Q. What’s up with the name SPARKt? What does it mean?
A. SPARKt is often more easily understood when said (“Sparked”) rather than as it’s written. We develop and host each conference as a catalyst for technology in real estate. Our belief is that creating such a forum for bright people and actionable ideas in an interactive format can create tremendous change in our industry.

Q. Who should attend?
A. The back of the napkin answer is You! If you’ve gotten to this site, and something struck a cord, you’re most likely in the right ballpark. We pro-actively invite professionals from a broad cross section of the real estate space to become involved. Attendees all share the desire to learn more about how technology can benefit the way we do business. Accordingly, the inaugural event even included attendees from the advertising, interactive, media spaces, in addition to several notable entrepreneurs.

Q. What if I want to bring my team/office?
A. We definitely welcome groups and offer a special discount for 5+ attendees.

Q. What’s the format?
A. The conference is presented in a series of short (18 min), direct (non-sales-y), interactive (ample Q&A) sessions throughout an afternoon. We include several breaks not only for you to get caught with the home office, but to interact and connect with the speakers and fellow attendees. These breaks are deputy moderated by volunteers to further immerse guests in the creative process.

Q. Do I have to register or can I just show up the day of the event?
A. The entire event is a collaboration, and we hope to provide an increasing amount of value as the event date nears, so we stagger our pricing so that it is more affordable the earlier you commit. As we announce more information about the event as it comes together, the discount levels decrease. Bottom line, the earlier you’re on board, the more you save.

Q. What is the VIP Event pass?
A. Several people asked for an opportunity to meet with the speakers and sponsors after the December SPARKt, so we’ve added a special event pass level that allows an offline opportunity to do so. Our speakers include the best and brightest minds from a myriad of verticals, and we thought it would benefit those that wanted it, to connect over a meal.That’s the thinking behind the VIP event level, which has already become quite popular – VIP passes are almost sold out.

Q. Your website is SPARKt.org – are you guys a non-profit?
We intentionally use the dot-org url (in our award winning site) to signify the collaborative and educational intention of our initiative. As an organization, we certainly promote and support non-profit and charitable groups, but do not serve as one (yet), ourselves.

Q. I noticed you don’t offer a session on Email marketing?
A. In our ever present goal of bridging the gap between savvy consumers and service providers in our industry, we admittedly try to push the envelope of topics presented to make sure we’re keeping pace with the new tools and nascent platforms that clients are using. To that end, there is an expectation of you, the attendee, to join us in breaking some of the barriers that may be hampering our industry.

Q. How can my company become involved with SPARKt?
A. First and foremost – attend! In addition, we have several options if you’d like to have your firm featured. These range from (3) Break sponsors, to (20) Marketplace exhbitors, up to our (1) Presenting Sponsorship levels. Email kit@SPARKt.org

Q. What’s the SPARKt Marketplace?
A. Based on your feedback, we’ve added a new space for table top exhbits to this SPARKt event. If you are a solutions provider and would like to showcase your firm or services, we’ve just added the new SPARKt Marketplace, which will be open to the public. There are still a limited amount of these table top exhibits left. More info can be found at www.sparkt.org/marketplace

Q. I noticed there’s an after party – I thought this was a business tech conference?
A. Yes, we’ve gleaned from experience that as much (if not more) actual business can be done in informal settings as in the boardroom or in a conference like ours. Plus, since we believe that having fun is a key part to a well rounded life, we always include a great after party for both attendees and their colleagues to relax and unwind after our whirlwind events.

Q. Will there be wi-fi at the conference?
Yes, and much more.

Q. Do I have to be on Twitter to keep up to date with info?
A. No – Like many businesses, we do actively use twitter (@SPARKt), but we also promote and support the event on several platforms.

Q. What is the Twitter hashtag if I want to twitter live from the conference?
A. We will be using #SPARKt2.

Q. I really liked a presenter from the last SPARKt conference. Any reason they’re not speaking this time?
A. We make it a point to bring an original slate of national thought leaders to each SPARKt conference to make sure we keep things fresh, current, and new.

Q. Where can I find the presenters and schedule?
A. The day’s schedule with links to speaker’s bios can be found here.

These are just some of the questions you may have, so please contact us with any/all questions/comments. Thank you!