The biggest Fusion to date wraps up its first full day with a bang.

What a day, and what a great group of people! Around 1,300 Better Homes and Gardens^® Real Estate professionals woke up after a pumped-up opening party Monday night with energy to learn, share knowledge, and be inspired.

The day started with a General Session where Sherry Chris, CEO of BHGRE^®, recapped the “Evolution of Real Estate,” beginning with the MLS book days and Real Estate 1.0. She talked all the way through to Real Estate 4.0 and the future of consumer data-driven real estate.

Next up: diversity! A panel with participants from AREAA, NAGLREP and NAHREP shared valuable insights on home-buying trends and the challenges and opportunities impacting Asian, African American, Hispanic, LGBT and millennial consumers.

The most inspiring moment, however, came when Sherry Chris introduced New Story, BHGRE’s charity partner. Sherry presented the audience with a challenge, promising a special BHGRE^® cake to the first broker that joined the ground-breaking ceremony of New Story’s community in El Salvador. Sure enough, the network stepped up with not only one, but four brokers pledging support and committing to New Story!

Ryan Estis got the audience pumped with his Keynote speech about Personal Performance, followed by Karlton Utter who then dialed up excitement for the upcoming Zap sessions.

This was just the beginning of a day full of informative sessions on topics ranging from talent attraction, lead generation, digital marketing and technology.

Zap, BHGRE’s new web technology platform, was at the center of many sessions. Rebecca Mountain covered digital and social media marketing, sharing valuable tips and tools for making the most of social media channels. A roster of speakers hailing from BHGRE, the BHGRE network and several sponsors honed in on talent attraction, time management and hiring advice for agents and brokers, large and small.

Sasha Greer of The Sasha Farmer Team, Fran Cashion from Kansas City Homes and many other brokers and agents shared their wisdom with an eager and engaged audience.

A final cocktail party at the Vendor Village capped this action-packed day, setting the stage for Wednesday’s events.