Arlington, VA–April 9, 2009–Several of social media’s greatest minds will discuss how this popular marketing approach applies to customer service and retention during a session at the National Apartment Association’s 2009 Education Conference & Exposition on June 27 in Las Vegas.

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of online shoes retailer Zappos, is one of the featured panelists. Hsieh is recognized as having the largest following on Twitter worldwide, with more than 350,000 followers. Hsieh has grown Zappos from $1.6 million in 2000 to $840 million in 2007, a measly 525,000 percent increase.

This is one of more than 50 education sessions to be presented at the 2009 NAA Education Conference & Exposition. Visit www.naahq.org/educonf for registration information and a complete schedule, which includes keynote speakers Forbes Chairman and CEO Steve Forbes, comedian Dana Carvey and Politico Founder Jim VandeHei.

Dominating the current talk about marketing is effective use of social media—how Twitter is taking over e-mail, how Facebook has more users than most countries have citizens and how engineered virality can replace a marketing budget. With all the chatter, one might think that social media should be a substitute for advertising–a reason to eliminate a company’s marketing staff, and even cure the common cold. This panel will share effective social media strategies that companies can use and discuss common misperceptions about social media.

Rentwiki.com co-founder Eric Wu will moderate the panel, which also includes Jeremiah Owyang, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research; and Pete Flint, Founder of real-estate industry Web site Trulia.com.

Visit www.naahq.org/educonf for registration information and a schedule of the more than 50 education sessions to be presented at the 2009 NAA Education Conference & Exposition. Or call NAA at 703/518-6141.

Paul Bergeron

National Apartment Association

Director of Communications-UNITS Magazine

4300 Wilson Blvd Ste 400  Arlington VA 22203

phone: 703/797-0606 fax: 703/248-9440

America’s Leading Advocate for Quality Rental Housing

Zappos, NAA, Apartment Marketing, Using Social Media to Market Apartments