ICSC Las Vegas 2022 Recap & Takeaways

The number one takeaway that I heard throughout the ICSC Las Vegas 2022 show was how busy everyone is. What a fabulous sign, despite the current news anchors threatening a recession. A lot of times the media just doesn’t get it right when it comes to commercial real estate. Did we have a tough go throughout the pandemic, sure BUT deals were still happening and it did open up new opportunity for regionals and locals to finally get a shot at some great retail locations. And all of my clients: owners/developers, construction companies, brokers, retailers and PropTech were all very busy.

Throughout my last day in sin city and my travels home, I probably asked about 35 people how the show went for them and everyone smiled and said at least one of these responses: 1) It's so great to be together in person 2) It felt like the old days when we were all thriving at RECon 3) Retailers were finally back to 2019 numbers 4) Restaurants are very busy again.

Some concerning topics that came up throughout the show and my conversations (at no surprise) included: inflation, gas prices, the war on Ukraine, drop in stock market recently, and difficulty in hiring. Even though these were relevant topics, they did not dominate or overtake the positive feeling of the show and industry.

The show floor was most definitely bustling on Day One with 22,444 attendees registered for the event, now called ICSC Las Vegas (formerly ICSC RECon). It was almost like there was a new appreciation for each other at the show this year, everyone was happy, kind and polite to one another (from what I experienced) unlike prior years where I’ve felt like a pin ball, getting harshly bounced from one dark suit to the next.

This year, it felt like we all knew that if we showed up here, we were doing something right, a mutual respect for each other.

Day Two was another story, by noon I’d say maybe 70% of people had left the buildings. My preference would be a show that goes Monday - Wednesday with a keynote at kickoff and at the very end. If ICSC could get a headliner for the last day of the show I truly think people would stick around.

The sessions were much busier than anyone expected with attendees literally busting out of the session booth space, pouring into the aisle, standing with heavy work bags or sitting on the floor just to get industry professional insight on various topics ranging from the Metaverse, crypto, grocery, shipping, parking, CRE's biggest deals and more. The Metaverse session was the most well attended session that I witnessed. There were also a handful of sessions on Sunday this year which I heard were well attended. I did hear that the keynote fell flat unfortunately, whether it was that the keynote was on a Sunday OR that real estate professionals had less interest than expected in hearing from a sports star after not meeting at the show for two years.

From a diversity standpoint, I did notice about the same amount of women and people of color as years past, which is sadly still very minuscule compared to the amount of middle-aged white males. Most of the panels still consisted of all white men, not even a woman moderator (there was a fabulous woman host from ICSC). And to my sadness - most meetings were all men while two women sat up front managing the booth traffic. This has been the case since I entered the industry in 2005, 17 years ago, back when I was the one sitting at the booth’s front desk. I am glad to report that “booth babes” no longer seem to be a thing! One booth I did pop by that was booming with smart, driven women was the CREW booth, lead by one of my favorite social media friends, Barbi Reuter. They had a successful cocktail event that even included a handful of supportive men.

I had the pleasure of putting together a CRE Marketers Meetup at the Brand Activation area Monday afternoon. It was absolutely wonderful to see some of my marketing friends that I’ve made over the last two years via zoom and meet them in person for the first time. The energy was through the roof, even though we all complained about how much our feet hurt.

From a social standpoint, I’d definitely say that the parties were dialed down from previous years, I did not not see any mermaids, women in oversized martini glasses, big groups renting out booths at clubs etc. Instead, there were a few smaller events happening all across the strip, in less base-throbbing venues where you could actually have a conversation. As a small business owner marketing my new brand, it was appreciated. Thank you to all of the hosts and sponsors.

The new ICSC Branding - All in all I think a refresh was a good move and I do like the tech forward blues vs. the old school red coloring. I don’t however think people have caught on to the new acronym, no one I’ve asked about it could recite it. But as I was speaking to a new ICSC employee, it will take time. I was a little surprised that ICSC didn’t harness all of the CRE marketing talent and get more input into the process and roll out since we are the ones marketing CRE companies on a daily basis.

Overall, it was a good show with flowing positivity. And it was great to see all of you and make new connections and potential new clients...what ICSC is all about.