seems more of the same, the event is in Cancun.
Now, I love traveling internationally and do so once or twice a year but what does Cancun have to do with real estate? Nothing, but it has everything to do with hype.
- I completed the social ladder
Part of conferences are about meeting people, and wherever there are people there are hierarchies. Hierarchies of social status, accomplishment, financial success, and others. I think part of my fun and success with going to conferences has been to try and climb these social ladders, get in VIP parties, and make friends with people smarter and more accomplished than me.
With BiggerPockets, I sort of won the game. I spent a year in Maui with Brandon Turner. I already have the personal cell number of every single person that will be on the stage at that event and I know most of the staff. There isn’t much more new friendships to be created and my business relationship with BP is obviously retracting rather than escalating
There just isn’t anything new to do here. I’m quite sure that 90% of the repeat attendees of the event go because it’s a big nostalgia party – which I have nothing against – but I also did that exact same nostalgia party last year. For me it feels eerily similar to people that go to the same bar on Saturday nights and talk about the same things for years on end, a bit too stagnant for me.
- Wrong demo
BiggerPockets is pretty strictly for new real estate investors, of which I am not one. The sessions aren’t created around anything I’m trying to do or learn, and at least half of the speakers have less experience than me.
I think I just outgrew this place…which is hardly a new phenomenon for me. I stopped going to Fincon for the same reason, in fact I got out of the Army for the same reason. I needed growth and I’ve accomplished the vast majority of everything these domains seem to offer
Everything is different now…
I had considered planning a Macchu Picchu trip this year and rallying a few folks to do it with. It would be nearly the same cost as BP but you get to go to Peru instead of Cancun and you hang with 8-10 experienced real estate investors instead of 2500 fans and beginners.
In the midst of planning I stopped myself to ask “Why?”. Does Peru have anything to do with real estate, or is it just the hype in a different package?
Look, in 2024 real estate is very hard and that’s why so many people are selling education, private memberships, and fancy distractions in Cancun – because right now it’s much easier to make money on false dreams and consumer mania than it is to make money in real estate and I do not want to participate in that.
Going forward I’m only want to go events where I can be useful to the event creator or where I’m a small fish in a big pond.
I reserve the right to change my mind, but as of right now, I’m a NO on BPcon2024
