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April 2012
Index of all
messages
from the Association President
First annual Broker Summit helps AAR address the future
By Nancy Griffin, AAR President
This year, the AAR Board of Directors has put together a Linkage Committee with three very important goals:
• Recruit REALTORS® and non-licensed agents
• Retain membership
• Provide and show the value of belonging to an association and being a REALTOR®
In today's economic times, these goals may seem insurmountable. But our committee members are very dedicated and fabulous ideas have already come from our meetings. We've started to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
A meeting of minds
On March 6, the Association hosted its first annual Broker/Owner Summit at the Red Lion Hotel. Our mission was to invite all of our big office brokers who are primary AAR members along with some bigger secondary broker/owners and find out what their worries, complaints, insights and feelings are about AAR and what we can do to help them.
Topics on the agenda included: Benefits of being a REALTOR®, the biggest challenges facing your business; how AAR can help agents be successful or become more successful; and what brokers expect from their Association.
Broker/owners each graciously outlined their concerns, which included these topics: professionalism, arbitration services, community, training, education, marketing the R in REALTOR®, technology, the Colorado Real Estate Commission, creating value, and layering membership opportunities. The topic of REALTOR® firms versus REALTOR® firms with sister non-licensee firms came up as well.
REALTOR® relevance
One request I took away from the Summit is that brokers want AAR and its leadership to be more available and to help spread the word that being a REALTOR® is important. They want agents to know what membership can do for their career, and said they would welcome us and anyone else from the Association who would like to speak to their agents in their offices about the importance of being a REALTOR®.
The Linkage Committee is now reviewing notes from the Summit with the goal of pulling out two to three top concerns that the Association can address to achieve solutions or remedies.
Value-added proposition
Membership in the REALTOR® organization – including at the local level as a member of AAR – is full of value. The Association is committed to educating its members and the public of current benefits and to creating even more. The Broker/Owner Summit was just the first step to help us get to our goals.
We have a lot more work to do, but with commitment, passion and dedication we will get there. Keep your eyes and ears open because as the year goes on I will report back to you on the other steps we are prepared to take to keep our Association not only surviving, but thriving!
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