Welcome to the 2027 Apartmentalize Call for Presentations

Do you have operational or leadership insights that would help others in the industry increase their performance and knowledge? Would you be interested in sharing that wisdom on a national stage at Apartmentalize?

NAA seeks curious and intelligent people of the rental housing industry who have fresh ideas, solutions, and innovations for current issues and challenges that confront the rental housing industry. We encourage you to submit a written proposal through our online platform by Friday, October 30, 2026, 11:59 p.m. EST.

 2027 Apartmentalize will convene June 15 – 17 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. More than 10,000 professionals are expected to attend, making this the most expansive event for the apartment housing industry.

While networking opportunities, the NAA Exposition, or even the general session speakers rank highly among motivating reasons for attending our event each year, education programming is the foundation of Apartmentalize. Therefore, a robust and well-balanced education program is essential, one that focuses on the topics that NAA members value and require in their day-to-day practices.

For Your Consideration!

• In 2027, Apartmentalize will feature 16 “fishbowl” sessions, which feel like a panel discussion, in the round, with audience members included in the conversation. Learn more about the Fishbowl FormatNote that fishbowl submissions require a highly capable moderator to support this format.

• Our audience consistently requests fewer four-person panel discussions. For 2027, we are looking for proposals with: one subject matter expert; teams of two or three co-presenters, while decreasing the number of four-person panel discussions.   

• Innovative session formats are sought to increase variety for our audience: game show formats, case studies (innovation, best practices, lessons learned), roundtable discussions, hack sharing, peer-to-peer discussions, campfire chats, demonstrations, and other interactive formats. 

• Interactive Engagement: Keep your audience engaged! Explain in your outline how you plan to make your session interactive (i.e., Polling through the event app; small group discussion; scenario; problem solving; gamification etc.).  

 Topics of high relevance include but are not limited to:

Student Housing	Disaster/Crisis/Emergency Preparedness	Affordable Housing	Independent Rental Owners	Human Resources
Technology/Proptech/AI	Marketing	Leasing	Maintenance (For Supervisors)	Research
Industry Trends	Executive	Operations	Career Development	Leadership




Need some inspiration on what topic to propose?

• Look at NAA publications to explore issues our members are facing (Link to publications)




Audience Demographics from 2026

Design your proposal for the audience at Apartmentalize! Job titles of attendees include: 

24% Vice President/Corporate Executive

21% Regional Supervisor/Manager

14% Property Manager

9% Owner/Principal/President

7% Marketing/Sales

2% Maintenance Professional (Supervisor)

 

 

Instructions for Submitting

Complete all fields of the online submission form using the portal linked below. You will need to create and coordinate the following components:

• Speaker Bios for all presenters (Link to example)
• Session Title (Link to example)
• Session Description (Link to example)
• Learning Objectives (3) (Link to example)
• Presentation Outline (Link to example)

Click here to read the tactical tips for submitters

 

PLEASE NOTE: Proposals must include at least one owner/operator/manager within a presentation team, as submissions with suppliers only will not be considered. Also, each company can submit up to three proposals. Only the first three submitted proposals will be considered (based on the platform timestamp). Additionally, all speakers listed on the proposal must be aware that they are being considered during the peer review process. Proposals selected to be moved forward onto the program undergo a confirmation process, at which time speakers are asked to commit to speaking in June. Incomplete or late submissions will not be considered. 

 

Submission Evaluation and Selection

An Education Advisory Board (EAB) will review, evaluate, and score submissions using the following selection criteria: 

1. Relevance to the current multifamily housing market
2. Intelligent and clearly articulated submission materials with achievable learning objectives
3. Presenter/Speaker qualifications
4. Provides useful information that attendees can apply to daily work life (actionable and practical)
5. Appropriate for an intermediate or advanced professional audience 




Speakers selected from this process will receive a complimentary full conference registration to Apartmentalize in 2027, which includes a Thursday Night Concert ticket.




NAA considers our speakers to be collaborative partners in the promotion of our event, see details in the Policies Governing Accepted Proposals.


Program Selection Timeline

Friday, October 2, 2026	Call for Presentations opens
Friday, October 30, 2026, 11:59 PM ET	Deadline for submitting proposals
November 2 – November 20, 2026	Education Advisory Board (EAB) peer reviews proposals and makes recommendations
Wednesday, December 9, 2026	Selection notifications sent to proposers, including evaluation scores and reviewers’ comments.

 


Education Program Format

Education Sessions will take place on Tuesday, June 15, Wednesday, June 16 and Thursday, June 17. Presenters/Panelists should plan to conduct a 60-minute presentation, though some sessions will be truncated to 50 or 30 minutes at the request of event planners.




About NAA

The National Apartment Association envisions a world where rental housing is a valued partner in every community. NAA is the leading voice for the rental housing industry and as a trusted partner, valued connector and powerful advocate, we are committed to serving 139 state and local affiliates and over 113,000 members representing more than 13.7 million apartment homes. We lead the way home.