NEW YORK CITY—The Asian Real Estate Association, Manhattan chapter hosted its fourth annual "East Meets West" fall conference at The New Yorker hotel last week. This year over 300 people attended panel discussions featuring a broad range of leading experts. Socializing peppered the all-day event, topped off with a networking cocktail party. You don't have to be Asian to join the group, emphasizes Dorian Lam, president, board of directors, Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) NY Manhattan chapter. Members and attendees do not need to be of Asian descent or even speak an Asian language. You just need to have an interest in real estate business involving Asia or the Asian American community and care about the issues they face. "AREAA is an organization that is geared towards the real estate industry and the Asians involved with it," says Lam. "It is the only real estate group that exists fundamentally for the betterment of real estate in the Asian community." Allen M. Okamoto, AREAA national founding chairman, highlighted some of the organization's national and international actions. The AREAA foundation recently finished building a house in Houston, TX, to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. AREAA Global, which supports new business ventures, just signed a deal with Century 21 and the United Arab Emirates, launching a series of projects in Dubai. AREAA Global provides members with the opportunity to explore global investments for their clients. AREAA also just rolled out its refreshed professional branding including a new website. This year's keynote speakers included John Catsimatidis, chairman and CEO of Red Apple Group; Susan Daimler, Streeteasy's general manager; Adam Spies, chairman and CEO of Cushman and Wakefield; and Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel. Twenty-seven speakers covered a wide range of topics for residential and commercial real estate professionals. The above slideshow captures a handful of the event sessions. All photos were provided by AREAA.