Innovative conference for local property managers in the Hawkesbury

The Local PM Series 2020 will feature local property managers as speakers to their peers, sharing case studies and knowledge to help raise the level of professionalism and improve the customer service.

Ms Hatch said that she has been wanting to do this conference for a while and that she doesn't believe it has ever been done before in the area.

"Property management is a high burnout business," she said. "A long-term position in the industry is 12-months ...often young people come in with little to no experience but are being expected to deal with a lot, the turnover is ridiculous.

"We will have speakers come in and share their local knowledge from personal experiences which will help people learn in the industry.

"Though there is healthy competition in the industry this will create the opportunity for co-operation and collaboration between the property managers in the area."

Ms Hatch has worked in mentoring and providing practical experience to people in the field, so she understands the importance of learning about each part of property management.

"Property management sees people working to do the right thing for people and for people lives," she said.

"You have to do a bit of everything ... you must have soft skills and if you have them you will last longer.

"The conference will enable collaboration and networking which will support learning and increase individuals knowledge base of customer service and professionalism."

The conference will take place every Thursday at the Richmond School of Arts throughout September. Each week will see two peer speakers talk about various industry related topics through a 20 minute talk followed by a Q and A.

"So far we have really seen everyone embrace it," said Ms Hatch. "We are looking to get a good intake for this first year and then see this years audience become next years speakers.

"I looked for people who will give content and will be able to lift the knowledge of our business managers and help professionalise the business.

"It is an ongoing volunteer conference. All of the speakers are volunteers who will be giving up their time to share stories, information and knowledge with their peers."

Some of the industry topics the peer speakers will talk about include: business culture and relationship building, adaptability and flexibility, and remaining passionate for the long-term.

Local psychologist Michelle Gibbons will be giving a talk about mentally health and some tips and tricks on how to stay healthy mentally in a high burnout business.

Ms Hatch pointed out that though the conference itself is for the property managers and the real estate industry workers of the Hawkesbury, the benefits will be felt by the community.

"Our customers will get a better service from this," she said. "They will be the beneficiaries as we work to make more of real estate more customer-centric."

The conference is open to all property managers in the area and Ms Hatch hopes that it will create a long lasting support network in the industry, that people can rely on to be educated and to develop.