New England Chapter of SIOR holds January 19 board meeting

Tom Farrelly, SIOR Chapter president called a meeting with the Chapter board of directors to plan the goals and objectives for 2012. The conference call meeting took place on January 19 to cover the following items: 1. 2012 SIOR New England Chapter business plan 2. Schedule the 2012 Calendar of Events 3. Announce board position changes 4. Create strategic planning objectives Farrelly started the meeting discussing the accomplishments of 2011 and a review of the events held. The business plan for 2012 was discussed to add value to existing designees and focus on recruitment for the best and brightness in our business. There are also some board changes. Farrelly announced that Mark Stevens has stepped down from the board after many years of serving as SIOR Chapter president in 2007-08 and on the Chapter board. He has been an SIOR since 1997. We want to thank Mark for all his years of volunteering efforts. Farrelly also announced that Rob Nahigian will be stepping down as communications chair but will remain on the Chapter board at large. Nahigian will offer guidance and historical perspective to the board. He will also oversee the new communications chair for the next few months. He has served on the board for approximately 20 years and has been an SIOR since 1986. Farrelly proposed a possible new communications chair and the board will research this person's qualifications. The board also reviewed its Chapter by-laws that are dated back to the early 1980s with an amendment in the early 2000s. Nahigian investigated further after the board meeting on the history of its by-laws and contacted SIOR National for proposed templates to revise or overhaul the by-laws. The Chapter would like to take the aging by-laws and modify them to current standards. The board discussed a number of events that it wants to hold. The discussion of events was to have a balanced number that would serve three objectives. First, events that soley serve SIOR Chapter members as "added value." Such examples of Members-Only" events are the Featured Landlord breakfasts in which members are offered insight to the commercial/industrial real estate planned developments in the greater Boston area. Some of the landlords offer 5-10 year business plan outlooks to the market and to their development plans. These events are held at no cost to members and offer a return on investment in terms of members' dues. These events also help with retention with current members. Second, events that focus on recruitment for new qualified designees. Such recruitment events include the Kings Bowling Candidates Night and the Chapter Market Review at the Seaport. These events allow select prospects to meet senior SIOR members, discuss the virtues of the SIOR designation and to network with SIORs. The Chapter also holds a Scholarship Night in October in which $2,500 is offered to an "up and coming" young broker to attend a national SIOR course. Third, the board wants to hold networking events with other real estate organizations. Such events serve value both as networking for business and recruitment opportunities. Examples of these events include the SIOR/NAIOP event and NEWIRE outing. The Chapter board also wants to maintain its traditional events. Examples include the May Annual Golf Outing, Bull & Beer receptions and the December Holiday Reception. These events allow members to share in camaraderie and discuss the market happenings. With these objectives, the board has scheduled the following events for 2012, subject to change: * February 9: Paradigm Breakfast, Newton Marriott * March 22: Candidate's Night, Kings Bowling, Boston * April 18: Landlord Breakfast, TBD * May 10-12: Spring Convention, Miami, Fla. * May 24: Annual Golf Outing * June TBD: SIOR/NAIOP Mid-Year Review * July 19: Recruitment Event, Seaport, Boston * September 12: SIOR/NEWIRE Fall Outing, Indigo Hotel, Newton, Mass. * October 11: Scholarship Night, Boston, Mass. * October 25-27: Fall Convention, Los Angeles, Calif. * November 8: Landlord Breakfast, Newton Marriott * December TBD: SIOR/NAIOP End of the Year Forecast, Boston, Mass. * December 6: Bull & Beer Holiday Reception These events should be insightful for the SIOR Chapter members, offer knowledge-based as well as skill-based education and keep the SIOR member as the highest level of commercial professionalism. The conference call ended 1:30 p.m.