RECon is the International Council of Shopping Center’s annual global convention for retail real estate professionals. This year’s event took place on May 22-25, 2016 in Las Vegas, NV.

As a first time attendee at RECon, here are my top 5 reasons why I would attend this amazing show again.

5 – The sheer number of people who attend RECon – over 36,000, making it the second largest show in Las Vegas.

4 – The size of the exhibit space – 3 huge buildings with over 900,000 square feet.

3 – The diversity of exhibitors – from every aspect of the retail real estate industry – tenants, landlords, financial companies, cities, service providers.

2 – Great learning opportunities with sessions that reflect the diversity of issues that retail real estate is facing today.

1 – Keynote speakers, especially Gary Friedman from Restoration Hardware who showed what experience retail is all about.

And of course I picked up my Career Achievement Award.

by Maureen Atkinson, Senior Partner at J.C. Williams Group