Host a SMALL Talk!
SMALL Talks help audiences think differently or create a community call-to-action. Our stable of seasoned Small PROs bring unique perspectives, speaking styles and subject matter that are perfect for conferences, panels and community education. Let us help you bring the right subject focus and message about Building Small to reach your audience in whatever format works best.
Housing Summit
Atlanta, GA 2024
“Jim set an optimistic tone for the day. Great message and excellent public speaker. His cadence and content were well executed…it could have even been longer! Having Jim open the summit was the best.”
—HOUSING THE BAY | April 2025, ULI San Francisco
2026 Small Talks
FEBRUARY
11 | Saving Spaces to Create Places – Keynote | Colorado Preservation Inc.
MARCH
18 | Faster, Cheaper Better – Panel | National Housing Supply Summit Washtington, DC
23 | Doing Development Different – Keynote | ULI Carolinas Annual Conference, Raleigh, NC
April
28/29 | Incremental Development Tools – Panel and Workshop | Design Center of Rochester, Rochester, NY
May
16 | Small Coach Workshop | Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, Oakland, CA
JUNE
2 | Starting Small – Keynote | Indiana Municipal Utilities Carmel, IN
2025 Notable Events
Housing the Bay| Keynote ULI SF San Francisco
St. Cloud Hotel Case Study|Downtown Colorado, Inc [Moderator] Canon City, CO
Statewide Housing Summit |South Dakota Housing Authority [Keynote], Pierre, SD
Build Maine State Urbanism Conference [Keynote], Skowhegan, ME
Local Developer Forum | Opportunity Appalachia [Program Curator, Moderator and Speaker ] Charleston WV
University Lectures + Case Study Studios
MIT Center for Real Estate
NC State University
Presidio School of Management
Tulane University
UC Berkeley – MRED+D
University of Miami – MRED+U
SAMPLE KEYNOTES
Big Impacts of Building Small
June 2025 | Building Maineʻs annual development and policy conference brings together a wide range of actors involved in creating more walkable and livable communities. | VIEW
Carolinas keynote
March 2026 | ULI’s three Carolina District Councils convene once a year for an annual conference. This year Building Small was the kick off keynote that demonstrated how we can build different.| VIEW
Saving Places
February 2026 | As the opening keynote for Colorado Preservation Inc’s annual conference, Jim explained the valuable role of Small at the intersection of adaptive reuse and historic preservation.| VIEW
HOUSING BY THE BAY
April 2025 | HTB the Bay Area’s annual housing conversation. Typically focused on institutional approaches, in 2025, ULI asked Jim to kick off with a look at the role of Small, stealthy approaches. | VIEW
TEDx Sonoma talk on making Small Big!
March 2022 | Jim reminds us of what is truly important and the joy we get from the small things in life. | VIEW
INDUSTRY Keynote ULI San Antonio
July 2022 | Following publication of Building Small, the what and why of Small and how to get started as a Small Developer. | VIEW
SAMPLE PODCASTS
The Messy City
August 2024 | Kevin Klinkenberg’s messy city ethos of embracing change, uncertainty and local initiative for our cities and towns aligns perfectly with Small. In this three way conversation with Upzoned’s Abby Newsham we talk about all things Small. | LISTEN
April 2024 |From Blueprint to Bestseller: A Small-Scale Developer’s Journey. Loved this conversation with Matt Loos after my January stop in Fayetteville, AR where I found examples of Small in an unexpected place. | LISTEN
Transforming Cities
June 2023 | Authentic’s Chris Arnold did an engaging job of getting me to talk about Building Small and more importantly my WHY behind my WHAT. | LISTEN
I Found My Tribe
July 2022 | My conversation with crowdfunding innovator Eve Picker as we riff about all things Small. | LISTEN
The Impact of Small
January 2022 | My fast paced interview with coworking thought leader Jamie Russo. | VIEW
August 2022 |My conversation with Nick Redding about the intersection of Small and preservation. | LISTEN
“Jim gave an outstanding keynote, inspiring our audience with practical strategies for creating vibrant, human-scale neighborhoods. His clarity, depth of experience, and down-to-earth approach left a lasting impression on everyone in attendance.“
—BUILDING A BETTER SAN LUIS OBISPO | october 2025
SPEAKING & TEACHING
KEYNOTES AND PANELS
My presentations combine a conversational and accessible style with a clear framework and specific examples. Using either the UrbanGreen platform for sustainable and resilient real estate education, or Building Small for small-scale, incremental development tools and techniques, I strive to ensure my audiences leave informed and excited about making positive change in the built environment.
STUDIO LECTURES AND TEACHING
My real world experience as a developer, combined with years of consulting makes for provocative and inspired studio course lectures, crits and case study exercises. Using my HBS-style Case Study, graduate students ‘live’ the life of a Small developer and have to address the challenges of managing risks associated with Small.
“…because our goal is to build stronger collaboration around housing solutions, the “building small” approach clearly illustrates how meaningful community change comes from many individual projects adding up over time. “
SOUTHERN TIER 8 REGIONAL BOARD | October 2025
“My Strengths Finder™ profile says I am fascinated by ideas and enjoy digging through complexity to connect seemingly disparate things in elegantly simple ways. This is reflected in my writings and presentations as I try to show different approaches to solving thorny issues in an enlightening and educational manner.”
ULI Houston Blueprints, June 2025
Photo Credit @Paul R Davis