Inside a 90-day meeting makeover. Embracing people-first design helped 2026 Visionary Awards finalist Mindy Grubb reimagine eXp Realty's 5,000-person flagship annual event in just three months. In partnership with Freeman, eXp completely reimagined their Expo Hall to be more central to the attendee journey. The Business Event Strategist of the Year category at the Visionary Awards recognizes professionals who lead business events with clear strategic intent, aligning vision, execution, and measurable outcomes to simultaneously further organizational goals and elevate the attendee experience. 2026 finalist Mindy Grubb, CMP, vice president of events at eXp Realty, manages the company's $12-million global events portfolio. Last year, she redesigned the attendee journey for her organization's annual meeting just 90 days ahead of the event. eXpcon Miami 2025 took place Oct. 19-23 at the Miami Beach Convention Center for agents, brokers, and staff, and ushered in a shift to "people-first design" for eXp events. "eXpcon Miami followed immediately after eXpcon Canada and eXpcon International, so as a team we moved straight into our 5,000-person flagship event with roughly 90 days to make a meaningful impact," Grubb told Convene. A dip in Net Promoter Score was a signal to the planning team that the event experience wasn't translating into loyalty or advocacy, so they set to work reinventing eXpcon Miami. "The first thing we focused on was the friction points. Where were we losing energy? Where were we creating congestion? Why were sponsors feeling like add-ons instead of partners? The compressed timeline forced clarity. Every change had to matter," she said. Grubb and her team worked with Freeman to make bold changes in the months leading up to the meeting, embracing people-first design principles as they considered various tweaks to the event's physical layout and educational programming. "In partnership with Freeman, we studied traffic flow and rebuilt the floor intentionally," Grubb said. "But layout alone wasn't enough. People-first design means walking the event like an attendee. We mapped the full journey: registration, entry points, breakout transitions, expo traffic. We looked for congestion, confusion, and energy drop-offs." One of the most effective changes at eXpcon 2025 was making Expo Hall take a more central role over the five days of the event. "We programmed energy into the space with games, food activations, and built-in networking moments," she said. "The pickleball court was constantly buzzing. The Expo Hall stopped being a pass-through and became a destination." Embracing a people-first design approach also inspired a range of minor tweaks, Grubb said, but those "few strategic adjustments made a real difference: removing hallway sponsor tables that created bottlenecks and consolidating breakout sessions into strategic clusters instead of spreading them across the entire convention center." She and her team also rebooted the education program, focusing most of their efforts on the general session, which had previously "leaned heavily on traditional panel discussions. There's a place for that, but it wasn't creating momentum," Grubb said. "We elevated the general session into a true production. We brought in keynote voices like [entrepreneur, author, and rapper] Jesse Itzler and [restaurateur] Will Guidara and layered in music, entertainment, and intentional transitions that kept the room engaged from start to finish. Run-of-show was tightened. Narrative flow mattered. We treated the stage like an experience, not just a sequence of sessions." In the wake of these changes, eXpcon's revenue stayed steady - but stakeholder sentiment improved dramatically. "Sponsors shared this was one of the best experiences they had at any event all year and most secured 2026 commitments before leaving," Grubb said. "The biggest shift wasn't physical. It was philosophical. Sponsors are partners in the experience, not transactional placements." The impact of the changes were immediately observable in the post-event survey data: eXpcon's NPS jumped from -45 in 2024 to 83 for the 2025 show. Kate Mulcrone is Convene's digital managing editor March 26, 2026

eXp launches premarket partnership with three portals. The news follows a similar announcement involving Zillow and other big brokerages yesterday, but notably is "non-exclusive." Reading Time: 2 mins read The mad dash for premarket power is showing no signs of slowing, as mega-brokerage eXp announced that it is striking a listing partnership with Realtor.com(R), Homes.com and ComeHome.com (HouseCanary's portal in Google Search), just 24 hours after Zillow launched a similar partnership with five other big national companies. Start Your 30-day free Premier trial today - exclusive insights, no credit card needed! Enter your email to access RISMedia Daily News. Jesse Williams is content director for RISMedia Premier.

eXp Realty CMO Wendy Forsythe launches debut book Leverage Your X-Factor - The 6-Step Framework to scale your real estate business and reclaim your life. All proceeds from the debut book to benefit eXp Extend a Hand, supporting the real estate community in times of need. BELLINGHAM, WA - March 10, 2026 - eXp Realty(R), "the most agent-centric(TM) real estate brokerage on the planet" and the core subsidiary of eXp World Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPI), today announced the release of Leverage Your X-Factor, the debut book by Chief Marketing Officer Wendy Forsythe. In a powerful commitment to the eXp community, Forsythe is donating 100% of the book's proceeds to eXp Extend a Hand, the brokerage's 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides emergency financial assistance to agents and staff facing unexpected hardship. Leverage Your X-Factor moves beyond traditional real estate "hustle" to address the crisis of clarity many professionals face. Drawing on 25 years of industry leadership, Forsythe introduces a specific 6-Step Framework - Focus, Action, Community, Technology, Operations, and Resilience - designed to help agents stop "pushing a boulder uphill" and start building a business that aligns with their life goals. "After 25 years in this industry, the thing that breaks my heart isn't agents who fail, it's agents who succeed and still feel empty," says Wendy Forsythe, CMO of eXp Realty. "They're closing deals, winning awards, and missing their kids' dinners. I wrote this book because hustle isn't the problem; misalignment is. When you stop copying someone else's blueprint and start building around your X-Factor, the friction disappears - and the business you actually want becomes possible. Donating all proceeds to Extend a Hand was never a question for me. This community pours everything into their clients. They deserve a safety net when life gets hard." The book arrives as a roadmap for the modern professional, focusing on how to use technology to be "more human" and how to build systems that allow for longevity rather than burnout. "Wendy has a remarkable way of taking high-level branding and making it useful for the everyday work of a real estate agent," says Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp Realty. "Leverage Your X- Factor gives our agents a clear advantage in a competitive market while highlighting the generosity that defines our company. Using this book to support Extend a Hand shows exactly the kind of leadership Wendy brings to our team. She's focused on helping our agents succeed and making sure we take care of our own along the way." By mastering the intersection of the six framework elements, readers learn to move from "Shiny Object Syndrome" to precise execution. The book is described not just as a guide to read, but a manual to implement. "When an agent gains this kind of clarity, they stop being a salesperson and start being a CEO," says Mindy Grubb, Executive Director, eXp Extend a Hand. "Wendy's generosity ensures that while agents are unlocking their own potential, they are also providing a vital safety net for their colleagues. Every copy sold helps us fund emergency relief for our eXp community." About eXp World Holdings, Inc. eXp World Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPI) is the parent company of eXp Realty(R), "the most agent-centric(TM) real estate brokerage on the planet," and SUCCESS(R) Enterprises. Through a cloud-based platform and agent-centric model, eXp Realty empowers real estate professionals with industry-leading commission structures, revenue share, equity ownership, and access to a global community. With operations spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and South Africa, eXp continues to redefine how agents connect, grow, and succeed in real estate. As a publicly traded company, eXp World Holdings prioritizes transparency, innovation, and long-term value for agents, staff, and shareholders.About Wendy Forsythe Wendy Forsythe is a dynamic executive with over 25 years of experience leading growth, innovation, and brand transformation across the real estate industry. As Chief Marketing Officer at eXp Realty - one of the world's fastest-growing brokerages - she's redefining what's possible through technology-driven strategy and people-first leadership. Recognized as a 2025 HousingWire Woman of Influence and a top marketing leader, Wendy is known for her authentic style, bold vision, and ability to turn big ideas into real-world results. She also hosts X-Factor Marketing, where she dives into conversations with top changemakers about business, branding, and the future of real estate. About Extend a Hand eXp Extend a Hand is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to eXp Realty agents, staff, and their families during times of extreme hardship due to catastrophic events or medical emergencies.