Welcome to 2020!
How many of us still remember the Y2K scare? It’s hard to realize that was 20 years ago already. I still have my Y2K Bubbles, champagne glasses and my Business Resumption Plan for when all the computers in the world simultaneously quit working at the stroke of midnight. It’s now a collector’s item. For many of us the frenzy is easily recalled. For many others the reaction is “WHAT?”. That’s because they were 10 or 15 years old when we were crossing our fingers and bracing for the worst.
Which brings me to my personal crusade for this year. Chris Aebel was Herculean in his labors and kept our association on the rails as we replaced our longtime Executive Director during his Presidency in 2018. Ken Rodman guided us expertly through the myriad changes and adjustments and reworkings that were accomplished in 2019. HRACRE has made a donation to Old Dominion University, Ken’s
alma mater
, in his honor.
In 2020
I am focused on growing our membership and participation. Those “kids” who were 10 or 15 or so in Y2K are now growing their careers. I invite them to join us in advocating for our industry, to share their fresh ideas and to be part of our continued growth and relevance. The trade-off, or dare I say,
quid pro quo
, is the benefit of the vast knowledge and experience our seasoned professionals can share.
I do want to take a moment to offer sincere thanks to those who rolled up their sleeves, provided institutional knowledge, embraced new processes, brought forward solutions and made our Association stronger for it. I can only hope they hang with me during this next year while we watch our membership increase, our committees grow stronger through more participation, our events flourish and our advocacy strengthen.
In a nutshell my inaugural message to our membership is
appreciation
for what we’ve weathered together,
excitement
over what we will accomplish in 2020, an invitation to new members or those that will engage with a committee for the first time, and
confidence
that we will continue to impact the commercial real estate industry.
Mary Long
2020 HRACRE President
