Linda Sherrer and Christy Budnick of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty recently attended the 2014 REAL Trends Gathering of Eagles conference in Dallas, Texas. The annual, invitation-only event welcomes leaders from the largest residential real estate brokerage firms and senior management from the largest real estate franchise organizations in North America.

This year’s conference theme was “Legendary Leadership.” Former President George W. Bush presented the opening keynote address. Conference attendees also attended a reception at the George W. Bush library and museum.

“We were honored to hear President Bush speak – he is a man of incredible strength and determination, and his leadership style is inspiring,” said Sherrer, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty Founder, President and CEO. “The REAL Trends conference focused on several key areas of leadership, which is one of the most important attributes of every successful real estate firm.”

The conference attracted an all-star lineup of industry visionaries as featured guest speakers and included a series of presentations on leadership, the economic forecast for real estate in North America and real world insight into successfully adopting and implementing technology and information systems. Budnick, who serves as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty’s Executive Vice President of Residential Real Estate, participated as a program panelist for “Second Generations.” The panel, which was moderated by Steve Murray of REAL Trends, featured second and third generation leaders of top real estate firms who discussed the value of succession and transition planning.

“Very few firms have a succession business plan in place,” Budnick said. “It’s important and it provides both clients and agents peace of mind.”

One of Budnick’s favorite programs was “The Challenge and the Promise of Technology,” which featured Lanny Baker, CEO of Zip Realty, an online real estate brokerage website, who talked about technology’s impact on the real estate industry. While online tools and resources are vital to a successful firm, Baker confirmed consumers desire and require the personal relationships and face-to-face communication style of the traditional brokerage business model.

“The conference provided a tremendous opportunity to connect with leaders from every facet of our business and attend programs offering information that can be implemented immediately and make a positive impact on our business,” Budnick said.

More information is available at www.BerkshireHathawayhsfnr.com.