YASC DC 2019

Continuous Connection

By Leah Etling on May 21, 2019 in Events, News

The first Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC) of 2019 kicked off this morning in Washington, D.C., where over 2100 attendees are gathered to improve their knowledge of Yardi’s products and services, network with peers, and have a little fun.

“What do you say this week we turn Washington, D.C. into our nation’s real estate technology capital?” said Esther Bonardi, Yardi vice president of marketing, as the general session kicked off. The conference is the largest YASC to date.

With a focus on sharing information, educating users on how to get the most out of their Yardi platform, learning about new products and features, and connecting with fellow real estate professionals, YASC is also a place where attendees answer important questions.

“How do you elevate your company to that next level? You do it by gaining information,” said Bonardi, introducing Anant Yardi, company founder and president, during the general session.

Continuous communication

Mr. Yardi focused his remarks on the theme of continuous connection and how it can be beneficial for business relationships.

“This day and age of continuous connection doesn’t necessarily mean we are communicating all the time. But it does mean that we are available, and we respond.” While displaying an image of a group of people around a dinner table, all intently staring at their smartphones, Mr. Yardi suggested that perhaps the group all had various roles in the real estate industry, as well as the capability to respond to customer and client requests, anytime and anywhere.

Yardi’s technology platform already allows real estate professionals to accommodate such requests, but as Mr. Yardi and the executives who presented after him Tuesday morning demonstrated, the company is poised to deliver even more innovation.

“Our goal is to provide a connection between the business, the consumer and the property,” said Mr. Yardi, introducing the concept of “business to property” transactions. “As we think about continuous communication, the basic way we do real estate doesn’t change. But the way we transact business may change.”

Yardi has positioned its platform to facilitate that change with solutions like Yardi Elevate for improving asset performance and Yardi Kube for coworking management, a potential way for property managers to capitalize on unused space, and the Yardi Pulse platform, which can monitor energy use and automate energy management, leading to waste reduction.

Future-focused product development

YASC attendees also got a sneak preview of Yardi’s forthcoming smart home technology solution which will allow property managers and residents to easily manage connected services like utilities and door locks, all from an app-based interface.

“Using a single app, a resident should be able to make payments, enter service requests, request concierge services, but also make sure that the door is locked,” Mr. Yardi said.

Such a hub will also have advantages for property managers, who will be able to manage the utilities and locks of vacant units all from a centralized dashboard. John Pendergast, Yardi senior vice president, multifamily services, went into more details on the convenience, security, comfort and automation that Yardi’s new smart home technology solution will provide.

The morning presentation concluded with remarks from Rob Teel, Yardi senior vice president, global solutions, and Akshai Rao, Yardi vice president of energy and procurement.

Teel introduced the Yardi Elevate platform, which is powered by big data, market data from Yardi Matrix and uses predictive analytics and prescriptive actions to increase revenue, decrease expenses, increase asset value and reduce risk.

“Yardi Elevate will help you answer forward-thinking questions, like how much should I spend on marketing next month. These are not the accounting questions you’d be answering with Yardi Voyager. The goal is to help you make better business decisions,” Teel said.

Yardi Elevate provides next-level insight into asset performance, budgeting and forecasting, construction and facility management, and more.

Community connections

Rao concluded the general session with a look at Yardi’s corporate philanthropy programs, which offer employees in each of the company’s offices the opportunity to select regional non-profits to receive donations from Yardi.

Additionally, the company supports early childhood education, disaster relief and energy consumption reduction.

“Our company charter is very simple: ‘Take care of our clients. Take care of our employees. Take care of our communities. Stay focused, and grow,’” said Rao.

He introduced a few of the efforts that his home office in Austin, Texas has supported and shared the story of SEE International, an international non-profit that supports eyesight restoration based in Santa Barbara, Calif. You can read more about the programs supported by Yardi on our Giving page.

“No matter what the technology changes are, no matter what the market fluctuations are, Yardi will always stay true to our charter,” Rao said.

YASC 2019 continues through Thursday morning. Next year is the final East Coast iteration of the event at the Washington, D.C. Hilton before it moves to the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Fort Washington, Maryland in 2021. The West Coast 2019 YASC is set for October 16–18 in San Diego, and you can sign up here.

Follow along with the event happenings on Twitter and Instagram by searching for the hashtag #YASC2019.