The past month has been busy, with our annual RPAC event, a General Membership meeting, committee meetings, NAR leadership meeting, and we were a Co-Sponsor of the Manning golf tournament. We are now working on the details of our events for the last quarter of the year.
On Sunday, August 21st I traveled with President-Elect Alex Morgan-Johnson to Chicago for the 2017 Leadership Summit. On Monday; we toured the NAR headquarters building. The building is impressive and due to the large size of the attendees; we were unable to see many of the floors. The theme for 2017 is Revolution. Incoming 2017 NAR President William Brown is a big music fan, and the sounds of 60’s and 70’s music were used to buffer the speakers along with quotes from historical figures on change. George Blankenship, former Apple Computer, and Tesla Motors executive spoke on the power of challenging conventional thinking. He told of the struggles of bringing unconventional ideas to the marketplace.
Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, began his remarks with a personal story of his Korean roots in regards to censorship in music by the government. He then reported on the state of the housing industry. Home ownership is critical to our economy and personal wealth of our country. Younger people are delaying the purchase of real estate, and this is affecting our industry.
CEO Dale Stinton spoke on the changes in our industry in the past 30 years and what the future might likely look.
Katie Johnson, NAR General Counsel, gave a short update on some of the legal cases involving NAR. She also went into a discussion on opportunities and risks facing local boards
The conclusion of the day 2017 NAR President William Brown addressed the group on his family history. He told of his Great Grandmother, a former slave when freed working and saving to send her children to college. He spoke of his father who sold insurance and real estate. The influence of music in his life and his personal thoughts on our industry. He then introduced the entire 2017 NAR Leadership team.
The evening program was held at the House of Blues, and we were able to meet several leaders of other associations.
Tuesday's program began with a session on the Volunteer/Staff Partnership. A discussion on role responsibilities and reasonable expectations of all parties.A Core Standards panel followed and was informative. A follow-up on planning tools for Core Standards followed.
On August 25th we held our 2nd Island Cruise for RPAC and our attendance was increased from last year. The weather was great, and we had a large amount of guests from other associations at this year's event. Terry Boose and Steve Arndt were in attendance from the Ohio House this year. State Senator Randy Gardner was unable to attend due to his involvement in a committee meeting for workers compensation held the same day. This event has grown, and I would suggest that the RPAC committee continue this cruise.
On September 1st the Member Services Committee met to discuss our upcoming awards banquet. The venue will be in Bellevue this year, and the plans are finished. We will also be holding elections for Directors at this meeting.
On September 2nd Legislative Committee Chair Frank Corder and I met with Tom Dunlap candidate for the open 57th Ohio House seat and delivered a campaign contribution. The combined committee’s of FAOR and LORCAR chose to support Commissioner Dunlap for this race.
On September 7th we held a General Membership meeting in Fremont with over 60 members in attendance. After the regular business, President Riesen introduced the candidates for the open Directors seats who were in attendance.
September 9th Frank, DJ., Steve, and I attended the Manning Golf Outing held in Avon. Trough RPAC and OAR we were sponsors of this event. We had a chance to talk to Senators Manning and Gardner at the event. We also met Representative Nathan Manning and had an opportunity to have a short talk with him. This event was well attended, and our Board was recognized a primary sponsor.
The final item on my report is on the monthly office visits that Sara, Alex, and I have been doing. After taking off the month of July, we were in Norwalk on September 13th. These visits are a great outreach to our members, and I hope that the leadership sees the value in continuing this policy.
Respectfully submitted,
David W. Freitag, RCE CEO