New Orleans, NARPM, and Why We Never Stop Learning

Last week, Gary and I flew from Richmond to New Orleans for the 2026 NARPM Broker/Owner Conference. A few days of sessions, roundtables, late nights with vendors, great food, and yes — some time on Bourbon Street. We’re back now, a little tired, a lot inspired, and this is our attempt to capture what it was like and why it mattered.

Quick note on how this post came together: I wrote it with the help of Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant. No need to hide it — Claude helps me pull thoughts together and get posts like this written far faster than I could on my own. The ideas, the experiences, and the opinions are all ours. Claude just helps organize them into something readable. More on AI in a moment — because it was actually one of the biggest themes of the conference.

What Is NARPM?

NARPM — the National Association of Residential Property Managers — is the leading professional organization for residential property management companies across the United States. Founded in 1988, it exists to raise the standards of the profession through education, ethics, and community. Members commit to ongoing professional development and a code of ethics that puts the interests of property owners and residents first.

The annual Broker/Owner Conference is designed specifically for the people who lead property management companies. It’s where owners and operators come together to hear from industry experts, share what’s working, wrestle with what isn’t, and get an honest look at where the profession is heading. Sessions cover legislation, technology, operations, tenant relations, market trends, and business strategy — often all in the same day.

The conference rotates locations each year. This year: New Orleans. Next up is the main NARPM Annual Conference in Las Vegas this October — and Byrd PM will have people there.

First Time in the Big Easy

Neither Gary nor I had ever been to New Orleans. We flew in Sunday, spent Monday getting settled and handling work from the road — property management doesn’t pause for travel — and hit the ground running Tuesday when the conference kicked into full gear.

The evenings were every bit as valuable as the sessions. We spent time with some great vendor partners — Tenant Turner, Second Nature, and AppFolio among them — over dinners and genuine conversation. These are companies whose tools and services touch our work every day, and getting face time with the people behind them is something you can’t replicate on a Zoom call.

We also have to give a huge thank you to SecondNature and DoorLoop for an experience we didn’t see coming — a private event at the Superdome. That’s right, the actual Caesars Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints. Walking the field of one of the most iconic stadiums in the NFL was surreal. They even set up field goals. I’d love to tell you I nailed one through the uprights. The honest truth: 0 for 2, wide left — both times. Apparently property management is my calling, not placekicking. Still, it’s the kind of experience you don’t forget, and the kind of thing that only happens when you show up.

And yes — Bourbon Street happened. New Orleans is one of those cities that simply has to be experienced. We barely scratched the surface and already know we need to go back — just not for the conference, since it moves every year.

The Biggest Theme: AI Is Already Reshaping the Industry

If there was one topic that dominated the 2026 conference — just as it did last year — it was artificial intelligence. Not in a distant, theoretical way. Right now, in ways that are already affecting how property management companies operate and how they get found.

Multiple speakers made a point that stuck with us: AI is becoming a referral engine. When someone asks an AI assistant which property manager to hire in their city, the AI doesn’t search the way Google does. It draws on trust signals — reviews, online reputation, published content, citations, and the overall credibility of a business’s digital presence. The companies that show up in those recommendations aren’t necessarily the biggest. They’re the ones that have built the most consistent, trustworthy, visible presence online.

That’s a meaningful shift. And it’s part of why we’re writing posts like this one — and being transparent about using tools like Claude to do it. Building an honest, consistent body of content that reflects who we are and how we think is exactly the kind of trust signal that matters in this new environment. It’s not about gaming an algorithm. It’s about showing up authentically and consistently enough that when someone — human or AI — looks for a recommendation, there’s a real record of who you are.

A Competitor Worth Celebrating

One of my favorite moments of the conference was a roundtable session featuring Steven Glover from Peak Property Management — one of the top PM companies in Richmond and, yes, a direct competitor. I’ve followed what Steven and his team have built and genuinely admire it.

Steven talked about his podcast — something he’s turned into a valuable resource for landlords and investors in the Richmond market. What I didn’t know was that he had a microphone sitting in a box for two years before he finally started recording. When someone asked what finally pushed him to do it, his answer was simple:

“Just do it. Don’t wait for perfect.”

That’s going to stick with me for a while. This blog — and the more candid, behind-the-scenes content we’re starting to put out on social media — is our version of picking up the microphone. It won’t always be polished. But it will be honest.

The Real Value of Being in a Room With Your Competitors

Here’s something that might seem counterintuitive: some of the most valuable conversations at NARPM happen with people who are competing for the same clients.

The property management industry has a culture of openness that I think is genuinely unusual. When Gary and I sat down with other owners and managers from around the country — including people who operate in our own market — the conversations weren’t guarded. They were collaborative. Someone would bring up a challenge they were working through — a difficult tenant situation, a software problem, a staffing issue, a process that wasn’t clicking — and more often than not, someone else in the room had already been there and found a solution.

That solution might be a piece of software. It might be a new process. It might just be a reframe — a different way of thinking about something that had been frustrating for months. The willingness to share freely, even with competitors, is what makes these conferences worth attending year after year.

Because here’s the thing: the people in that room are the ones actively trying to get better. They’re investing their time and money to be there. They’re asking hard questions and sharing real answers. When all of those people share openly with each other, everyone gets better. And when the whole industry gets better, owners and residents benefit. That’s a good outcome for everyone — including the competitors sitting across the table.

None of This Happens Without the Team at Home

The honest truth about a trip like this: Gary and I could only be in New Orleans because the people back in Richmond held everything together.

Dane, Brandon, Joey, Maurice, and the finance team kept things moving the entire time we were gone. Maintenance requests were handled. Questions were answered. Nothing fell through the cracks. We had our laptops and stayed involved from the road — because property management is 365/24/7 and that doesn’t change based on your zip code — but the team is what made the trip possible.

That’s worth saying out loud: you can’t grow, you can’t learn, and you can’t improve if you can’t occasionally step away. And you can’t step away unless you’ve built a team you completely trust. We have that. We don’t take it for granted.

See You in Vegas

The NARPM Broker/Owner Conference moves to a new city each year — so New Orleans was a one-time stop, at least for this event. But the main NARPM Annual Conference is coming up in Las Vegas this October, and Byrd PM will have people there. We’re not sure yet who makes the trip, but we’ll be in the room.

These trips aren’t vacations — though New Orleans certainly had its moments. They’re investments in staying sharp in an industry that is changing faster than at any point in its history. Legislation, technology, consumer expectations, the real estate market itself — all of it is moving. Standing still isn’t an option.

We’ll keep showing up. And we’ll keep writing about it. This article isn’t perfect — even with a little help from Claude — but we’re publishing it anyway. Time to take that mic out of the box.