Conference Circuit: Real Estate Gets Political

Drones, medical marijuana legislation, and the midterm elections: They sound like talking points for a cable news show.

But they’re all topics of discussion at this weekend’s National Association of Realtors Conference and Expo  (opens in a new tab), demonstrating the broad influence of national policy on real estate. The conference, running Friday through Monday in New Orleans, couldn’t come at a better time for the worlds of property and politics to collide.

Fresh off the heels of the midterm elections comes a panel analyzing what the results mean for Realtors  (opens in a new tab), with additional insights into the 2016 presidential election. And the conference’s multiple sessions  (opens in a new tab) on the impact of medical marijuana laws on real estate transactions couldn’t come at a better time, considering voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, DC, approved marijuana legalization measures.

Even unmanned aerial vehicles, a hot topic in the security sector, take center stage in a discussion of their potential for marketing property  (opens in a new tab). (The association is a major supporter of efforts to allow the commercial use of drones.)

Should all the political talk get too heated, a concert featuring Jennifer Hudson  (opens in a new tab) plus Realtors Got Talent Season 5 provide a more lighthearted end to the event.

The Week Ahead

November 9-12: Data buffs can keep their skills sharp long after the annual meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). The San Francisco-based event will grant attendees free access to online tutorials  (opens in a new tab), on issues such as data analysis, optimization theory, computing technology, and policy.

November 14-19: With more than 200 educational presentations at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting  (opens in a new tab) in Boston, it’s unlikely that attendees will get to them all. Fortunately, every session will be recorded  (opens in a new tab) and made available online so health professionals can get up to speed on the latest developments in their field.

Down the Line

November 19-21: The New England Museum Association is working to prove that museums are as relevant as ever, with its annual conference  (opens in a new tab), also in Boston. This year’s theme is Picture of Health: Museums, Wellness, and Healthy Communities, a creative spin on explaining the importance of museums and how they can “contribute to community wellness and transformative well-being,” as the association says.