Emerald Coast Association of Realtors endorsement

It's official, I'm endorsed by my home association; the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors! (They better support me, right?) That's President Cliff Chaplin on the left and President Elect Anita Williams in the center and Grayton Beach in the background. If you've ever been to sleepy 'ole Grayton Beach, then you've heard of the Red Bar. We just finished having lunch with several dozen Realtors; Cliff has made a priority of getting out to the members to hear their concerns and suggestions F2F (face to face). One priority I heard loud and clear was that they look to the association to provide education for the members. Education is necessary to be the professionals that we claim to be. I'm not just talking about the minimum levels of continuing education to keep your license current, I'm talking about education in specific areas such as designations, niche marketing, fair housing. Most is attendance agreed that they are taking this time to educate themselves and the agents in their offices. ECAR has a calendar full of opportunities to earn designations, learn about new marketing opportunities, get quadrennial Ethics courses, etc. ECAR even has a education cruise leaving this weekend from Mobile. In these times of trimming budgets, we must remember to keep the members front and center.

Thanks again ECAR for all you do!

I'm learning...

Just a quick post to let you know that you can now "subscribe" to my blog. It's over there on the right hand side; just put in your email address, confirm the subscription a few seconds later and your a subscriber. Don't worry, I won't SPAM you, you'll just be notified of any new posts within 24 hours.

NAR Committee Leadership Training

Wow, it's cold in Chicago in February; so what was I doing there instead of in sunny Florida? Attending the annual NAR Committee Leadership Training for a day and half, that's what. Cathy Whatley was among the presenters going over the intricasies of the NAR governance. Others in attendance from Florida included Tony Macaluso, Maggie Morris, Mike Owen, Judy Schomaker, Moe Veissi and Tom Salamone. Chairs and Vice-chairs from across the country met to plan their year and to see how that plan advances the NAR Strategic Plan. This is also the perfect networking opportunity and to meet NAR staff such as Russell Riggs, the "Master of Disaster Insurance" who is working hard to make a National Disaster Insurance plan a reality. My only suggestion is to have the training next year somewhere where it's a few degrees warmer!